The Political Discussion Thread

[mad_gater]

Peak Oil is still centuries in the future we have no actual idea of how much oil is down there.

And it is going to be so impossible to get off of oil because so many products are oil based, and that Government has done a large and good job of creating a dependance on Oil. And by doing the usual propping up of Oil companies and the things of that nature. And I do not think our current Government is going to go for the whole cheap and efficient thing, it does not match their political objectives.

tell me about it...so far all I've seen is "if it costs the citizenry less, reject it" from the government....

[mad_gater]

Well then make that your crusade.

not much I can do to other than to write blogs about it....

[Col.Foley]

tell me about it...so far all I've seen is "if it costs the citizenry less, reject it" from the government....

well you have the statement from Obama that under his plan energy costs will neccessarilly sky rocket. Which, granted a very cynical interpretation, is that he does not want efficiency and cheaper costs and just wants high energy costs for his own political objectives and ideology, whatever that may be.

not much I can do to other than to write blogs about it....

For now.

[Rickington]

which is why one of my blogs dealt with using algae as a natural source of oil.......one use could be to make plastics out of that instead of out of petroleum...using a natural source like algae to make plastics could be less risky healthwise too....if only we were doing this while my dad was working in plastics.....then he might not have been exposed to benzene and gotten cancer that he died from later down the road....

I'm sorry to hear that. I've lost family members to cancer from potentially unknown sources . My cousin, Rachael, was taken away from my family at the young age of 34 .

Anyways, I believe that coal and oil as a power source is a 20th-century solution, and thus, since we are in the 21st century, is outdated as a solution to generate our electrical power. I've brought up the topic of using thorium as a power source on other forums, it has the potential to be a much more efficient, cleaner, safer, and more abundant source of energy when compared to coal, oil, and even our current nuclear power technology (i.e. uranium/plutonium power stations). On the plus side for thorium, it's physical properties prevent it from being used as a fuel source for a nuclear weapon because thorium cannot go into fission, unlike uranium and plutonium..., which means we could potentially alleviate the whole Iran "nuclear power" situation by giving them plans/etc to build thorium-reactors, which again, are useless for nuclear weapon production.

[Col.Foley]

I'm sorry to hear that. I've lost family members to cancer from potentially unknown sources . My cousin, Rachael, was taken away from my family at the young age of 34 .

Anyways, I believe that coal and oil as a power source is a 20th-century solution, and thus, since we are in the 21st century, is outdated as a solution to generate our electrical power. I've brought up the topic of using thorium as a power source on other forums, it has the potential to be a much more efficient, cleaner, safer, and more abundant source of energy when compared to coal, oil, and even our current nuclear power technology (i.e. uranium/plutonium power stations). On the plus side for thorium, it's physical properties prevent it from being used as a fuel source for a nuclear weapon because thorium cannot go into fission, unlike uranium and plutonium..., which means we could potentially alleviate the whole Iran "nuclear power" situation by giving them plans/etc to build thorium-reactors, which again, are useless for nuclear weapon production.

interesting

[Rickington]

interesting

I say if we do eventually build thorium reactors in this country, we should give or trade away a few of them to Iran for their older "nuclear power research" materials.

[mad_gater]

I'm sorry to hear that. I've lost family members to cancer from potentially unknown sources . My cousin, Rachael, was taken away from my family at the young age of 34 .

Anyways, I believe that coal and oil as a power source is a 20th-century solution, and thus, since we are in the 21st century, is outdated as a solution to generate our electrical power. I've brought up the topic of using thorium as a power source on other forums, it has the potential to be a much more efficient, cleaner, safer, and more abundant source of energy when compared to coal, oil, and even our current nuclear power technology (i.e. uranium/plutonium power stations). On the plus side for thorium, it's physical properties prevent it from being used as a fuel source for a nuclear weapon because thorium cannot go into fission, unlike uranium and plutonium..., which means we could potentially alleviate the whole Iran "nuclear power" situation by giving them plans/etc to build thorium-reactors, which again, are useless for nuclear weapon production.

maybe......but if your source of oil is from a plant rather than crude oil....I think the idea is that plant oil would burn more cleanly....algae could also be used in power plants in the vents to capture the carbon dioxide and convert it to oxygen so that the only thing coming out of those power plant vents would be oxygen

[Col.Foley]

I say if we do eventually build thorium reactors in this country, we should give or trade away a few of them to Iran for their older "nuclear power research" materials.

Two problems with that.

One they do actually want the bomb for their stated objectives.

Two. Even though the weapons cannot go nuclear you can use any sufficient advanced power generating technology and adapt it to become a weapon. I do not see how this is an exception. It may not go nuclear but the kind of power generation that you are talking about and that you want is going to make a heck of a bang if used for that.

[mad_gater]

I say if we do eventually build thorium reactors in this country, we should give or trade away a few of them to Iran for their older "nuclear power research" materials.

all sounds pretty neat provided thorium doesn't have the same health risks as say petroleum

[Rickington]

Two. Even though the weapons cannot go nuclear you can use any sufficient advanced power generating technology and adapt it to become a weapon. I do not see how this is an exception. It may not go nuclear but the kind of power generation that you are talking about and that you want is going to make a heck of a bang if used for that.

Wrong... as I have said in the past, thorium-based reactors are also 100% meltdown-proof...

[Col.Foley]

Wrong... as I have said in the past, thorium-based reactors are also 100% meltdown-proof...

i don't care, you can still use it as a weapon. Even if it is for rail guns or particle beams and not the reactors themselves.

[Rickington]

i don't care, you can still use it as a weapon. Even if it is for rail guns or particle beams and not the reactors themselves.

The same can be said for almost any power source... including non-nuclear ones.

[mad_gater]

Wrong... as I have said in the past, thorium-based reactors are also 100% meltdown-proof...

so you say....

I think what Foley is getting at is that we are very clever as a species.....just because one hasn't been successfully adapted as a weapon yet doesn't mean it couldn't be adapted for a weapon at some point in the future

[Rickington]

so you say....

I think what Foley is getting at is that we are very clever as a species.....just because one hasn't been successfully adapted as a weapon yet doesn't mean it couldn't be adapted for a weapon at some point in the future

And we're also a ruthless, cunning, and mistrusting species, especially when it comes to international relations.

[Col.Foley]

The same can be said for almost any power source... including non-nuclear ones.

I know, thats the point, and that is why I would be very weary about trading it with the Iranians as long as the current Government and current political class is in power. I happen to like Israel very much and think they deserve the right to survive as a people, thank you.

so you say....

I think what Foley is getting at is that we are very clever as a species.....just because one hasn't been successfully adapted as a weapon yet doesn't mean it couldn't be adapted for a weapon at some point in the future