As some or other general said a few years ago, "there aren't any electric jets: oil will determine the military future of the world."
Hydrogen combustion turbines. Fusion power source, add water, and you have a source of jet fuel with thousands of times the energy of oil. Hobbyists have built pulsejets (like the ones that drove the V2) in their garages running on tanks of hydrogen gas, and Boeing is already experimenting with liquid-hydrogen turbines for passenger jets.
Don't forget coal gasification. The Germans in WWII didn't. The US Air Force has made plans for jets to use this source of feul too.
Jets use a small amount of our overall oil needs. Until we come up with teleportation (and I am close), I'm sure we can find enough oil to run jets. It may be expensive to get, but we can do it.
Which brings me to my next tangental rant. I used to love to fly. I can't stand it now. Commercial aviation has become a miserable experience in so many ways.
"It took the president hours to pick a commander in Afghanistan, so why is it taking months to plug the leaking oil?" Oh Fox News, what can't you spin against the Obama administration?
"It took the president hours to pick a commander in Afghanistan, so why is it taking months to plug the leaking oil?" Oh Fox News, what can't you spin against the Obama administration?
Herp derp, neocons do not understand why rock a mile under water takes a month to drill through.
The plug will likely come by fall. The cleanup will take a fucking decade. Consider: I may well have children and/or a license to practice medicine by the time we fix the mess BP made.
Except that levees were government installations and oil rigs are not, and Republicans continue fierce opposition to regulatory measures even in the aftermath of the spill. Nothing about the right's response to the spill makes sense to me. The war cry is: "Private business can regulate itself, just like it did when it... failed to regulate... itself... DON'T LOOK BEHIND THE CURTAIN! THIS IS OBAMA'S FAULT FOR NOT REGULATING... I mean, we don't want regulation, but it's his fault for not doing the thing we don't want him to do, and by god, we're going to hold him responsible for not doing what we don't want him to do."
How the Obama administration has reacted (the response) to the spill is "Obama's Katrina".
So what should they have done? It's not like the US government has technology available to itself stop the flow of oil.
Obviously he should have just put on a scuba suit and gone down to close it with his teeth. Also, it was his fault. Also, it was the fault of regulation. Also, it was the environmentalists.
How the Obama administration has reacted (the response) to the spill is "Obama's Katrina".
So what should they have done? It's not like the US government has technology available to itself stop the flow of oil.
You know, for all that everyone bitches, I think the US government did ok at responding to Katrina. The local government did a shitty job of preparation (oh shits we live below sea level - maybe we should gtfo), but really... the Feds can't exactly un-destroy people's lives after a disaster. They can only do so much, and they did quite a bit. If you run headlong into a crocodile swamp, don't blame the government when your fucking legs get bitten off. They'll make sure you get treatment in the ER, but they can't give you your legs back.
It's not like the US government has technology available to itself stop the flow of oil.
Also, they don't have the authority to do so. Pesky laws.
They could have started by suspending the Jones Act so that foreign flagged vessels could help in the cleanup. Several countries did offer assistance in this regard.
Comments
Jets use a small amount of our overall oil needs. Until we come up with teleportation (and I am close), I'm sure we can find enough oil to run jets. It may be expensive to get, but we can do it.
Which brings me to my next tangental rant. I used to love to fly. I can't stand it now. Commercial aviation has become a miserable experience in so many ways.
Once we get reliable, widespread fusion, are we going to have any real energy problems? Apart from the supply of clones to send to the moon.
Oh Fox News, what can't you spin against the Obama administration?
The plug will likely come by fall. The cleanup will take a fucking decade. Consider: I may well have children and/or a license to practice medicine by the time we fix the mess BP made.
Why are we not using the oil eating microbes?