News this morning of an important find in the form of considerable natural gas reserves under Alaska's North Slope. Predictable reactions from the environmental community ensue, including the required statement of the absolute necessity to retain the area in its pristine state, yada yada yada.
No amount of conservation is going to solve the energy problem. No one source of energy is going to solve the energy problem. The energy problem will not be solved without some trade-offs.
The final paragraph of this article is also one of my pet peeves...the almost reflexive impulse that reporters have in attempting to undercut the efficacy of energy solutions by pointing to how long it will take to bring that reserve to market. So what? The existence of the field in and of itself has an impact on the market.
Using the media's philosophy on the futility of embarking on real solutions that might take 10 years or more, may I suggest that we divert all federal funding for cancer research, aids research and, oh what the heck, autism research and help pay down the federal debt. At least with ANWAR and the North Slope, we KNOW there is a solution to a pressing problem. The others we can only hope have solutions.
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