"Innovation is the central issue in economic prosperity"
Michael Porter
As much as I admire his writing, I rarely agree with our home town boy, New York Times columnist, Thomas L. Friedman. However, recently he was on a news show and the topic was how to kick start our economy. His point was this - America is suffering from an acute lack of imagination in coming up with the next "big thing". Unlike the past, when major inventions and innovations just rolled out of our country, as of late the landscape has been somewhat barren.
I know this is hard to believe, but many agenda driven newspapers such as the Minneapolis Star Tribune are quick to accuse "global warming" for the carnage caused by Hurricane Sandy. Just for a moment lets assume they are correct, and America is one of the biggest culprits of global warming. In the editorial section today, the Star Tribune said the following: "A reexamination of nuclear power is in order to determine whether 21st-century technology can make it a safer and more sustainable option. So is a push for more renewable generation of electricity. A tax on carbon emissions ought not be dismissed out of hand."
The above quotation is a perfect example of lack of imagination. First off, until we come up with a viable long term nuclear waste solution, more nuclear power is not a solution. While it is true that nuclear power is clean compared to coal, the externality of production resulting in radioactive material which has a half life of thousands of years, is not acceptable. While we did have a perfectly good solution in Yucca Mountain (see my posting at) http://veryangrybird.blogspot.com/2012/08/yucca-mountain.html, certain interest groups killed this project. Now we are left with tons of radioactive material dangerously residing in temporary storage.
How about renewables? Is that a better mousetrap for global warming? Not really. That industry is fraught with problems and is not cost effective. Again, this issue was addressed on the wind industry in developing nations (see my posting at) http://veryangrybird.blogspot.com/2012/10/blown-away.html. This industry has a future, but many problems remain for it to be a viable, cost effective solution.
I guess my bottom line on global warming is this - ever since Al Gore made this his cause célèbre, it has been much about suspected causes, and nothing about viable solutions. Currently, we have no cohesive energy policy, no renewable water policy or sustainable agriculture policy. We do have innovators like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs who have kept American the leader in IT. We also have people like Bill Walton and Jeff Bezos who have redefined the retail business. However, for our really big national problems, we have a dearth of talent.
For example, last summer we had a "super storm" in Minnesota right before the 4th of July weekend. It flooded Duluth and made a mess of the North Shore. State hydrologists estimated that the water that fell on Minnesota was over 2 trillion gallons. That is enough to fill Lake Mille Lacs (a huge lake) and have 1/2 trillion gallons left over. Most of that water left the state in run off. Shortly after the storm, the state went into a late summer, early fall drought. Capturing some of that run off water and saving it for dry months would have saved farmers millions and increased yields. Just imagine the amount of water that fell during Hurricane Sandy. What we could have done with that water next summer if our national drought goes into a second year.
I really hope that our next president will be more into solutions, viable solutions, and not just blaming. What has made our country great in the past is our innovative prowess - today, what is making our country not as great is the lack thereof. We need better mousetrap inventors and we need them now. The fallout of having better mousetrap inventors is thousands and thousands of mousetrap builders - and that is good for all of us.
I know this is hard to believe, but many agenda driven newspapers such as the Minneapolis Star Tribune are quick to accuse "global warming" for the carnage caused by Hurricane Sandy. Just for a moment lets assume they are correct, and America is one of the biggest culprits of global warming. In the editorial section today, the Star Tribune said the following: "A reexamination of nuclear power is in order to determine whether 21st-century technology can make it a safer and more sustainable option. So is a push for more renewable generation of electricity. A tax on carbon emissions ought not be dismissed out of hand."
The above quotation is a perfect example of lack of imagination. First off, until we come up with a viable long term nuclear waste solution, more nuclear power is not a solution. While it is true that nuclear power is clean compared to coal, the externality of production resulting in radioactive material which has a half life of thousands of years, is not acceptable. While we did have a perfectly good solution in Yucca Mountain (see my posting at) http://veryangrybird.blogspot.com/2012/08/yucca-mountain.html, certain interest groups killed this project. Now we are left with tons of radioactive material dangerously residing in temporary storage.
How about renewables? Is that a better mousetrap for global warming? Not really. That industry is fraught with problems and is not cost effective. Again, this issue was addressed on the wind industry in developing nations (see my posting at) http://veryangrybird.blogspot.com/2012/10/blown-away.html. This industry has a future, but many problems remain for it to be a viable, cost effective solution.
I guess my bottom line on global warming is this - ever since Al Gore made this his cause célèbre, it has been much about suspected causes, and nothing about viable solutions. Currently, we have no cohesive energy policy, no renewable water policy or sustainable agriculture policy. We do have innovators like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs who have kept American the leader in IT. We also have people like Bill Walton and Jeff Bezos who have redefined the retail business. However, for our really big national problems, we have a dearth of talent.
For example, last summer we had a "super storm" in Minnesota right before the 4th of July weekend. It flooded Duluth and made a mess of the North Shore. State hydrologists estimated that the water that fell on Minnesota was over 2 trillion gallons. That is enough to fill Lake Mille Lacs (a huge lake) and have 1/2 trillion gallons left over. Most of that water left the state in run off. Shortly after the storm, the state went into a late summer, early fall drought. Capturing some of that run off water and saving it for dry months would have saved farmers millions and increased yields. Just imagine the amount of water that fell during Hurricane Sandy. What we could have done with that water next summer if our national drought goes into a second year.
I really hope that our next president will be more into solutions, viable solutions, and not just blaming. What has made our country great in the past is our innovative prowess - today, what is making our country not as great is the lack thereof. We need better mousetrap inventors and we need them now. The fallout of having better mousetrap inventors is thousands and thousands of mousetrap builders - and that is good for all of us.
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