The Devil We Frack - Over the Hill Warning

Causing a purposeful, wholesale revolutionary explosion of new energy alternatives, without knowing whether those efforts might lead, let alone whether they are obtainable, desirable, or even conceivable other than in the hopes and dreams of the perpetually wanting .... Going cold-turkey away from fossil fuels ....  

Unfinished, uncertain thoughts. I'm really not sure what to say. Hardly anyone who is paying attention wants or likes the idea of fracking. Yet the fact remains that no matter how we try to get quickly from where we are to a better energy future will require us to put enormous, nearly unfathomable degrees of faith in a simple notion. Fracking was its own step towards hoping that giving up coal could be a painless transfer of addictions ... one that might get us to a place where our choices were not burning a hole in our vision of a cleaner, healthier modern future.

These kinds of meandering thoughts about our next energy choices could and should be seen as scary; they are. But they are real. I happen to come across a quote from Nolan Bushnell in a fun and simple book called Digital Destiny, where he was saying, “Everyone believes in innovation until they see it” (p283). 

For new energy options -- particularly ones that we want to instantly flip on for better results and an uninterrupted flow of convenience -- this wisdom is truly the case. We can opt for more Earth-friendly ways, almost as readily as a president can say “Do Ask, Do Tell." She can order bits and bytes of such a transition to happen on many fronts by lighting up a few executive action fights. Getting such an order to have sufficient power to achieve its desired goals ... well ... that's another thing.

Arguably, this is exactly what soon-to-be President Hillary Clinton is trying to tell us when she stumbles through her explanations about fracking. Using fracking as a desirable anti-coal approach was accepted as a viable way to give America a sense of energy production destiny. It existed, scaled readily, and seemed reachable and reasonable as a sidestep. Then, as we discovered its true ugliness, all kinds of forces turned against that momentum and demanded a different, quick other-menu of choices.  

But towards what ends? Full solar? Total wind? Ocean wave harnessing? Something all the more unique that can drop down from the Silicon sphere? The mechanics are intense and still uncertain. Are they better than what we have? Are their harmless technologies as perfect as some of us hope for?

There are risks in halting what we have going on right now; lots of them. Presidential contenders like Trump (and to some extent Sanders) exist because the noises of crowds are screaming of a loss of faith and uncontrolled uncertainty ... with no ends of stability in sight. There are folks who serious fear change and want to go backwards.

But there is a different reality before us. Dramatic change on top of change is coming fast and we cannot and should not disregard its many implications. Nor accept that understanding what it means will be easy. We've jumped into a digital future and need to come to terms with that fact. Fracking is a technological "upgrade" in the petroleum sector ... and it turned ugly quickly. 

Shawn Dubravac says in his introduction to Digital Destiny: “Digital technology resides in the same realm as these transformational technologies, and we cannot undo what has been done. This is our digital destiny. This is not what might happen if we choose this road over another. This is what will happen regardless of which road we take.”

Hillary is starting to get ready to go "full Oval" as she finishes her campaign. She seems to be trying to get us to pull together thoughts and ideas. The public has shown dramatic opposites about what it can handle. Maybe we might give a better listen and try to help Madam President think more about taming the devil we already frack? Maybe it will be worth the effort. \