Our New President And Renewable Energy

Well, we in the US will still have an atrocious energy policy, and will so for the foreseeable future (Did not matter who was elected, both of their plans are poor at best).  Trying to incentivize to get companies and individuals to go to alternatives does not work well, and frankly, is so old school and anti-capitalistic.  I am possibly a rare breed: a conservative, a captitalist, and an evironmentalist.  No country can be fully energy independent, ever.  Even if we could totally switch off the oil spigot, have you ever heard of Hydro Quebec?  Hydro power from Canada has been feeding the US grid for decades.  That is one simple example.  Energy independence is a myth.  The better term to use should be energy self-sufficiency.

Obama can do nothing better than what has been done to date on renewables, based on his stated campaign positions.  His statements do not make sense, even if we could redirect the umpteen-billions we would need to go down his fairy tale path.  Like any good liberal, he'd have to increase taxes somewhere (like lots of somewheres!) to do what he wants.  The federal government started down the right road a couple of years back opening up hundreds of millions in grants for research to improve current alternative energy technologies.  Like the space race, we need to prime the pump.  That is not going to happen with a bunch of small companies doing a bunch of little research.  That is part of it, but we need the big companies and prominent universities into this wholesale -- and this has started.  The number of patent applications needs to increase 10-fold.  Then we'll get this thing solved, and be well on our way to "energy self-sufficiency". But it will still take 10 years just to get good things to market, and 20 to fully exploit the new inventions.

Might as well get used to having an oil-based energy system for at least another 20 years.  Peak oil was supposed to have happened by now, and has not.  Plateau oil was then the new theory after the peak thing did not go as expected, and it looks mythical as well.  No doubt, we will reach a point where supply dwindles because there is little left.  Improving usage of pretoleum, improving effiencies across the board, stretching the limited supply needs to be part of the solution.

Oh, and by the way, I do build solar powered generators. I know with current technologies things can work. We just need massive improvements in all areas, solar, wind, geo-thermal, electrical storage, etc, etc.

Maybe we just need to educate Obama...Should we send him Jeffs book or maybe Jeff can move up there and show him a thing or two.  You make solar powered generators , tell me more. Could have used those in FL after hurricane Charley...

You can't seriously believe that this politicians campaign promises are going to be different than any other politicians. He is only different because he is the first African American U.S. president but, that alone does not make him an honest politician? Hey thats an oxymoron, like jumbo shrimp or pretty ugly.
Honest politician.

I can honestly say that, in my personal experiences over the past 15 years, I have had a lot of encounters with people that have had a sincere desire to utilize PV power on their homes and or business'. Some of them were even ecstatic to finally be talking to someone about it but, when I added up the cost minus any government assistance, minus any profit or overhead for the PV system and showed them the price for materials alone, I got reactions that range from a blank stare of disbelief to a look of horror. One fella just let air out between his teeth, turned and walked away.
In my opinion, there is absolutely nothing Barack Obama or any politician could every do to change those reactions from potential investors of PV energy.
While I am on this subject, does anybody know were I can find a list of PV industry CEO's, chairpersons and, their yearly incomes? Can I at least assume that they are not living in slum housing or single wide mobile home parks, riding the bus or driving beater cars and pickup trucks like millions of other American people are? Working fulltime jobs but the pay is at a scale that still allows them to get government assistance for food to feed there children, like millions of American people are?
George W. Bush was paid $400,000.00 a year to be our U.S. president. Does anybody know what Barack Obama is getting paid to be our U.S. president?
Would somebody correct me if I am wrong but, in America, isn't the U.S. president still considered an employee in the public service? Or maybe they would prefer the word official? Lest they be thought of as inferior.