Mining under the surface vs. Mining above the surface

[The2ndWheel]

Oil and coal = no good.

Solar and wind = good.

Why?

Would we just end up creating different environmental problems, possibly on a larger scale because we categorize alternatives(which oil technically is) as clean?

Is physical reality escapable just because you can't see it?

Is attempting to harness "live" energy that helps regulate the planet decreasing the impact we have from attempting to extract "dead" energy that was consolidated and stored for geological reasons?

[Hydra]

1. We should simply be doing it to lessen all environmental impact

And so we won't be put in a price crunch like we are now on the excuse of "limited supply."

If we were running on sun energy, I could simply get another solar panel if the oil companies or my electric company was jerking me around.

Right now, I have to suck it up and pay huge amounts to pollute. No win.

[Dogmudgeon]

2. Then GE could jerk you -- and all of us -- around.

Solar panels are likewise made by big corporations. They use exotic metals -- trace amounts, but the metals tend to be rare, anyway, and some are incredibly toxic.

We need political reform, not (merely) a change in the form of energy we use.

Petrochemical prices will not be coming down to pre-2001 levels; maybe gas will go back to $2.50 a gallon for a year or two, but natural gas is also getting more expensive, and there is no market panic there. If you, personally, want to have to suck up less, you will have to bike more, insulate your house as tight as a fridge, change some habits, and put some effort into it. You might even have to move to be closer to work.

It's what James Kunstler calls "making other arrangements".

--p!

[Hydra]

3. I'm already doing that

And I have to commute 30 miles to work every morning.

Some us can't cut down, so we need to have clean solar and wind gathering items.