Shadowfax: I don’t think you’re a Leftie at all, in fact, like Gandalf and SK and afx, you’re one of the more intelligent, thoughtful and rational posters on the board. When I think of the word “liberal” (and not as a pejorative, but a compliment, mind you), you’re in that group.
But the point that observation makes is what’s actually sad. We’re now so polarized that the support of green/clean energy is now part of the Left versus Right rubric. And, those that have been heavily propagandized/indoctrinated, like BigGubment, immediately revert to form and begin slinging insults and invective when questioned objectively about something that needs to be economically viable before it can challenge existing energy sources.
I think nuke should be included in the green/clean tech category and I think we need to be able to actually assess how these technologies “pencil”, in terms of cost- and time-effectiveness (how much energy can be produced and at what cost and how quickly).
I would imagine someone like EconProf, who is an actual teacher of economics, can undoubtedly state it less baldly than I, but ever since turning green energy, AGW, and climate change into religion, we’ve been unable to have a serious discussion on the topic without accusations flying back and forth and any questioning turning into heresy.
This country has been promised an Energy Policy (capital E and capital P) since the Nixon Administration, but it hasn’t materialized. The hidden costs of import oil, especially in American blood, are unconscionably expensive, but what people like BigGubment don’t realize is that, without a realistic and cost-effective replacement, the discussion is moot.
