BCT Editorial – 8/20/08

This page was last updated on August 23, 2008.

Power failure; Editorial; Beaver County Times; August 20, 2008.

The editorial subtitle is “Americans must become realistic about supply, demand of electricity.”

The editorial says, “We’re allowing our infrastructure to crumble to Third World status, making it that much harder to compete in the global economy.” As I’ve written previously, “Third World” is at or near the top of the list of the Times most overused terms of hyperbole. This is at least the fifth editorial this year alone (The previous four were “Stoop labor,” “Cattle call,” “Lapped,” and “Poor health”.) that’s compared the U.S. to the Third World.

Later on we read, “Americans want to use electricity without the inconvenience of how it is produced and delivered. They want more electricity to run their high-tech toys, but they don’t want the power plants, coal-fired or nuclear, that produce it in their communities.” The editorial failed to mention the same could be said for windmills and solar collectors. In any case, how widespread is the NIMBY (not in my backyard) sentiment? Remember, much of the opposition to nuclear power and energy from so-called fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, oil) comes from people on the left who oppose any energy source that doesn’t qualify as “renewable” and “clean.” Watch for the “clean” qualifier. This term is constantly redefined so no currently economically viable energy source is ever “clean.”

Finally, the editorial tells us “While important, conservation only goes so far. Our nation needs to produce more electricity and to be able to deliver it where it needs to go.” No kidding, but just five days ago the subtitle for “Starting now” read “The quickest way to energy independence is through conservation.” What happened over those five days? This is what happens when your positions are based on politics and not a set of logical core principles.