Just Some Musings

I saw an article on Yahoo Money earlier this week that said if your household income if $40k you are in the top 50% of the country. That's a pretty impressive number on many fronts. First, it demonstrates why things like high gas and oil prices affect things like the retail sector so badly. When half the country has to choose between heating their homes, getting to and from work/school and buying things like movies, music or toys, there is going to be a loser.

We have to break our dependence on foreign oil. It won't be cheaper at first, but we'll be better off in the long run. Besides, the nations we buy oil from, hate us. They want us to die. What is the upside in that business relationship?

I am a firm believer in bio fuels. I have read the pros, I have read the cons and the pros outweigh the cons in my book. 1. We have a renewable resource. 2. Bio fuels are fairly easy to produce. 3. Farming becomes viable again. Especially in places like the tobacco belt where farmers who can no longer subsist on tobacco can switch to things like soy beans, corn and hemp.

Brazil in an excellent example of a country who understands the issue. They have bio fuel plants everywhere and I believe there are bio fuel pumps at gas stations all over the country. They haven't eliminated the need for petroleum and fossil fuels, but they are reducing the need. That's where we start.

Now, I'm really going to get controversial. If we want to actually reduce heating and energy costs in the long run, we need to look at nuclear energy. This is the 21st century. Nuclear energy is not new, it's not science fiction and it's not going to turn us all into mutants. It's clean, it's safe, it's effective and it's cheap in the long run. France gets most of it's energy from nuclear powered sources.

I know I sound conflicted by promoting both Bio and Nuclear fuels. But I'm not conflicted. I'm a pragmatist. I'm all about making the best choices for the present and for the future.

And don't even get me started about medical costs..............