Voinovich Finds Gore's Energy Speech 'Ridiculous'

[RamboLiberal]

Source: The Hill

You can consider Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) as definitely not enthused by former Vice President Al Gore's speech Thursday on U.S. energy policy.

Voinovich had an initial one-word response — "ridiculous" — to Gore's speech at Washington's Constitution Hall, in which the Democrat called for the United States to end its dependence on carbon-based fuels and begin using renewable energy to produce electricity within the next 10 years.

Voinovich elaborated that ruling out carbon-based fuels such as coal would be unreasonable because of the country's vast energy and economic needs. Instead, he said the country should take a multi-pronged approach that includes but doesn't rely solely on nuclear, wind and solar power.

"We could put windmills from the Atlantic to the Pacific and, yes, it will increase the amount of carbon-free energy production, but the fact of the matter is, it's not going to get the job done," Voinovich said. "What we need to do is to look at all of the various sources of energy… We'd be much more realistic to realize that it's going to take all of these things in order for us to meet our energy demands."



Read more: http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2008/07/17/voinovich-finds-gores-energy-speech-ridiculous/

[Botany]

1. George Voinovich is owned by Coal

He does whatever they want.

[struggle4progress]

18. And wants to drill ANWR and the continental shelf

[spinbaby]

33. He's very close to Bob Murray

You may remember Murray for his rants when that mine collapsed in Utah last summer.

[Lint Head]

2. Vainbitch is a fascist. What do you expect?

:dem:

[jeff30997]

3. Jeff30997...

Finds Sen. George Sonovabich (R-Ohio) far more 'Ridiculous'(and a real asshole too).

[Doremus]

4. I've had to endure that creep for decades. First as mayor of Cleveland

then Governor of Ohio then Senator.

I hope to someday watch him get ousted in a landslide defeat.

Then we might actually be rid of him and we can continue to mop up the mess.

[cureautismnow]

5. Can we strap this blowhard to a windmill?

His enormous hot air and spinning prowess could yield enough power for centuries to come.

[glitch]

6. Voinovich - there's the goto guy for innovation and leadership.

I sarc.

[ryanmuegge]

7. In a way he's right.

With the spineless punks we have in government, it wouldn't happen even if it were technologically feasible. We could still be doing a hell of a lot more than we are, even if we can't totally replace fossil fuels.

Still, though, I think Gore promotes a kind of fairy tale with this "pro-growth" approach to energy and climate change. Truth is, there are no free lunches. We're going to have to sacrifice growth in a lot of areas. Plus, he doesn't do much for his credibility when he uses more energy in a week than most people do in a year and then just buys carbon offsets (yeah, it's better than nothing, I know). With that said, I do think Gore would do something about energy if he acquired some political power again, which is more than can be said for nearly anybody else who has a realistic chance of getting some power (after all, it is a fraternity of the same social elites who have a chance of getting power in this country). Despite their rhetoric, McCain wants to combat alternative energy and do more harm, while Obama seems to want to do nothing, which is still better than the former. It'd be great if Obama got some courage, if elected, and named Gore to a cabinet position where he could do something about energy.

[jwirr]

19. You would be hard pressed to tell the guys who mine the iron and

build the wind/solar equipment that they do not represent growth.

[spag68]

25. Sounds like you are pretty negative to me.

Al Gore has been warning about this for 30 years or so. You are also wrong that it is a fairy tale. I don't understand your criticism of a man who has been so correct so many times. Stop being negative and do some research. You are trumpeting the corporate line, they are so afraid of solar and thermal on every roof that they are pissing in their pants. Think of it no new transmission lines, no new power plants, because every home was producing 50 to 75% of their own power needs. All this during the day when power needs are the greatest and the sun is shining. Large wind farm could stem the use of coal, but the key is individual ownership of a power source. Your electric car could actually help power your house at night. With mass production of solar and thermal panels, and installation of them we might even have a middle class again,or do you want to be indebted to the utility company's forever? With a massive investment from NOT SPENDING MONEY IN IRAQ, it would start to pay off instantly. Try to reform your brain to think positively and not be so easily led down the company road, it might begin to feel good to actually become a progressive.

[ryanmuegge]

29. You're being presumptuous.

You missed the point: the problem is that government (including the Clinton/Gore administration) have been so reluctant to step on the toes of big business in any way that nothing has been able to get done about the most important issue in the world right now. Somebody needs to stand up and say, "hey, corporations, you're going to have to sacrifice growth for a while."

If anybody is shouting the old company line, it's you. You're praising the same guy who selected Joe Lieberman as a VP in 2000. Not to turn this into a referendum on Clinton, but he and Gore did have eight years and did very little about this problem (certainly nothing appropriate given the severity of the issue). He also ran from his beliefs like a little wavering wimp when he was in the running for president. When I hear the words "pro-growth" juxtaposed with "energy policy," I hear a half-assed approach. They're too worried about not offending the private sector. That is not going to cut it. Roosevelt wasn't at all worried about offending the private sector during the second World War, for example. We should be doing everything in our power to implement every form of alternative energy possible, regardless of whether it's "pro-growth" in the short-term or not.

I've done plenty research about alternative energy, and I've seen all kinds of theoretical statistics and arguments (one advocate of a certain type of alternative energy will say why another one isn't feasible and so forth). I'm plenty progressive, so I don't "actually become" one, but I also know that we have a bunch of spineless punks in both parties. Nobody is more for alternative energy than me. If it can be done, it will cost a lot of money from both government and the private sector. The private sector isn't willing to endure a few bad quarters, and the government isn't willing to put the pressure on them to do so, so I'm not sure how things are going to change. The lack of courage is perhaps an even greater challenge than the vast technological challenges. We need to be attacking this with everything we've got: solar, wind, and whatever else. We could be doing a lot more than we are, but the spineless punks in Washington won't move on it because they're too worried about being "pro-growth." When, in reality, we're going to have to sacrifice a hell of a lot. We can't have it both ways, at least not in the short-term.

And, yeah, I'm pretty negative about this because nobody's done anything about it. Nobody in Washington, even Gore, is taking this seriously enough. I don't see any reason to be positive about people who have a proven track record of opposition and (substantive) inactivity on this issue.

[Warpy]

8. He probably didn't understand a word of it.

That (R) after his name is a dead giveaway.

The dumb bunnies just don't get that this is a problem that will need multiple solutions, that what will power new manufacturing will not power cars, and what powers it in one part of the country won't work in another.

Decentralization and complicated systems scare the poor little things. All they can see is the massive inconvenience of learning how to do new things.

If there's one thing a winger is terrified of, it's inconvenience.

[wundermaus]

9. Voinovich = Ridiculous

just like McCain = Bush

[marias23]

10. Obama's election is really a question of survival.

These fools always think its about the economy, jobs and the like. But those jobs don't mean much when you, your children and grandchildren are sick. Here's ridiculous: Invest in oxygen futures now.

[tismyself]

11. huh?

Sounds like for the most part Voinovich just re-worded what Gore had to say. :boring:

[Peregrine Took]

12. Like he would know anything! May as well ask a parakeet or a baby raccoon.

[roamer65]

13. He is a fuckbag scumsucker, this twit from Ohio.

'enuff said.

[WCGreen]

14. Well, he helped ruin the education system of Ohio...

because he is a cheap bastard.

He was hand picked by the City Elite to be the Mayor of Cleveland after they threw Kucinich under the bus.

For years, there was a story about him picking a penny out of a public urinal to show how money conscious he was suppose to be. That was just a creepy story to me.

[BearSquirrel2]

15. Calling Gore's goals ambitious ...

Calling Gore's goals in that speech ambitious would be a colossal understatement. Off hand, I think he overshot by a factor of 5. Our solar technology, and bio-conversion technologies aren't remotely close to where we need them.

[jwirr]

22. You know I think you have to be my age - 67 - to be able to remember

that is about what they said about the REA project in the FDR era. The electrification of the rural communities took research and development and government funding to get it where it is today. So if Gore set the goal high it is because it needs to be there so that we have a goal to work toward. He is challenging us to do what we can.

[Art_from_Ark]

27. I think that calling for a moon landing

to be accomplished within 9 years, at a time (1961) when we hadn't even put an astronaut in orbit, was pretty damned ambitious.

[spag68]

30. You are also wrong

I know because I am solar certified, and the solar and thermal panels are up to the task right now. The price needs to be brought down,but that will happen with mass manufacturing. His time frame if anything can be improved and speeded up.The real deal breaker is and has always been doubting Nellie's like you. The man on the moon was a perfect example. I've said this here before, and I'll say it again, all we need is political will, and the Saud's will be out of luck by 2018. Man I wish some here would get with the program and become more then a faux progressive, It's ok to be a real liberal-progressive, some of us actually like being progressives.

[roody]

31. My solar array is working just fine!

Love my negative electric bill.

[Canuckistanian]

16. Did he cry while pontificating?

Voinovich is weird, full-stop.

[seafan]

17. The same Voinovich who cried when Bush tried to push John Bolton in as UN Ambassador...

These guys have lost it.

[alllyingwhores]

20. Apparently, there's no need for windmills...

"The report notes that a 100-mile-by-100-mile solar thermal installation in the American Southwest could meet the entire country’s energy needs."

http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/10/solar-energy-could-power-us-many-times-over/

[nebenaube]

34. perhaps

Perhaps such an installation could indeed generate the required energy. But a centralized production facility would suffer in terms that most of that energy will be lost due to leakage currents and line resistance when attempting to distribute it.

[Captain Angry]

21. Gore gave a new speech? Is it online somewhere?

I was out of town for a job interview and didn't realize it was happening.

[RamboLiberal]

26. Link here

http://www.wecansolveit.org/content/pages/304/

[Captain Angry]

28. Thank you, when I went to their page earlier, only a 5minute video was up.

Thanks!

[ladjf]

23. Gore is calling for all of the kilowatts to be generated from alternate

energy sources within 10 years. I don't know whether that would be possible. However, if even 25% of the electricity could be generated from sources other than fossil and nuclear it would drive the price of oil down to a level where businesses who must have it could survive.

The oil monopoly would be over.

[rpannier]

24. To everything spin, spin, spin...

Voinovich takes a very indepth speech and breaks it down into a five second bumper sticker.

To be fair, that's probably all he understands.

I'm surprised he can pronounce his own name -- I mean it is 3 syllables.

[HughBeaumont]

32. So proud to have this piece of work as my Senator. Really, I am.

DeWine got dropped and you're NEXT, Voinobitch. Not a moment too soon for this curmudgeon relic of regression politics.

[Zorra]

35. Oilovich is not literate enough to understand those big words that Al

sometimes uses in his speeches.

Words like "renewable" and "future" are not in the scope of his vocabulary.

[ohio2007]

36. This same George Voinovich that voted no to fund the Iraq war certainly has fallen

from all the praise he received on DU. ;)
all teary eyed and grieving when given his three minutes at the podium that day.

now,


it's easy to spot why

he's obviously a 'moRan'
:applause:

[wvbygod]

37. Voinovich os most certainly correct about this point....

Voinovich said. "What we need to do is to look at all of the various sources of energy… We'd be much more realistic to realize that it's going to take all of these things in order for us to meet our energy demands."

Even a broken 24 hour clock is right once a day.

[David__77]

38. Nuclear is a perfectly feasible option.

I do not know Gore's view of nuclear power, but it's a safe, clean alternative that could certainly eliminate the need for carbon-based fuel as a mainstay of electricity production.