captmike28
Well-Known Angler
Sorry for the long rant but I am pretty passionate about this subject. I have commented plenty already about this so this is my last complete "airing of my grievances"!
Fishing Nerd, if you have seen my comments on this issue made both in this thread and others on this board, then you should recall that I am an advocate of a multi-pronged approach to addressing both the US and the World’s energy needs. However, in almost every aspect of life it seems obvious to most people that moderation in the approach and careful preplanning is the best way to ensure long term success.
You made a comment about how you don’t see gas stations and refineries are going to close anytime soon. While I believe that is true, I also observe that there are growing numbers of “environmental zealots” who really believe we can live in an idyllic world with “zero carbon emissions and free energy for all”. In fact, if they had their way they would certainly try and completely phase out all fossil fuel driven machinery in 10 years or less if they could. Look at the Biden’s administration goal of a 50% reduction of our Carbon Emissions by 2030, less than 10 years away. What about California’s plan to sell only Electric cars by 2035, less than 15 years away. I don’t care how rapidly technology advances these goals seem totally unrealistic and could be just the start of drastically cutting our use of oil and even the cleaner sources like natural gas and nuclear energy. If we gallop towards these false flags then society as a whole is headed for a total collapse.
Governments and politicians routinely make these broad, sweeping statements about how they know better than the rest of us. Yet their feeble attempts at trying to make this type of world-shaking transition happen is totally based upon how much or our taxpayer dollars they can throw at the problem. Virtually every project involving wind and solar power is only economically feasible because of ridiculously huge government subsidies. And even with that, the supposed beneficiaries of this technology are still paying more per KW hour than they were with the more traditional energy sources. Do we even have to discuss the hypocrisy of these politicians and super wealthy donors who want to tell us how to live our lives while they continue to be the largest consumers of energy. I don’t see folks like Joh Kerry, or Al Gore, or any of these supposed experts downsizing their mansions, selling their private planes, or dumping their huge yachts. And heaven for bid if you want to put up a wind farm that might disturb their precious multimillion dollar views. So, I guess you might say I am very skeptical of the folks who are pushing this agenda really hard. Maintaining their own political power always seems to be the real motive behind their actions.
Youi have also commented on how we should be careful not to allow our countries energy sources to be controlled by foreign and possibly hostile entities. As I recall, during the last 2 years the US was practically energy independent by using all the forms of energy at our disposal. Now if we go in the direction of wind and solar full speed ahead where do you think most of that technology is coming from? Of the top 10 producers of wind turbines, the US has only one, GE. Two of the other 10 are in China and 3 are in Germany. With Solar Panels, Asian Companies have almost a monopoly on this market. Sure, some of them have now set up plants in the US because the Trump Administration levied high tariffs on them but it still seems like a big national security risk if we throw all our eggs in that basket. And, just because many other countries are pursuing this direction does not mean the US has to follow them off a potential cliff! We are leaders, not followers, that’s why everyone wants to live in and emulate the USA!!
So, what are the real roots of this major push towards renewable energy? From what I have read we have enough oil and natural gas to sustain the planet for at least another 200 years. And if we ever got over our fears of another accident at a power plant (which you can never completely eradicate with any form of energy) then it seems to me that nuclear power is as close to a limitless source as exists. My opinion stems from my belief that politicians worldwide figured out that “Climate Change” is the one issue that no one could ever argue with because we all want to “save the planet”, right? In my own lifetime I have witnessed the zealots go from warning us about “Global Cooling” (anyone remember the Time magazine cover showing the earth as a big snowball) to “Global Warming” to the latest distortion of our language, the all-encompassing term “Climate Change”. Sure, the weather changes all the time. But if you look at things in perspective you realize this has been happening since the beginning of recorded history. How much of an ego do you have to possess (or power hungry do you have to be) to think that man can actually counteract the forces of mature enough to affect the temperature of the entire planet or affect the rise and fall of the seas.
I was trained in the biological sciences and worked in the medical community for 40 years of my life. I have been fishing recreationally for over 65 years and have operated my own successful charter business for the last 20 years. So, it should be self-evident that I have a great deal of concern and am strongly in favor of protecting our environment and the sport we all love, but only when the path forward makes sense. While Offshore Wind Turbines may be a part of the overall energy picture let’s not fool ourselves by looking at only a few small positives. One last example I will mention is the observation we all have that almost any structure in the ocean quickly becomes a home for many different species. However, what should not be overlooked is that this is not really increasing the overall quantity of fish, just change the locations where they congregate. This too can have an adverse effect by making it even easier to target and overfish certain species.
Once again, I want to emphasize that I believe we should be approaching a seismic change in the way our society operates in a very careful and measured fashion with scientific data from all different perspectives given the full weight of consideration. Not just listen to the latest person who screams the loudest “the sky is falling”!!!!!
Fishing Nerd, if you have seen my comments on this issue made both in this thread and others on this board, then you should recall that I am an advocate of a multi-pronged approach to addressing both the US and the World’s energy needs. However, in almost every aspect of life it seems obvious to most people that moderation in the approach and careful preplanning is the best way to ensure long term success.
You made a comment about how you don’t see gas stations and refineries are going to close anytime soon. While I believe that is true, I also observe that there are growing numbers of “environmental zealots” who really believe we can live in an idyllic world with “zero carbon emissions and free energy for all”. In fact, if they had their way they would certainly try and completely phase out all fossil fuel driven machinery in 10 years or less if they could. Look at the Biden’s administration goal of a 50% reduction of our Carbon Emissions by 2030, less than 10 years away. What about California’s plan to sell only Electric cars by 2035, less than 15 years away. I don’t care how rapidly technology advances these goals seem totally unrealistic and could be just the start of drastically cutting our use of oil and even the cleaner sources like natural gas and nuclear energy. If we gallop towards these false flags then society as a whole is headed for a total collapse.
Governments and politicians routinely make these broad, sweeping statements about how they know better than the rest of us. Yet their feeble attempts at trying to make this type of world-shaking transition happen is totally based upon how much or our taxpayer dollars they can throw at the problem. Virtually every project involving wind and solar power is only economically feasible because of ridiculously huge government subsidies. And even with that, the supposed beneficiaries of this technology are still paying more per KW hour than they were with the more traditional energy sources. Do we even have to discuss the hypocrisy of these politicians and super wealthy donors who want to tell us how to live our lives while they continue to be the largest consumers of energy. I don’t see folks like Joh Kerry, or Al Gore, or any of these supposed experts downsizing their mansions, selling their private planes, or dumping their huge yachts. And heaven for bid if you want to put up a wind farm that might disturb their precious multimillion dollar views. So, I guess you might say I am very skeptical of the folks who are pushing this agenda really hard. Maintaining their own political power always seems to be the real motive behind their actions.
Youi have also commented on how we should be careful not to allow our countries energy sources to be controlled by foreign and possibly hostile entities. As I recall, during the last 2 years the US was practically energy independent by using all the forms of energy at our disposal. Now if we go in the direction of wind and solar full speed ahead where do you think most of that technology is coming from? Of the top 10 producers of wind turbines, the US has only one, GE. Two of the other 10 are in China and 3 are in Germany. With Solar Panels, Asian Companies have almost a monopoly on this market. Sure, some of them have now set up plants in the US because the Trump Administration levied high tariffs on them but it still seems like a big national security risk if we throw all our eggs in that basket. And, just because many other countries are pursuing this direction does not mean the US has to follow them off a potential cliff! We are leaders, not followers, that’s why everyone wants to live in and emulate the USA!!
So, what are the real roots of this major push towards renewable energy? From what I have read we have enough oil and natural gas to sustain the planet for at least another 200 years. And if we ever got over our fears of another accident at a power plant (which you can never completely eradicate with any form of energy) then it seems to me that nuclear power is as close to a limitless source as exists. My opinion stems from my belief that politicians worldwide figured out that “Climate Change” is the one issue that no one could ever argue with because we all want to “save the planet”, right? In my own lifetime I have witnessed the zealots go from warning us about “Global Cooling” (anyone remember the Time magazine cover showing the earth as a big snowball) to “Global Warming” to the latest distortion of our language, the all-encompassing term “Climate Change”. Sure, the weather changes all the time. But if you look at things in perspective you realize this has been happening since the beginning of recorded history. How much of an ego do you have to possess (or power hungry do you have to be) to think that man can actually counteract the forces of mature enough to affect the temperature of the entire planet or affect the rise and fall of the seas.
I was trained in the biological sciences and worked in the medical community for 40 years of my life. I have been fishing recreationally for over 65 years and have operated my own successful charter business for the last 20 years. So, it should be self-evident that I have a great deal of concern and am strongly in favor of protecting our environment and the sport we all love, but only when the path forward makes sense. While Offshore Wind Turbines may be a part of the overall energy picture let’s not fool ourselves by looking at only a few small positives. One last example I will mention is the observation we all have that almost any structure in the ocean quickly becomes a home for many different species. However, what should not be overlooked is that this is not really increasing the overall quantity of fish, just change the locations where they congregate. This too can have an adverse effect by making it even easier to target and overfish certain species.
Once again, I want to emphasize that I believe we should be approaching a seismic change in the way our society operates in a very careful and measured fashion with scientific data from all different perspectives given the full weight of consideration. Not just listen to the latest person who screams the loudest “the sky is falling”!!!!!
