Iraq Vs. A 100% New Power Grid for the U.S....and Ultrarunning

In a piece called Iraq War Could Have Paid For 100% Renewable Power Grid, we learn of what we could have done instead of squandering our blood and treasure in a war that was ginned up and executed just to show that we could kick some Mideastern butt.  It's the old guns versus butter discussion, and as usual, the guns prevailed; that's why we can't afford nice things anymore.

The piece begins by discussing the estimates of Paul Gipe:

Wind energy expert Paul Gipe reported this week that – for the amount spent on the Iraq war [$3.9 trillion] – the U.S. could be generating 40%-60% of its electricity with renewable energy.
 

Then the blog goes on to explain why that $3.9 T figure is actually low, and why, using the upwardly adjusted data, we could have paid 100% for a new renewable power grid.  One hundred percent.  Let that sink a moment.

Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz estimated in 2008 that the Iraq war could cost America up to $5 trillion dollars.

And the Brown University study actually concluded that the Iraq war could end up costing $6 trillion dollars over the next 40 years.

Since $6 trillion is one and a half times as much as the $3.9 trillion estimate used by Gipe and Freehling, that means that the Iraq war money could essentially convert 100% of U.S. power to renewable energy.

It is ironic, indeed, that the Iraq war was largely about oil. When we choose subsidies for conventional energy sources – war or otherwise – we sell our future down the river.
 

The connection to Ultrarunning, of course, is that despite our focus on a very rewarding pastime and sport, none of us are immune from stupid decisions from the top.  If you don't think that the nation's power infrastructure affects you directly, you are quite mistaken.

A Very Deep Hole

Bob Herbert of the New York Times is always one of my favorite reads.  He has the vision that is seemingly lacking--despite all our fond hopes--in President Obama.  I guess I'm feeling about him as I felt about President Carter: the time was right and ripe for a strong person of vision to seriously change the way this country was heading.  But neither president proved up to the task.

From Mr. Herbert's column on 7 June 2010:

For all the money that has been spent so far, the Obama administration and Congress have not made the kinds of investments that would put large numbers of Americans back to work and lead to robust economic growth. What is needed are the same things that have been needed all along: a vast program of infrastructure repair and renewal; an enormous national investment in clean energy aimed at transforming the way we develop and use energy in this country; and a transformation of the public schools to guarantee every child a first-rate education in a first-rate facility.

This would be a staggeringly expensive and difficult undertaking and would entail a great deal of shared sacrifice. (It would also require an end to our insane waste of resources on mindless and endless warfare.) The benefits over the long term would be enormous.

Bold and effective leadership would have put us on this road to a sustainable future. Instead, we’re approaching a dead end.

Our children deserve better.