I just heard something really funny:  Al Gore wants us to be using completely clean, renewable energy in 10 years.  Is this a joke?  Sadly, no.  Al Gore is simply trying to make headlines.  Or at least, if he's serious, he's either misinformed or just plain crazy.  Let me explain why getting away from oil in less than 20 years is impossible (and 20 years is probably a stretch, too):

1. Have you seen how many cars are on the road?  Most of them require gasoline and will all be around for at least 10 more years.
2. Have you seen the state of "electric" cars?  It's not good.  We don't yet have a battery of sufficiently capacity to replace the gas tank, and all the other options are simply far too expensive.
   
3. Have you seen how many semis are on the road?  You can't simply convert a 18-wheeler in an electric car.
4. How much oil infrastructure do we have in the US?  Tons!  Drills, Pumps, Refineries, and, wait for it... GAS STATIONS!!!  How are we supposed to just up and get rid of all this in 10 years?
5. For wind power to be comparable to oil, oil would have to go to $1,000 a barrel.
6. Environmentalists don't like Nuke plants -- they'll hold them all up in court for at least 10 years.
   

The short version is this: we have too much invested in oil.  If we could simply flick a switch and completely change to clean energy, I'd be all for it.  I don't like oil, but we've invested way too much in it, so we're stuck with it for awhile.  Live with it.  Bring on the nuke-plants and the drills!

Posted by: Travis