by David Safier
If you haven't voted yet, VOTE! And if friends haven't voted, drag them to the polls.
Meanwhile, on a topic more suitable to the 2010 election a year from now:
Cap'n Al Melvin attended a town hall in Oro Valley October 30, sponsored by Americans for Prosperity and the Goldwater Institute. He praised the sponsors' efforts to rein in state budget spending, then spoke about why things are in the legislative mess they are today. It's because in the state senate, two Republicans are far left, and two others are "loser-tarians." Apparently he got a big laugh from some members of the audience for his little word play.
I'm wondering if Melvin knows G.I. tends toward the "loser-tarian" camp. Maybe he's still sore that some of the major anti-nanny state, libertarian-leaning factions blasted him for his proposed bill to ban texting while driving, one of the few areas where he and I agree.
Melvin ended his indictment of the lefties and losers by saying that most Senate Republicans are "moderates — like me."
On a separate note, Melvin is a big fan of nuclear power plants. The more the better, as many as possible in Southern Arizona. So it's of note that he's been appointed co-chair of the Senate ad hoc Committee on Energy and Development. He wants Arizona to "become the most atomic energy friendly state in the Union." His fellow heavyweight is David Gowan of LD-30.
Not enough for you? The ad hoc committee on Mining Regulations is headed by Sylvia Allen, who thinks all that stuff buried in the earth is 6000 years old, tops.
Arizona's Republicans. Applying 19th century thinking to 21st century issues.
(Thanks to the Data Port at the Tucson Citizen and Daniel Patterson's News and Views for the committee assignments and a friend who braved the town hall for the "loser-tarian" quote.)
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Right now there is talk of building dozens of new nuclear power plants around the world within the next ten years.
Given what I wrote (i.e that our supply of Uranium as a fuel isn’t enough for long term energy stability at even current usage rates), is your simplistic supply and demand statement worth visiting in regards to energy policy now, or should we wait until after we give away a bunch of government money to contractors who want to build nuclear power plants? I know you claim to be a libertarian…well there hasn’t ever been a nuclear power plant built in the U.S. via the free market, every single one has used public money (e.g. gov backed loan guarantees). They cost too much and are too risky for investors. The ones they are talking about building are going to use taxpayer money.
Nothing like dumping a bunch of taxpayer money into multinational corporations so the can build power plants that have to be mothballed. I mean the MNC’s won’t care, they will make money whether the power plants come on line or not.
Here is the article I was talking about: http://is.gd/4NfGd
I’m not even anti-nuclear power. I am a geoscientist who once tried to get a job in the field. I also think if we could develop Thorium as a source that gives somewhat more of a supply of fuel. I just think we need to decide if the fuel is there, given the extremely high public costs of nuclear power. I also think the Republican/Libertarian reactionary contrariness and their underlying hatred of science deludes them into not asking hard questions.
One problem with claims, predictions and forecasts that X (whether X is oil or uranium) is that they fail to account for the fact that if current known stores of an energy source are depleted then the price of that energy will go up and then people will use less of it or find another source of energy.
I read a sobering article recently at the oil drum website discussing how after you cut through all the chest thrusting and hand waving in the strategic minerals assessments, there is about an 80 year supply of accessible uranium at current usage rates (i.e. all the uranium in the world doesn’t mean anything if it scattered across the globe at 10 parts per million).
Maybe Sylvia Allen thinks Jesus is going to bury some more in the next couple years.