Where’s the Science Committee? 7

Comments View as Flat

1. 

   Delay And Deny Posted 4:14 pm
   22 May 2009

   We've got to fund the science!To wit:
   http://www.mnn.com/transportation/cars/blogs/hydrogen-hopes-can-they-restore-funding-for-fuel-cellsFuel-cell advocates are none too happy about Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s abrupt decision earlier this month to cancel $100 million in hydrogen funding.
   
   In a joint statement,
   the U.S. Fuel Cell Council and the National Hydrogen Association said,
   “The cuts proposed in the DOE hydrogen and fuel-cell program threaten
   to disrupt commercialization of a family of technologies that are
   showing exceptional promise and beginning to gain market traction.
   Fuel-cell vehicles are not a science experiment. These are real
   vehicles with real marketability and real benefits. Hundreds of
   fuel-cell vehicles have collectively logged millions of miles.”

   Permalink

2. 

   Alec Johnson Posted 4:12 am
   23 May 2009

   I think Chu was wise to cancel that funding. Ulf Boessel, one of Europe's leading Fuel-Cell Technologists dismisses its potential altogether and says that rather than promoting a "hydrogen economy" we should be perfecting the "electron economy," as it is hugely more promising. Joe Romm has also made some excellent points on this subject. Moreover, it was a Fuel-Cell bigot who helped kill the Electric Car in California, to clear the way for the far less efficienct technology of hybrid vehicles. I can't remember his name, but he was the chair of the California CAB and didn't reveal his huge conflict of interest. This story is well known, I'm sure, to readers of this publication and perhaps one of them might pick up where I've left off. It is also documented in the film "Who Killed the Electric Car." It's been said that a society that loses its memory, has lost its mind. This would be a bad time for us to lose either.

   Permalink

3. 

   solargroupies Posted 4:46 am
   23 May 2009

   When congressmen are saying things like "CO2 doesn't cause cancer" as a way of sidetracking the important work they should be doing on climate change, it is time for education. We deserve leaders who understand the science and complexity of systems thinking, including the climate system. I recently began a "No Congressman Left Behind" education series to bring science to Congress! It includes lessons from a master teacher, cited by the AAAS and NAS Science Standards, NOAA and NASA data as well as 50 years of work from independent scientists. You can see Lesson 3 here: http://oakleighvermont.com/blog/no-congressman-left-behind-lesson-3 

   Permalink

   1. 

      Tyler Durden Posted 11:02 am
      24 May 2009

      This is not about educating.  Politicians act in their own interests (i.e., getting reelected) and we have the best government money can buy.  Those who claim that human-caused global climate change doesn't exist are just parroting the line of the industries that support them.  They couldn't care less whether it exists.And for those who really believe that it doesn't, that's because people who don't want to give up their environmentally destructive lifestyles will do anything to convince themselves that they're not harming anything.  For them, this is about spiritual education, i.e., learning that as individuals we are just drops of water in the ocean and what happens to the ocean is infinitely more important than what happens to us drops.  These people can be shown all the facts in the world, doing so won't change their beliefs or attitudes.I know there are a few honest politicians in Congress and education might change the minds of a tiny number, but don't get your hopes up.

      Permalink

4. 

   Steven Earl Salmony Posted 5:38 am
   23 May 2009

   President Barack Obama offers us a different kind of leadership and a new direction. I believe we can follow his leadership and, thereby, assure a good enough future for the children and coming generations.
   
   On the other hand, if the venal, “business as usual” deniers of science who have provided leadership during the past eight years were to end up having their way, then I fear the worst for our children.
   
   If my parents generation was “the greatest generation” in history, clearly their children {ie, my generation of leading elders} have shown ourselves to be “the worst generation” in history because we will be known to our children as the generation that refused to learn how to live sustainably and, just as astoundingly, was full of pride and confidence with regard to our unsustainable behavior, even if that behavior meant the destruction of life as we know it on this good Earth for our children. My generation will be remembered as a generation of conspicuous consumers and excessive hoarders whose denial of science and unbridled avarice resulted in spectacular abuses of the Earth; whose unmitigated and unconscionable arrogance resulted in the irreversible degradation of the environment, the massive extirpation of biodiversity, the reckless dissipation of Earth’s body and the endangerment of the children.
   
   Perhaps necessary change is in the offing.

   Permalink

5. 

   Delay And Deny Posted 8:09 am
   23 May 2009

   I think Chu was wise to cancel that funding.  In general, I agree.  Hydrogen is the one commerically viable alternative energy...so it no longer needs much Government funding and can be driven by industry.However, I believe it's worth moderate support of programs like those at South Carolina and the Department of Energy when its research rather than production oriented.

   Permalink

   1. 

      solargroupies Posted 1:05 pm
      24 May 2009

      Hydrogen will not be commercially viable until we can refine it in large quantities, without using enormous amounts of energy and without using fossil fuels as the raw material. And we will need a multi-billion dollar infrastructure as well.

      Permalink