Truth or Consequences -- Friedmans' Op Ed forgets about electricity generation issues
- By Noreen Adler
- Published 05/28/2008
Noreen Adler
Founder and President, Ecobrownstone
Noreen is Founder and President of Ecobrownstone. She has been a resident of brownstone Brooklyn (Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights and Carroll Gardens) for over two decades and has planned, designed and managed a wide range of renovation and real estate development projects in Brooklyn and elsewhere. As a developer she is a member of the NYC Committee evaluating the LEED for Homes Guidelines for application in New York. She also has a personal passion for sculptural relief ceramic tiles and murals which she has designed and fabricated at her studio on the Gowanus Canal.
In today's Op Ed piece Thomas Friedman, I think very ably and correctly, makes the case for a government policy that keeps the price of gas painful to encourage Americans to make fuel efficiency the number-one priority when buying a car. Car makers will only follow the lead of the population buying the cars, but sometimes it takes a nudge from policy initiatives to encourage the population to do the right thing, and since Americans historically have proven that they act passionately and resolutely when their wallets are threatened, it's good advice.
However, Friedman also ends by making the case that some day we should "ultimately . . . move our entire fleet to plug-in electric cars" but that begs the question -- where does that electricity come from to power those plug-in car batteries? This demonstrates the complexity of the energy/global warming conundrum. We would need to increase our electricity production. As coal, with its green house gas emissions, is a predominant fuel for producing electricity in the US at the moment, ramping up production in that fashion to decrease our dependency on oil is like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
What we need is a large scale, far-reaching energy plan that provides for increased energy production through alternative, clean means fueled by renewable sources that do not otherwise have adverse affects on other life-sustaining industries (in other words, that we don't grow corn for bio-fuel at the expense of food); then we will have the energy needed to power those electric cars.
The politicians need to put into place a combination stick and carrot regime - the stick is the forcing of painful gas price measures to encourage fuel economy, and the carrot is creating incentive programs on both industrial and consumer levels. On an industrial scale the government needs to fund research and finance the development of large scale wind, solar and hydro power electricity generation plants. On a consumer level both federal and state governments can offer rebate programs to encourage homeowners to buy fuel efficient vehicles, to incorporate micro energy generation systems on their property, and to conduct household energy audits that lead to clearly identifiable measures (like switching to all CFLs, low-flow faucets, beefing up insulation, replacing windows etc.) to cut down personal energy consumption. Small steps taken on a large scale can have a big impact.
However, Friedman also ends by making the case that some day we should "ultimately . . . move our entire fleet to plug-in electric cars" but that begs the question -- where does that electricity come from to power those plug-in car batteries? This demonstrates the complexity of the energy/global warming conundrum. We would need to increase our electricity production. As coal, with its green house gas emissions, is a predominant fuel for producing electricity in the US at the moment, ramping up production in that fashion to decrease our dependency on oil is like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
What we need is a large scale, far-reaching energy plan that provides for increased energy production through alternative, clean means fueled by renewable sources that do not otherwise have adverse affects on other life-sustaining industries (in other words, that we don't grow corn for bio-fuel at the expense of food); then we will have the energy needed to power those electric cars.
The politicians need to put into place a combination stick and carrot regime - the stick is the forcing of painful gas price measures to encourage fuel economy, and the carrot is creating incentive programs on both industrial and consumer levels. On an industrial scale the government needs to fund research and finance the development of large scale wind, solar and hydro power electricity generation plants. On a consumer level both federal and state governments can offer rebate programs to encourage homeowners to buy fuel efficient vehicles, to incorporate micro energy generation systems on their property, and to conduct household energy audits that lead to clearly identifiable measures (like switching to all CFLs, low-flow faucets, beefing up insulation, replacing windows etc.) to cut down personal energy consumption. Small steps taken on a large scale can have a big impact.
