Talk of the Nation Covers Peak Oil
I was pretty surprised yesterday to hear a Talk of the Nation show about The Pursuit of Energy Independence. TOTN is always surpising me by how right-wing it is. Neil Conan regularly interrupts people as they stray into anti-war statements, and often covers only the government or right-wing side of stories.
On yesterday's show, he had two guests: David Friedman, who works with the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Thomas Friedman, who is a columnist with The New York Times. I was shocked to hear the name Union of Concerned Scientists. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember hearing something on Michio Kako's radio show Explorations about how the UCS had done a study for the federal gov't about global warming, and then Bush hid and discredited the results. Hm, I am finding this info about the Bush Administration and science...Here we go, it was the National Academy of Sciences:
"For example, in support of the president’s decision to avoid regulating emissions that cause climate change, the administration has consistently misrepresented the findings of the National Academy of Sciences, government scientists, and the expert community at large. Thus in June 2003, the White House demanded extensive changes in the treatment of climate change in a major report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). To avoid issuing a scientifically indefensible report, EPA officials eviscerated the discussion of climate change and its consequences." (From Scientists' Statement)
Anyhow, on the TOTN show, the one guy was talking about decreasing consumption and how peak oil is coming no matter what, and the other guy was trying to talk about alternative energies such as nuclear. Ha! Where are we going to put the nuclear waste, buddy? And some callers were against decreasing their own driving- one guy lives in a rural area some 60 miles from Reno (or was it Las Vegas?) and was like, how would we drive to Reno? Hello, there won't be electricity to power casinos, and you won't have extra money to spend there!
I agree, public transit sucks. People talked about the need for a real high-speed rail system on the east coast to connect major cities. I just can't see that ever happening in this country. Imagine a high-speed rail system all across the country? Even as Amtrak is circling down the toilet drain...
I guess I should go listen to today's show about online journalism!
On yesterday's show, he had two guests: David Friedman, who works with the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Thomas Friedman, who is a columnist with The New York Times. I was shocked to hear the name Union of Concerned Scientists. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember hearing something on Michio Kako's radio show Explorations about how the UCS had done a study for the federal gov't about global warming, and then Bush hid and discredited the results. Hm, I am finding this info about the Bush Administration and science...Here we go, it was the National Academy of Sciences:
"For example, in support of the president’s decision to avoid regulating emissions that cause climate change, the administration has consistently misrepresented the findings of the National Academy of Sciences, government scientists, and the expert community at large. Thus in June 2003, the White House demanded extensive changes in the treatment of climate change in a major report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). To avoid issuing a scientifically indefensible report, EPA officials eviscerated the discussion of climate change and its consequences." (From Scientists' Statement)
Anyhow, on the TOTN show, the one guy was talking about decreasing consumption and how peak oil is coming no matter what, and the other guy was trying to talk about alternative energies such as nuclear. Ha! Where are we going to put the nuclear waste, buddy? And some callers were against decreasing their own driving- one guy lives in a rural area some 60 miles from Reno (or was it Las Vegas?) and was like, how would we drive to Reno? Hello, there won't be electricity to power casinos, and you won't have extra money to spend there!
I agree, public transit sucks. People talked about the need for a real high-speed rail system on the east coast to connect major cities. I just can't see that ever happening in this country. Imagine a high-speed rail system all across the country? Even as Amtrak is circling down the toilet drain...
I guess I should go listen to today's show about online journalism!
posted by mahtin at 11:04 AM
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