Solar scariness

I was on MSNBC this morning and saw the headline about how Toyota is planning to offer a limited solar setup on a higher end model of the Prius, although they are calling it a largely "symbolic" measure.

I did a blog quite some time ago about the efficiency of solar, and how some people's perception of it is just a tad bit overinflated.

Over the last few months, I've been seeing a swing in the other direction though, and I find it a little bit disturbing. There is already a new solar technology in place that renders most of the crap in the article out of date. We have panels out right now made and developed right here in the good old US of A that are made without silicone, MUCH cheaper and even with a higher output! Of course, we can't buy them here because Germany bought everything they can produce for the first year.

Here we are facing a bit of an energy crunch, and the story recently broke that some solar power plants in the desert that have been put on hold for the next (at least) two years pending "environmental impact studies."

Now ...as much as some people would like to point a finger and say "you see! ...it's the environmentalist wackjobs doing it!!!" Odd that it's the BLM doing it, citing environmental concerns, yet I can't find a SINGLE environmental group claiming responsibility!

...does anyone really buy this?!

I don't really care so much for the partisan shit, so check your blue or red tinted glasses at the door.

In other headlines, we have the story about how we've just sold about 100K acres of forest in a back room deal to be used as subdivision housing.

Although the oil companies would have us believe that we need to open up MORE land for drilling domestically; they already HAVE over 40 million acres of public land FOR drilling, and aren't even touching over 75% of it!

We could certainly be getting the oil domestically that we are getting from the middle east now, and it wouldn't even take any more drilling to do it. The reason we buy oil from OPEC is that it's CHEAPER than producing it domestically. Reality check folks. More drilling only protects a future source of income; at present it doesn't affect actual supply ...only the cost of getting at it.

So it's all over the headlines about more land being opened up for drilling, more land is being sold off for subdivisions...

...and yet solar power plants in the middle of the desert is being held off by that oh, so powerful group of environmentalists wanting to protect a desert species of lizard or something?!

As I said, red or blue ...if something about that excuse doesn't stink to you, then maybe you should start asking what it would TAKE?!