Arizona is an energy island. All gasoline comes from either Texas or California. Growing like a weed in the desert, demand just keep going up and the pipeline capacity does not. California wants Arizona’s water and Arizona tells them to pound sand. When it hits the fan in California, where it will hit first in this country, will California have lines for gasoline and still ship it to Arizona? No.
Today they got two exciting pieces of energy news in AZ. First, the EPA toughened the smog standards. The current standard is effectively 0.084 part per million or below. The new standard will be 0.075. This is the part I love. Doing this will prevent 900 to 1,000 premature deaths a year and have 5,600 fewer hospital or emergency room visits. And, it will save $2 billion to $19 billion in health care costs. But, it will cost from $7 billion to $11 billion to implement. The only numbers I believe are hard numbers are the costs, and I know who will pay those. Higher prices for you and me.
Also, the Sierra Club and the Grand Canyon Trust and Center for Biological Diversity sued to stop drilling for uranium near the Grand Canyon. Why: "the Grand Canyon simply isn’t the place for uranium development" nuff said. Doesn’t matter if there is uranium there, we just don’t want anyone drilling there.
Of course, AZ is an island for electricity too. Most comes from nuclear which requires uranium. There is a solar project coming. It will cost seven times the cost for a kilowatt over the present cost from nuclear and require large amounts of water, sorry California, but it will be clean. How would you like to pay 7 times your 2007 electric bill?
The insanity will not end until you and I say enough. The Nation of Islam will beat us because they will decide at a time not too far down the road that they have been patient enough. Cut off the oil. Then your neighbor will decide he wants your gasoline so he can get to work. If he has a gun, he will get it. No one will live North of the Mason Dixon line since there will be no heat. No jobs. No economy. Who will be to blame, us. We let this insanity happen.
You had better decide where you stand on these issues. Being passive is fine, but it’s your kids and grandkids who will suffer. I’m tired of passive. I know that this country must have a reasonable energy policy to survive and there will be trade offs. I will donate time and money to any organization that supports this. I am more of an environmentalists than Al Gore, but I believe he and others like him are destroying this country. Sound thinking citizens have to step up and take a stance. Screw the Sierra Club.
