Access to Energy Jul-2008

8/8/2019 Access to Energy Jul-2008

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A Pro-Science, Pro-Technology, Pro-Free Enterprise MonthlyNewsletterJULY 2008 (Vol. 35 no. 12) Box 1250, Cave Junction, Oregon 97523 Copyright 2008 by Access to Energy

A Wrinkling BalloonA halfcentury ago, the United States was an industrial colossus

a great monument to the productive potential ofa free people. Moreover, with the advent of safe, abundant, and astonishingly inexpensive nuclear energy coupled with initial rapid advances in microscience and engineering, America was poised for another, evenmore spectacular era ofadvance. If this advancc had been allowed totake place, Americans could have led all of the world's people into awonderful period of progress and prosperity, orders of magnitudebeyond anything the world has ever known - and, as things standnow, may ever know.While we see around us bits and pieces of the possible techno-logical advance thal survived, most of the new worid beyond thedoor that opened to mankind during that period is now hidden fromus beyond that door, which closed before we could pass through it.We walkcd on the moon, but could travel no further. We beganthe transition to nuclear energy, but then abruptly stopped. We devised technology that could have revolutionized human medicine,but then did not apply that technology. America is littered from oneend to the other with the dreams of free productive people - dreamsthat those people were prevented form bringing to reality.Not only did we fail to advance, but we slid backwards. Ourastronauts retreated from the moon to hover in near-earth orbit. Ourindustries shrank. Our energy system decayed until we could noteven produce sufficient energy for our reduced industry. Our medicine stagnated and yet required more and more of our resources tomaintain in even its primitive condition.Why did we cease to advance and, instead, slide backward? Thereason is absolutely clear - we allowed our individual human freedom to be reduced. The progress of past generations ofAmericanswhose accomplishments still sustain our now diminished lives - wasnot made possible because those people were superior. It was madepossible because they were free. As Julian Simon showed, free people always produce more than they consume - but only if they arefree to do so.We were not oppressed from without. We were oppressed fromwithin. We allowed our government - a government largely comrosen of people of little 01 ' no ability nr real aecomplif'hments gradually to build a system of taxation, regulation and control, andgovernment-sponsored litigation that has destroyed our freedom.Nor is this tyranny based only in Washington. Throughout America,state and local governments and the monopolistic arrangements thatthey have forged with now pseudo-public industries interfere withproductive human activities at every twn.Americans today cannot even modify their homes, make and sellelectricity, or drive their cars without - "permission." And - thosewho give "permission" can withhold "permission."As American productivity faltered and then slid backwards undertheir yokes, our masters feared that we would turn surly if our prosperity diminished. So, our financial system was manipulated to al-

MINIATURE NUCLEAR POWERThose who now control the United States government have madetheir intentions completely clear. They will sharply suppress the useof hydrocarbon or nuclear fuel for power generation in the U.S. Thiswill be done by regulatory means. It is likely that token power projects - burdened by huge regulatory costs and very long time sched-

low us to buy from other countries the things we no longeproduced. They printed new money and erected upon that monean enormous pyramid of debt and other leveraged derivatives. Increasingly, Americans could no longer own their homes, but thecould lease them from the government through property taxes andfrom the banks through loans. Loans - debt - money - money tbuy perceived wealth. Money to bid up the price of stocks, commodities, homes, and all the other things Americans wanted bucould no longer afford.:.... since their real wages were not also rising.So, a nation of fundamentally impoverished "investors" - actually "speculators" - really "gamblers" - grew up to replace a natioof producers. They were told that their economy was 70% "consumer" driven. Only 30% need still be producers - producers whare very carefully controlled by government.With real wages not rising, there was a limit to the debt Americans could support - a limit that was reached in 2007. At that pointthe great government-created imaginary balloon ofperceivedwealthin the form ofprinted money, inflated debt, inflated stock prices, inflated commodity prices, and inflated home prices began to deflate.The majority of Americans, however, are addicted to inflateprices and/or to the river ofwelfare payments being given to themby government - paid for with capital that the government has taxeaway from the still productive Americans. So, in 2008 they electepoliticians who are committed to even higher taxation, regulationand litigation, and who promise to print enough money to replacthe perceived imaginary purchasing power within the balloon.If they print so much money, however, inflation will destroy thcurrency. Instead, they hope that the printing of part of that moneand the promise to print unlimited amounts more will "restore confidence" and lead the people to borrow the rest. In other words, th

balloon of imaginary wealth has started to deflate. It is wrinklingGovernment proposes to re-inflate the wrinkles with printing presmoney and to thereby convince Americans that all iswell- inducinthem to resume puffing up the balloon. As 2007 showed, howeverAmericans - enslaved by government - are out of breath.This cannot succeed. The only solution to American economiproblems is to remove the governmental taxation, r e ~ . l 1 l a t i o n an. control, and litigation that has reduced the freedom of individuaAmericans so far that they no longer have the ability or will to produce the things they need.Yet, those who were elected in 2008 and the millions of bureaucratic retainers who work for them have no intention whatever of increasing the freedom of productive people. They fear the productivpeople whom they have enslaved and fully intend to bind them witeven heavier chains.Inspiring specches and "leadership" from those who love tyrannywill not work - no matter how stridently media, academia, and otheleftist institutions applaud. Only freedom will work. Until Americanfreedom is restored, the balloon will continue to deflate.ules - will be permitted for political purposes, but no significanhydrocarbon or nuclear development will be allowed.Jbe reasons for these actions are quite clear. These unprincipledpeople seek the ultimate political control available to those with thepower to tax and ration energy. They also look fOIWard to increasedpersonal wealth for themselves and their supporters, who are positioned to profit from tax-financed "alternative" energy.This may not be a matter that can be influenced by scientific


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truth. No matter how much the Earth cools during the cWTent waning phase of the sun, and no matter how many Americans realizerhllt humlln-caLL"ed glohal warming is a myth, the political programto seize control of U.S. energy production will continue. The statedintent of that program is to end free-enterprise energy productionwith hydrocarbon or nuclear fuels.Insufficient U.S. energy production has already had devastatingeffects upon the American economy - this being the single mostimportant factor in producing the huge U.S. international debt andin causing the outsourcing of a large part ofAmerican heavy industry. And - this insufficiency was entirely created by government actions. Under the ClUTent government, those actions will be verysharply increased.Readers can judge for themselves whether or not the underlyingpolitical situation can be corrected. What are the prospects for electing a government that reduces the taxation, regulation, and sponsorship of litigation that have produced this situation? Objectively,these prospects are grim.Alternatively, is there a technological answer? Is there a technological advance that can defeat the Marxists and Socialists who aremoving toward complete control over the American people? Without the freedom to produce our own energy bypractic;atmeans, oW"freedoms - personal, political, religious, and econonllc are lost. Isthere a technology that can save us - collectively and individually?Some people think that they can save themselves individually byinstalling personal power generation - usually solar electric. In addition to their very high cost - except for those willing to take government subsidies funded by taxing their fellow cit izens - solarelectric installations suffer from the requirement for large banks ofexpensive and perishable batteries.

The power grid can, however, be substituted for batteries. Onesimply produces the power, pumps it into the grid, and extracts itf rom the grid as needed. Any excess is sold to the grid - a grid thatis totally controlled by government and its pseudo-private corporatepartners. \\!hen, however, electricity rationing begins - as it surelywill as American energy supplies continue to dwindle, it is likelythat the government will simply seize all power generation attachedto the grid as public property - thereby zeroing efforts of privateproducers who unwisely thought themselves independent.Individual power generation by means of burning wood, diesel,gasoline, or natlLral gas for electricity generation or simply for heatwill, of course, be controlled and suppressed by the carbon dioxidepolice - soon to be unleashed upon us by our new masters. President Bush provided an eight-year delay of this oppression. Our vacation is, however, now over.There is, I think, one possible teclmological answer - mini andmicro nuclear power generation. At first glance, this looks like'justanother technology that wiUbecontrolled and s U P P [ l ~ s s e d by government, but I think there is another possible outcome - an outcomethat arises from the revolutionary convenience and low cost of thistechnology.Miniature nuclear power plants are being developed by severalcompanies - including Toshiba; Hyperion Power in Santa Fe, NewMexico; and NuScale Power of Corvallis, Oregon. Hyperion, forexample, plans to deliver six power plants to CzecWosovakia in2013 at a cost of $25 million per plant. Each plant is estimated sufficient for 20,000 homes. The first rail-deliverable product plannedby NuScale delivers 45 megawatts, enough for about 35,000homes. These are mini-reactors. Micro-reactors as small as 200 kilowatts are also being developed. We are on the verge of a teclmological breakout in this industry that will create nuclear-electricpower lUlits as versatile and diverse in size as current diesel-electricgenerators. Many companies will enter this field, and it is impossible to predict at present which ones will succeed.Unlike diesel generators, these nuclear lUlits will run for 20 yearsor more without maintenance or refueling - current lUlits are ratednow at 5 to 20 years. They are simply bur ied in holes near thepower users and monitored by remote electronics. Ifmaintenance is

required, the lUlit is removed from the hole, replaced by another uand retumed to the factory for service.Moreover, these nuclear generators will produce electricityless than 3 cents per kilowatt hour as compared with about 20 ceper kilowatt hour for a typical diesel generator at current $40 per brel crude oil prices - all capital and operating costs considered. Avage U.S retail costs for electricity currently range from 6 cents tocents, with costs certain to increase substantially - allhough whosale electricity from large nuclear power plants typically costs lthen 2 cents per kilowatt hour. The cost at Palo Verde nuclear powstation is 1.65 cents per kilowatt hour.More Palo Verdes, however, our rulers are fully capable of pventing, and they are W1alterably comrrritted to doing so.MiniatlLre nuclear plants have not escaped the notice of our emies. The "Union of Concerned Scientists" for example hdenounced these plants a terrorist threat and is working hard to pvent their use. The facts that these plants are entirely safe and use fthat is impossible to fashion into a nuclear explosive - fuel thatbe recycled into more fuel and thereby produces negligible nuclwaste - are, of course, irrelevant. If miniatlLre nuclear powerpended solely upon development and installation in the UniStates, it would be politically dead on arrival.Fortunately, this industry is beyond U.S. cOntrol. It is likely tminiatlLre nuclear power installations will proliferate in many otcountries before introduction into the United States.Consider the following scenario. Within a few years, miniatlnuclear power is becoming widely used in other countries. As isCWTent situation regarding new full-scale nuclear plants, this teclmogy is spreading throughout the world, but is being suppressed inUnited States.

At this point, Californians have found that the short d rivranges of their new electric cars are no problem - because they cnot obtain nor afford the fuel to drive them further. Electricity istioned and, when it can be obtained, costs 30 cents or morekilowatt hour. Moreover, this situation has infected other stateespecially Oregon where the Democrats in power have emulaCalifornia and tied the Oregon power grid to California.In Grants Pass, Oregon, electric bills are therefore in the $500month range - providing one has enough ration coupons.It is pointed out to the people of Grants Pass, however, thatoff-the-shelf power unit that is being used throughout the wowould require a capital cost of $1,000 per household, be availawithout rationing 100% of the time, and reduce their power bills$50 permonth. If the unit is leased, there is no capital cost and powat $60 per month. (These are the approximate actual numbersprototype units in development now, and will probably decreasework proceeds.)When this pOSSIbility is available to thousands oftow,1'ls..lGrants Pass throughout the United States, 1 expect that the govemental opposition will not be politically sustainable. Moreover, thare not large projects that can be bureaucratically and legally delaby more than 10 years in each instance. These units will be madefactories, delivered by rail, and available on a off-the-shelf bawithin one week ofplacing an order.Noone can predict the futlLre. The energy future of the UniStates is now in the hands oftyranny, and the American people hbeen rnisled by lack of knowledge and dishonest pseudo-scientpropaganda. Yet, there is hope. In my opinion, one great reasonhope is that nuclear power installation is proceeding in many ocountries and, through miniatlLre nuclear power, may well eventuabe brouaht horne to the United States.HEALTH PROFILING PROJECTWe have completed a substantial series of dearnidation expments related to the degenerative diseases of aging and have partiacompleted a second series. As soon as this one is completed - wepect in less than two months - readers who volunteered to prov


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urine samples for om health profiling study will be sent containers,mailers, and instructions for sending samples to us.Many people have volunteered, but there is still room for more.Th e requirement is that you send a urine sample to us once everyfew months and fill out a confidential health auestionnaire.NOBEL PRiZE FOR DEATHIn a review by the Conservative Digest Weekly of 10,000 articlespublished in 2008, an article that we wrote for Human Events wasselected as on e o f the 20 best in 2008. Entiled "Nobel Prize forDeath" by Arthur B. Robinson, it is reproduced below:And so it has begun. Word is beginning to spill into the news offood riots and starvation in poor countries, as a result o f shortagesand the resulting high prices for grain. This suffering is a direct result o f the unprincipled actions o f self-interested people in developed cotmtries wh o are promulgating the scientifically refuted myth

o f human-caused global warming.Frightened by this myth, U.S. federal and state governments havediverted a significant amount of the American grain supply into theproduction o f ethanol - an entirely counterproductive action thathas helped to cause these grain Shortages. . . 'There is no intrinsic shortage of food. Since, however, food isperishable, the market produces each year an amount o f food comparable to that which will be comwued. SLored fuud - primarilygrain - usually suffices to smooth fluctuations due to weather andother factors. Prices fluctuate within a range narrow enough thatmost o f the world's people have sufficient food at a price they canafford. When, however, a large amount o f grain is suddenly withdrawn from the market, severe shortages can result.This current food shortage is only the begirming.We have been down this road before. Unprincipled opportunists- falsely claiming that DD T is dangerous to the environmentmanaged to engineer a world-wide ban o f DDT. D DT h ad eradicated malaria from the developed world and was well on its way toeradicating it from the less developed countries at the time this ban

o f DD T was instituted. The initiation o f DD T use against malariawas reV-larded by a Nobel Prize, and the u.s. National Academy ofSciences estimated that DD T had saved hundreds o f millions oflives.One of the principal political figures who worked to ban DD Twas none other than AI Gore.As a result o f the DDT ban, more than 30 million children in Africa and Asia have died from DDT-preventable malaria, and an estimated 500 million adults are today chronically ill from this disease.The ban o f DD T was the worst act of technological genocide in hu-

,manlUstory" .",''C'..' '; '' ';. ' . '. ' " . . . . ." ... " . " . ~ , < ..." r"" . . ., . . . . . ,Now, Mr. Gore is the recognized leader o f an effort to ban atleast 90% of world use of hydrocarbon fuels. Once again, his claimsare based upon bogus science and are motivated by personal financial and political self interest. Mr. Gore has been joined by theUnited Nations and its IPee process. The goal of the United Nations is clear. It wants the power to tax and ration world energy supplies. This would place essentially unlimited power and money inthe hands o f the United Nations and cooperating world political entities.As acts o f genocide, the potential effects of the hwnan-causedglobal warming industry are so profound that the DD T genocide isminor in comparison.Hundreds o f millions of human beings live today on the veryedge of existence - with all o f their available resources consumedin the quest for food, shelter, and the minimum necessities of life.Without world technology and the energy that makes that technology possible, these people will slip from the lower rungs o f humanexistence and will die. By abruptly lowering world hychoearboll use,the human-caused global warmers are going to kill these people.Politicians in the United States have given us a first taste of the

horrible suffering of human beings that is to come. By respondingthe myth of human-caused global warming by mildly diminishAmerican grain supplies - in a futile, politicized attempt to bgrain as fuel, American polit icians have given the world a slitaste of the starvation and slaughter that is to come.Many people are responsible for promulgating the myth o f hman-caused global warming - envirorunentalists, politicians, bunessmen, media personalities, an d a relatively s mal l b an dself-interested scientists. They have done this regardless o f an ovwhelming body o f scientific infonnation that defmitively refuteshypothesis of human-caused global warming. [See Robinson, Rinson, and Soon, Environmental Effects of Increased AtmospheCarbon Dioxide, available at www.oismorglpproject for a reviand 132 peer-reviewed references to the scientific literature that dument this refutation.]In the case of DDT, the truth did not matter. The EnviTOmnenProLt::diun Agem.:y's uwn scientific review board had reviewedscientific literature and proclaimed DD T entirely safe and very uful. In the case of the hypothesis o f human-caused global warmithe truth is also becoming increasingly irrelevant, as perceived poical reality replaces reality in public discourse,AI Gore has surpassed himself. Having helped to kill tens ofmlions of helpless African; Asian, and South American children ato sicken hundreds of millions o f other people with his supportthe bari. of DDT, Mr. Gore is no w attempting to deprive th e survors in these same countries o f energy - life-giving energy tmakes possible their meager existences.Industrially useful energy is fungible. It flows back an d fothroughout the world with ease. A projected reduction in supplythe United States and an ill-considered reaction to that projectioncaused current world food shortages. These shortages are only vsmall reminders of the vast shortages that will occur if hydrocarbuse is truly curtailed.No greater act of genocide has ever been proposed in human htory than the proposal to abruptly end the use o fmuch of the worhydrocarbon energy.AI Gore and his United Nations retainers have received the Nbel Prize for Peace. Th e only peace that they are offering toworld's people, however, is the peaec of the grave.JOHN GALTA hidden effect of the November 4 elections and the natioevents that preceded them during this past year is perhaps best cathe "John Galt Effect" in honor o f Ayn Rand's famous characteAtlas Shrugged. I have not seen a single article written about thiany publication, but it is occurring to a very significant extent._.".oUf. rechno10gical.ci'.lilizatiQD..stands.upon.the shoulders.ofmgenerations of free Americans and the great accomplishmentsthey bequeathed to us. Among those Americans and their counparts in other countries have been a small special group o f peowhose unusual genius, work ethic, and love for their specialties wespecially outstanding. These men, by their examples, their cations, and their leadership o f free enterprises, have led ou r civiltion upward. On e of the greatest privileges of my life has beenknow a few such people.Without this small group o f people, the technological attairuneo f their generations would not have taken place. W e k no wnames o f a few o f them, but there were many more - constitutperhaps one person in one thousand. Ayn Rand called these peothe "men of the mind." In Atlas Shntgged, under the leadershipJohn Galt, they withdrew their services. They would only workfreedom Theywould not work under tyranny." In reality, most men o f the mind never withdraw. They love twork too much to stop and - most of them - love their fel low mtoo much to desert them 'lhe forces o f tyranny depend upon tWithout these people, even the technology required by MarxistSocialist societies would not fimction. Yet, while the me n o f


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mind do not fully withdraw, they have families and other loved onesfor whom they are responsible.As the pendulum of politics swings toward tyranny and dangersto those whom they love increase, they partially tum their talentsmore toward their personal responsibilities. Part of their thoughts,efforts, and ingenuity are lost to society - and this loss cannot be recovered by either negative or positive incentives.Throughout our country today, the men of the mind (some arcwomen, too) are watching the awful scene in Washington and its reflection in state and local capitals throughout the United States. Theyunderstand the consequences of the government oppression that hasdogged their own footsteps for many years and that will grow muchworse in the near future. So, they are taking actions to protect themselves and their families.We have no way to measure the societal effects of this distractionof the men of the mind. There are immediate effects upon our wellbeing and long term effects from the things that they are no longerworking full time to create.What is the cost of the distraction of our real leaders - of the menof the mind- of the Jolm GaIts among us? I estimate that it is greaterthan the tri ll ions of dol lars being los t on government printingpresses. Call this Y2009K- and this time it is very real.Our existing power plants are still operating; our petrochemicalplants are still producing; our military defense is still performing;our food supplies are still flowing; and the rest of the technologicalinfrastructure upon which our lives depend is largely still in place.But the key people - not those we see but those we do not see because they are constantly engaged in real work - are seriously distracted and now partially engaged in personal survival.Of one thing we can be certain. If any of the essentials of our civilization seriously falter and this causes real harm, those who wouldbe our masters and their fellow travelers in the media, academia,business, and politics will cast blame upon some of these men of themind - and drag them before us for punishment. Our John Gaitsknow this, too, and it is a further distraction for them.The readers of Access to Energy include such people. Some areleading great enterprises. Others are in the basements of our powerplants and other heavy industries. Some are closeted away in universities quietly at work on the next generations of possible advances inscience and engineering. They are easily recognized - by their genius and by the love of their work that permeates theirwhole beings.One way to recognize them is that they constantly talk about theirwork to anyone who will listen. They are distracted. What are theytalking about today?

HEARTLAND NEW YORK EVENTAll readers ofAccess ofEnergy and signers of the Petition Project petition have been receiving advertisements for the HeartlandInstitute March 8-10, 2009 International Conference on ClimateChange. More information is available by telephone to312-377-4000. Discounts are available on several bases. If you cannot afford the entrance fee, please telephone Access to Energy at541-592-4142. We may be able to convince Heartland to waive thefee in some cases.Ordinarily, we never share your mailing address with anyone except for an annual mailing about the DOP confclcnce that weco-sponsor each year. For this Heartland conference, however, wemade an exception. Your address was not given to Heartland, butwe addressed their mailers, so that they could reach you.An exception here is well-warranted. Heartland is a relativelysmall organization in Chicago, but with a loud voice. They have ef-fectively fought against the myth of human-caused global warmingfor many years. On the one occasion that I visited their facilities, Ipassed two displays honoring Booker T. Washington on the way totheir conference room- a very good sign. We may all need to rereadWashington's book Up From Slavery to fmd our way back from the

morass being created for us by government.The Heartland event in March will probably be the single mosimportant anti-human caused global warming event in the worldduring 2009. Attend it if you can.STARK RA ViNG MAD Many wealthy Americans have been installing solar-electripanels on their homes. These are, with appropriate paperwork., beingalmost entirely paid for by government and government-supportedand sponsored organizations. American tax payers are providing thefunds for these installations.Only the wealthy can afford these projects because most of thegovernment payments are in the form of tax credits that must bused quickly. The installations are so expensive that only those whopay very high taxes can receive these credits.Ignoring capital costs, these systems are said to be very economical - but the capital investment cannot be ignored just becaussomeone else is being forced to fund it. When all costs are considered, micro-solar electricity on the roofs of buildings is more than5-fold more expensive than ordinary electriciry and more thanlO-fold more expensive than nuclear-electric energy.Moreover, most of these systems use the public power grid as abattery - storing energy in the grid during the day and extracting ifrom the grid at night. With electricity rationing virtually certain tobe in our near future, does anyone really think that government wil

not claim ownership of these systems that it has fmanced?They are attached to the public power grid, which is entirely under government control. The "owners" who installed them will fmdthat their roof-top solar panels are public property and their electricity supplies no greater than their ration coupons. Regardless of the fact that the California state government iestimating a $40 billion deficit - so far - and is already declaring periodic "flex alerts" due to electricity shortages, California is continuing a radical "global warming" agenda, which will inflict hundred

of billions of dollars ofmalinvestment upon its citizens.Nor will they be stopped by ordinary ethics. The initial effects oCalifornia follies are being met, in part, by confiscating the tax refunds of California residents.

GOOD READING The many current articles posted at LewRockwell.com. Thesefree market articles are published by Lew Rockwell, President of theLudwig von Mises Institute.The political prospects of eventually unseating our new masterslook grim indeed, especially considering the self-interested defections of so many Republicans who still hold office.Still, the Ron Paul phenomenon of these past two years providehope. If such efforts eventually succeed, they will be fueled, in partby the efforts of men and women like those published by LewRockwell. This site is good reading as an aid to maintaining hopeand sanity and as a foundation upon which to take our country back.Unfortunately, this effort is not an optional activity. It is a debthat we owe to our ancestors, our descendants, and our country.

The Suuth Pule - Volumes I and i f by Roald Amundsen published in 1913 by John Murray, London and Lee Keedick, NewYork. An excellent example of a "man of the mind."ACCESS TO ENERGYPublisher and editor Dr. Arthur B. Robinson, President and Research ProfessorOregon Institute of Science and Medicine. Subscriptions (first-class mail): individual$35 for 12 monthly issues (Canada $37, overseas, air mail only, $40). Corporation$60, US tax-subsidized organizations $150. Order from Access to Energy. Box 1250Cave Junction, OR 97523. Checks I1TIlSt be in USS drnwn on a US bank. Past issue$3 each. CD-ROM of35 years of back issues $95. Printed 30 years of issues $145Eight DVDs with 30 years of back issues and extensive resourcematerials $149.

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Access to Energy Jul-2008