Even from "conservatives" we get nonsense about energy

Gas-thirsty cars imperil U.S., conservative ex-officials warn / They urge higher mileage, different fuels, more hybrids:
"The Sierra Club, for instance, is part of an alliance of other environmental groups and labor unions that advocates many of the same policies as the Clean Energy Coalition. But in nonpetroleum policy, the environmental- union coalition rejects increased reliance on domestic coal or nuclear power plants."

Frank Gaffney, Robert McFarlane and James Woolsey are the leading lights among a group of Reagan era national security types who have written the White House warning of the danger of reliance on oil imports for US national security policy. In particular, it seems, our ability to meddle at will in the Middle East.

But all this nonsense about hydrogen fuel cell cars as the route to salvation has got to stop. Hydrogen fuel production consumes a lot of electricity and, until we figure out how we are going to generate that electricity, the talk of hydrogen fuel is just so much hot air.

Until we solve the political problem of increasing use of nuclear generated electricity and adjusting air quality policy to make use of more of our own coal, we cannot be serious about this issue. In fact, based on what I recall of this subject from 25 years ago, any move of oil to the vicinity of $100 per barrel in the near future should make the production of liquid fuels from coal a profitable proposition.