A Scientific Response by I. R. Isquith

The marketplace alone will not cause people to carry out the conservation measures that are necessary. Americans and New Jerseyans seem willing to pay the price for their creature comforts, ranging from their large automobiles to climate controlled houses not varying more than one degree around the entire calendar. As to the solution, the respondents have no clear answer but one favored solution was building more generation capability. But increased generation capacity could only be the bottleneck problem if there were no shortage of energy supplies. That a lack of capacity is our current problem has not clearly been demonstrated one way or the other. The whole concept of alternatives to fossil fuels needs to be the subject of more scientific and political debate. Nuclear power with all its bad press (much of it well deserved) does not seem to be a viable alternative. Instead, a power generating grid should be developed that would optimize different kinds local resources--hydroelectric, geothermal and wind power. Certainly these will not be the major energy sources, but in combination with traditional large sources and conservation, we would be facing a very different future with them.

see also:
Summary Analysis
Republican Analysis
Democratic Analysis
Faculty Analysis (2)
Tabular Results
Survey Details

 

Comment by Dr. I. R. Isquith, Professor of Biology at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Dr. Isquith can be reached at 201-692-2395 or isquith@fdu.edu

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