The only way for John McCain to win this election is to propose an economic recovery plan that will bring us out of this economic tsunami we are currently in. We are told the current economic situation is due to a squeeze in the credit markets, but that does not “register” with most people. They see the stock market falling, they hear about unemployment increasing, gas prices (although they have come down a little lately) are still way too high, they are just getting bombarded with one bad economic story after another.

In the debate last night, McCain unveiled a “new” program to stop the slide in home prices. The problem is, nobody listening to the debate heard or understood that this was a new program and that it may fix a serious problem.

Come on John, get with the program. If you are going to announce something, announce it. Don’t just mention it in passing.

The only way McCain can win:

1. Tie the economic recovery and the oil/gas crisis together. Announce a major X billion dollar program to fix the economy and get energy independence all in one, long term plan.
2. Announce that the moratorium for off shore drilling off both the east and west coasts is permanent. He will appoint an energy “Czar” that will have the power to fast track all the drilling permits so the oil companies don’t get locked up in the courts with law suits filed by the environmental kooks.
3. Nationalize all the off shore drilling past the 10 or 20 mile limit. In other words, once you are 10 miles off shore, the states have no jurisdiction. All environment suits must be filed in one federal court. State courts will not have the right to hold up drilling permits any longer.
4. Give the states an economic incentive to drill for oil off their shores. Make it financially lucrative for them. In California, they are currently having a major budget shortfall. The Governor just came to Washington begging for a bailout. McCain should announce that California’s budget shortfall could easily be overcome with his offshore drilling plan.
5. Announce that shale oil recovery programs will start again and give companies incentives to extract the oil out of the shale. There have been some new advances in the techniques over the past few years, but because you cannot mine this in most states anymore, large scale testing has not been done. Remove all the restrictions.
6. Announce that Sarah Palen will head a new “Energy to Jobs” program. With her experience with this in Alaska, she is well qualified in this area to do so… one of the things she is actually qualified to do. All this new oil drilling will need thousands (maybe a million) new jobs. They will be needed off shore, but also on shore support jobs. Not to mention the economic stimulation in the areas where drilling will happen. Homes, restaurants, hotels… This will bring new jobs to new areas.
7. Use the T Boon Pickens concept to develop wind power over as an alternative to oil to generate electricity throughout the midwest. Put some teeth into the idea. It will take 8-10 years to develop and build, but this will also create jobs and get us off the oil fix.
8. Propose that the US becomes an oil exporter  within 10 years. Over that time we will wean our country off the dependency of oil, but other less developed countries will still have a tremendous need for oil. Once we no longer need so much oil, we can be the largest oil exporter in the world and compete one on one with the mid east exporters.
9. To get to this point we must bridge the next 10-20 years with alternative energy sources, until we develop the “green” sources like wind, geo-thermal, tide, solar, etc. To do that  he should announce:
   • Clean coal plants to generate electricity in the areas of the country that have the bulk of the coal, mostly the eastern half. We have a hundred years worth of coal underground. There is no reason to import oil to make electricity when we have all this coal.
   • Build nuclear plants throughout the country. The rest of the world uses nuclear, we are in the dark ages by refusing to use it. Outline the cost benefits along with the ecological benefits.
10. Announce that ANWAR is no longer off limits. Explain to the people just how little land is involved in ANWAR. Have Sara Palen take the credit for changing your mind on why we should drill in this area and how it will not hurt the environment.
11. Announce that you will have incentives for people to buy and convert automobiles that run on natural gas. Explain just how much natural gas we have and that it is available to drill. Explain how many other countries are using natural gas to power it’s vehicles and the conversion would not be a major event.

I have no idea what the above will cost, or if every idea is viable, but that doesn’t matter. It’s an election season, politicians promise the world and very seldom deliver. John McCain must sell  a plan like this to the people if he wants to be President. He cannot compete with Obama on most issues unless he gets specific.

T Boon Pickens is gaining real headway with the public with his plan and his ads every day about one aspect of his plan or another. I think McCain should do exactly the same thing. Every day outline his 10 (or 12 or15) point plan on how to fix the economy and the energy crisis  all at the same time.

Visionary… John. Do it.

Like just about everyone else, I have been thinking that T Boone Pickens idea of setting up wind farms up and down the middle of the country is a great idea. It not only will provide a clean new energy source, it will also create a new environmentally friendly industry.

Of course, I live on the east coast. They won’t be in my back yard (unless New York City mayor Bloomberg gets his way and puts them throughout New York… but that’s another post). My point is, does anybody live in this area. I know it’s an expansive, wide open farm belt, but his plan looks like many of these turbines will be near populated areas.

How bad can it be living near a wind turbine? These people are about 3/4 mile from a wind farm.

When we first drove into their yard, our initial impression was that their one kilometer setback distance should be fine. However, their problems began within weeks after the turbines started operating. When they were downwind from the turbines, and the air was moving just enough to turn them (12-15 knots from the northeast), the noise was loud. It was a repetitive modulated drone of sound. Dwayne and Kevin both claimed it sometimes was loud enough to rattle the windows of their homes. The sound was even worse in the field behind their homes. Distances from 1 to 1.5 kilometers were the areas of the most annoying sounds. This spring the winds created constant misery.

You can read the entire post here posted July 28, 2007.

I’ve searched Google for just how loud these things are and have got various answers. Seems the manufactures have provided many technical reports and never really give you an answer. Lot of crap dealing with speeds, the terrain, and a ton of other mumbo jumbo. These anecdotal reports are everywhere though.

Which brings me back to Mike Bloomberg yesterday saying he wants to put wind turbines on the tops of buildings and bridges. I suppose it will help drown out all the traffic noise in the city.