Slate Article detailing the cost focus of Americans

Steve Champman
Tilting at Windmills:
What's all wrong with "energy independence".

This correlates with my own experience with the Sierra
Club. They insist that energy independence be done
'locally' so they can see it and receive benefit from
it. The fact that there are much better places to put
windmills like North Dakota seems to be repugnant.

I assert for the last 30 years the US population by
and large has been investing internally on minimally
and the dominant focus is on ever lower costs to the
consumer. From freeways, to utilities, to fortune 100
companies I see a systemic deficit in investment that
can only be the result of a society that does not
place a high inportance on the long term.

If put to the test, would the US society really choose
a higher cost energy source if it was less
environmentally destructive? Due to environmental
regulations, coal is burnt cleaner in the US than many
nations - that is about the limit of it.

This means that we as a space movement are going to
have a fantastic difficulty proposing a solution based
on long term strategic power supply where the time to
delivery is over 20 years.

My hope is in scientific discovery/utilization of
resources and only after the fact reveal that the
world might benefit from LSP and SPS. They sure don't
seem interested now.

- Thor