What are the pros and cons of oil drilling in the national forests and parks?
The obvious pro of drilling for oil in a national park is the money. Where there is oil, there is money. Simple as that. That is really the only pro in that and almost any scenario. The cons are as follows: Oil is used to make gasoline, which when burned adds to the greenhouse gases. When oil burns, it adds to the green house gases. Drilling uses heavy duty machinery, which adds to the greenhouse gases. You will need to take down some trees to get to the oil. Two problems with this. One, the machinery adds to the greenhouse gases and two, the trees are no longer able to make oxygen after their death. National forests and parks are protected by law from drilling, so it is illegal. In conclusion, I say no to drilling for oil and suggest other means of getting energy.
Has Trump been successful, more so than Obama? If so, what is the real reason?
This questioner must only listen to Faux and rush!From what I remember reading, Obama [with the worst obstructionist congress in recent memory for 6 out of the 8 years Obama was President] completed 40- 60% of his promises and he did it with class and as the leading diplomat of the world. He also restored THE RESPECT the USA had lost over the previous president. So, did President Obama keep all his promises, NO but he did a pretty decent job, AND NO SCANDALS or for eight years!As for trump who said he would NOT use executive orders [which he uses MORE than most ALL past presidents] [and we won’t mention all his golfing that his companies are making monies from], oh I digress, I read that about 50% of those executive orders are in court or found unconstitutional and ended up either being tossed or watered down and re-written [Muslim ban took three tries and even then the Supreme s only allowed some of it, and remember where 95% of the 911 attackers came from Saudi Arabia was NOT on that list,hmm].He also said he would help minorities well just ask women, GLBTQ, Many Mexicans and others see how they feel after 2 years of trump.I could go on with the Wall, the Tax cut for the rich, making immigrationinhumane, gutting ACA and replacing it with something WORSE, making a mess out of foreign policy [foreign policy is VERY important in KEEPING America GREAT and SAFE], the trade wars that trump started at the experience of AMERICANS and I could go on and on and on and on.Oh and trump has made the USA MORE of a laughing stock of the World, than Obama ever did!But the promise trump never made in public, is that he has kept to promises that he [trump] would become an ASSET to the dictators of the world especially Putin’s Russia and Saudi Arabia and North Korea!!So I HOPE AMERICA that in 2020 we can start repairing the above promise kept and find leadership in the Eisenhower/Obama spirit and return THE US of A BACK to the GREATEST COUNTRY IN TH WORLD, Santa I hope your reading this!!
How will reducing greenhouse gas emissions affect the American economy?
My Goodness! My variables were very pessimistic. For instance "How likely is it that national policies that make carbon fuels more expensive will stimulate technological innovation that raises energy efficiency or makes renewable energy alternatives less expensive?" I think the exact opposite is true. Higher prices mean higher profits, and suppression of alternate energy. That's all we've seen and that's all we're going to see. We wouldn't still be using petroleum if anything else were true. My predicted outcome was 2.989% growth versus the "business as usual" (do nothing) outcome of 3.0% growth.
Nobel Prize Winning Physicist Robert Laughlin says 'people don't control climate' is he right?
Jeff - Since you refuse to provide links to show the Nobel prize winning physicist you list as proponents of man-made Global Warming, I can only count 10 out of the list of names you provide. The Chemists don't count, some of the physicists you list might be valid but I can't find clear statements of their position. You get full credit for all of these: Burton Richter - Physicist, Steven Chu - Physicist, Carlo Rubbia - Physicist, Murray Gell-Mann - Physicist, Peter Grünberg - Physicist, Claude Cohen‐Tannoudji - Physicist, David Gross - Physicist, Klaus von Klitzing - Physicist, Masatashi Koshiba - Physicist, Jack Steinberger - Physicist. But you did better than I thought you could. -----------------------
What are the pros and cons of petroleum [oil]?
Pros Oil is one of the most abundant energy resources Liquid form of oil makes it easy to transport and use Oil has high heating value Relatively inexpensive No new technology needed to use Cons Oil burning leads to carbon emissions Finite resources (some disagree) Oil recovery processes not efficient enough—technology needs to be developed to provide better yields Oil drilling endangers the environment and ecosystems Oil transportation (by ship) can lead to spills, causing environmental and ecological damage (major oil spill near Spain in late Fall 2002) Issues The world consumes more than 65 billion barrels of petroleum each day. By 2015 the consumption will increase to 99 billion barrels per day. Fossil fuels such as oil take billions of years to form. In 1996, the Energy Information Administration estimates of crude oil reserves were 22 Billi barrels. In 1972, the estimate was 36.3 billion barrels. Cost of oil has dropped since 1977. It was $15 per barrel then. It was $5 at the time the authors wrote the book. Now the price of oil has sky-rocketed in 2008-2009. Middle Eastern oil countries are with holding oil until they can shock people with higher gas prices into buying with common techniques like supply and demand.
If the vast majority of Republicans are religious, why are they so much against renewable energy that's good for the environment/planet?
Most republicans aren’t against renewable energy. But what’s your definition of renewable energy and what’s your definition of good for the environment\planet? Here’s where a lot of people can disagree and also where even liberals will disagree.Many people (not me) are against wind power since birds die in the rotating turbines.Many people (not me) are against hydropower, since it can interfere with fish migration and breeding.Many people (I’m against this one) are against ethanol in cars. I don’t like it since it’s bad for the car engine, it uses as much or more eneregy to create the ethanol as it produces and it adds to the cost. If I’m against ethanol does that make me against renewable energy?Many people are against nuclear power (NOT ME). Nuclear power emits no CO2 or other particulates into the atmosphere. The biggest problem is the spent fuel, however 90% of that spent fuel can be reprocessed to use again as fuel rods. Only 10% of a spent rod is really spent and really bad. Radiation naturally exists (it’s part of reason earth core is molten).Many people are for solar (me too).Keep in mind, I want electricity 24x7. using only solar or only wind power with our current technology does not work. We can’t efficiently store energy to meet the demands of the US population. Generators can’t just be turned on\off when there is a demand above what solar can provide (or wind) since it takes a long time to heat up the water to the proper temperature.Even though I’m for solar. I am 100% against what Obama did for Solyndra and subsidized a company that produces solar panels. If the US is to invest,we should invest more in our schools, including colleges for BS, MS and PHD degrees. We need more people studying STEM majors. We should help as a country to defray cost more for school for those majors since there is a critical need. Who knows what the major energy source for US will be in 50 years. It is very likely it is not even invented yet.