My personal take on Dr. Makhijani's lecture

As a whole, all of the rhetoric and statistics that Dr. Makhijani provided for us in lecture the other day can be considered just that: rhetoric. I was very intrigued to hear how he planned to implement this plan in 50 years, and from his plan it already seems that we are behind schedule.

However, I do not disagree with all of the numbers that he presented. I will assume that his data is correct and that his idealistic view of the United States in 50 years is possible. But "possible" is much different that "plausible." The enormous collective effort that his plan would require is disheartening in itself. I don't think that we could even get a few more wind turbines up and running without the environmental groups hounding. And as soon as the coal and nuclear companies would get wind of his report, all of our congressmen would be driving Bentleys with the money from lobbyists.

But maybe this criticism is not very fair. I mean, was his study to determine if carbon-free and nuclear-free is possible or plausible? It is good to hear from him that the kind of society he envisions for the largest energy user in the world is something possible. However, I would like to see a roadmap (in reality, a maze) about how to get all of the parties involved in accordance with his views.