The pictures from Japan are surreal. I had visited Tokyo many years ago. I was struck by the orderliness of everything from the cab drivers who wore spotless white gloves while maintaining a spotlessly clean cab to the rarity of finding so much as a gum wrapper in the street gutter.
The parks were perfectly clean, not because the government kept them that way, but because the people kept them that way. With the few exceptions of the “No Americans” signs on the Ginza, people were unfailingly polite and to the extent possible given the language barrier helpful.
I was on a street corner trying to orient myself to walk to a park. A Japanese man stopped and asked if I needed help. I pointed to the park on the map and the man walked me a block or two and pointed the way before backtracking the way we had come.
I recall sitting down at a restaurant. It was early by Japanese standards so we were the only one’s in the restaurant. The menu was an absolute stopper. So the manager came over and ordered for us. It was a great meal for a very good price. It was confusing because we ate and ate and then the waiter brought out the soup. I thought, oh no, we’ve just started. But apparently soup comes last with some Japanese meals.
It's devastating to see the ruin brought on these people. But I suspect they will recover in a big way. It’s the nukes that are the major concern right now.
I suppose we ought to reconsider building those 50 nuclear power plants Lex called for several posts below, at least until all of the lessons learned from Japan’s experienced can be absorbed. Given the delay nature of government and greenies, that period will probably be about 50 years.
But on the bright side the Japanese seem to be managing the systems pretty well given the devastating hits the facilities and the country have taken. John Bolton has commented that the back up systems were working until the tsunami hit. He believes it is more a matter of where such back up systems are placed. Certainly we can learn from this event and make the nuclear power more secure.
But let’s face facts, the likelihood of us ever building another large scale nuclear reactor are slim to none. So what will Government Motors electric cars run on? Clean nuclear power? Not many. Most will ironically be nothing more than coal burning cars.
So with nuclear off the table, what do we do? Well, according to P-BO’s nutball menagerie, with the exception of burning food for energy, nothing.
That’s right. Nothing. Can’t build nuclear plants now. Can’t drill anywhere there is oil. Can’t pursue oil shale. We can however plant acres and acres of corn to burn in ethanol.
This will be huge issue in 2012. Unless P-BO reverses course and gets us drilling ASAP, gas will go to $5. If he reverses course he will lose the greenies. If he doesn't, he should lose the election.
But Lex it takes 3 years for any new drilling to produce results. I doubt it. Why? Well because that’s the meme that the left and the MSM have been spreading for years. They lie for political purpose. The relief will not be instantaneous, but I seriously doubt it will take three years to produce oil from new wells.
And we know this that even the serious threat of a serious energy policy in the US causes the Arabs to get nervous. They then produce more oil at lower prices. So we should at least pretend that we’re serious about becoming energy independent.
One thing is certain, solar and wind power will not begin to touch the power requirements of recovering US economy let alone a booming one. And consider the lead time required to get these wind farms and solar farms on line. How long do suppose it take to get the leases, install the equipment and get on line. I suspect it’ll be at least three years.
The bottom line is that with nuclear power out of the question, for now, the ONLY viable way to power the American economy is with oil and natural gas. So what to do? Go get the oil.
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