Letter to President Obama from Dr. Bill Wattenburg – $2 a Gallon Natural Gas … and No Smart Growth Required to Reduce CO2

(June 22, 2012)  [under construction]  Americans are paying over $4 a gallon this summer and disgusted with Obama’s energy policies.  The President and the Democrat Party have made many decisions that increase the cost of gasoline on the world market, and our price at the pump.  For example, the President has refused to allow a pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and suspended drilling off the Gulf Coast.

Note: This post will ultimately be combined with a deleted post discussing Oregon’s anti-natural gas positions currently in the archives.

Furthermore, the President continues to import huge amounts of oil from Middle East nations who hate us, and who wish to blow up Israel.  Do we really want to send billions of dollars overseas to tyrannical regimes that don’t like us?

Meanwhile, proponents of “smart growth” want to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT’s) and greenhouse gases (GHG’s).  They are attempting this with communal forms of transportation, such as light rail.  However, light rail is very costly, and can only take 1% to 3% of all vehicle trips in the Seattle, Washington area.  In contrast to gasoline and transit costs, biking and walking are free, and 20% of all commuters walk or ride their bikes in Corvallis, Oregon.

Therefore, it’s clear that we need a national energy policy that uses the cheapest fuel policy, and that also advocates free forms of transportation such as providing more sidewalks and bike paths.

Dr. Bill Wattenburg, former nuclear scientist and recently syndicated national radio host (formerly of KGO), advocates that all federal vehicles should run on natural gas.  Then, private automakers would have an “incentive” to start building cars that run on natural gas.  At $2 a gallon, these vehicles would be very economical, and would ultimately replace conventional gasoline vehicles.

Bill Wattenburg wrote a letter to President Obama advocating natural gas, asking his listeners to copy it and send it to the President.

Bill Wattenburg gives credit for this idea to Bob Brinker, the host of the syndicated radio program “Moneytalk.” Brinker originally came up with the idea that all federal vehicles should run on natural gas, in order to stimulate the automakers to convert our entire fleet to natural gas.

With a 100 year supply of natural gas, and new discoveries made every day, there is no logical reason that we can’t lower fuel costs to just $2 a gallon.  Unfortunately, the only reason is President Obama, who has failed to develop a comprehensive energy policy for American cars, cyclists, and pedestrians.

And, another reason is the obscession of urban planners with “smart growth” and reducing VMTs and GHGs.  However, natural gas produces significantly less GHGs than gasoline.  Furthermore, despite the wishes of those who want smart growth, the existing suburb and freeway system is not going away.  High density “smart growth” developments will not significantly reduce vehicle miles traveled.  The Socialist concept of “location efficient mortgages” will not work since people prefer privacy, living in the suburbs, even if they have to pay more for a private yard.

Therefore, obviously light rail is too expensive and ineffective.  Increasing population density into smart growth towers isn’t socially acceptable, since as a species with an evolved and/or created brain, we require open spaces with private yards.  To reduce gasoline consumption, we need a cheaper and greener source of fuel for our  cars, along with electric cars, along more sidewalks, and more bike lanes.

Listen to Dr. Bill Wattenburg on the Talk Radio Network, Sunday Nights

Dr. Bill recently entered national syndication coast to coast on the Talk Radio Network. Below is the press release and Dr. Bill’s letter to President Obama, from the TRN web site –

San Francisco, CA – Talk Radio Network Entertainment is proud to announce the addition of Dr. Bill Wattenburg to TRN-E’s Weekend lineup. The Bill Wattenburg Show will begin airing Sunday January 22nd at 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. PST.

Dr. Wattenburg is a nationally known radio talk show host who is also an accomplished scientist. He is a senior research scientist at the Research Foundation, California State University, Chico; and a scientific consultant for the University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and many other institutions. He is a former nuclear weapons designer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; a former member of the US Air Force Scientific Advisory Board; and a former UC Berkeley professor of electrical engineering. He was co-founder of Berkeley Scientific Laboratories with Dr. Donald Glaser (Nobel Prize, Physics, 1960).

Mark Masters, CEO of TRN Entertainment stated, “We are ecstatic to have a person of Dr. Bill Wattenburg’s caliber to join our network. His vast knowledge of Science and Physics will enlighten all of his listeners. We believe he will quickly develop legions of dedicated fans that want to improve their personal knowledge and way of life.”

The Bill Wattenburg Show is mostly an open-line listener-driven call-in show, where he answers questions ranging from fixing cars to physics, and everything in between. His combination of experiences and scientific background gives him a great wealth of knowledge that he applies to entertain and inform his audience.

Dr. Wattenburg’s accomplishments are as varied and remarkable as he is. He has personally developed a method to measure explosive yields for underground nuclear tests. He is credited with stopping the waste of blood collected at blood banks. He fixed the BART train control system for the State of California. He improved the security of magnetic strips on bankcards. He developed the plan for extinguishing oil well fires in Kuwait, and many more humanitarian and practical applications of science. For more details go to www.DrBill.us

Join The Bill Wattenburg Show Sunday nights at 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. PST starting January 22nd. For more information, contact TRN Entertainment at 888-383-3733.

 

Letter to President Obama –

Use Our Natural Gas; Bring Back $2 a Gallon Gas Right Now

From:  http://www.trn1.com/bill-wattenburg-natural-gas-letter-update

Published 27-Jan-2012 in TRN Central Science

Dr. Bill Wattenburg

www.wattenburg.us

www.drbill.us

 January 26, 2012

To: President Barack Obama

Subject:

In your State of the Union address last night, you said that the U.S. must start using our natural gas. Here is how to start the ball rolling immediately, not years from now. And, you can bring gas prices down to $2 a gallon in a hurry for struggling American workers.  Otherwise, they will  soon be paying for $5 gas – and blaming your administration.

Mr. President, you must sign a simple executive order tomorrow that says that all federal vehicles (not private cars) purchased after, say,  January 1, 2013,  must be dual fuel vehicles that run on COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS as well as other fuels such  as gasoline, diesel, or ethanol which can be used as a backup.  Smart companies and municipalities are already using hundreds of thousands of such natural gas vehicles.   Adding federal vehicles  will start the ball rolling to replace foreign oil in a big way.  We have a 100 years’ supply of natural gas now, and more discovered every month — more energy than all the oil in the middle east.    And twice as much more available in Alaska.

Converting our federal vehicles quickly is a genius idea that came from nationally syndicated financial expert Bob Brinker.    He realized that foreign  oil suppliers will drop the price of gas to $2.00 in a hurry to stop us from using our enormous reserves of natural gas.  This is an all-win,  no-lose initiative for you.   All you have to do is sign a piece of paper. (Mr. President, you have to be smart enough to at least bluff OPEC a little. It costs nothing.)

This will save our working families hundreds of billions every year in the cost of fuel and create millions of jobs — without more national debt.

Any federal agency that does not want to buy natural gas, dual-fuel vehicles can op out.   But your executive order alone will cause foreign oil suppliers to think twice about  blackmailing the U.S. for oil.   It tells them where we are going — and that we will not need their oil in ten years or so.

Why does this work?   The federal government is the biggest purchaser of new vehicles.    The automakers already sell dual-fuel cars that run on natural gas or gasoline (or ethanol) for utility companies and taxis companies all over the country who gladly pay a  higher price for these dual-fuel vehicles because their fuel costs are reduced.  With the federal government purchasing millions of natural gas vehicles, car manufacturers will quickly make natural gas cars and light trucks available to everyone at no big price increase over conventional gasoline cars.     Natural gas is available in almost all urban areas where most of the commuting is done.   It is easy to fuel natural gas cars at home. This initiative does not force any private citizen to buy natural gas/dual-fuel cars right now, or in the future.

This will not cost the government an extra dime. But it will bring the price of gas down to $2.00 and stop bankrupting millions of  working families in America.  Other countries power all their cars on natural gas. Natural gas is easy to use in vehicles and it delivers great performance.   If you take this simple action to build the market for CNG dual-fuel cars,  most new cars purchased by citizens will be running on CNG within a few years.

Think of it this way:   If we had a national surplus of wheat for the next 100 years, what would you do if the price of corn was beyond the reach of working families? Common sense says use the wheat as a staple instead of corn in our food products.     For the last three years, your administration has forced working families to stand in line for the  expensive corn ($4.00 gas to go to work).   That is not very smart.    In fact, it is cruel and senseless punishment of millions of working families who trusted you to represent them. The American public is catching on.   You had better do something long before the next election.

Over 200,000 of these natural gas  vehicles are already being used by smart municipalities and companies, with tens of thousands more every year (you can buy a new natural gas Honda now).    The big car manufacturers have been making them for years (at extra cost). No new design or technology is needed.    The huge federal market will motivate the car manufacturers to supply natural gas cars at reasonable prices for American workers.  (Federal agencies can op out for a while if they have good reasons.)  Our abundant natural gas is everywhere for fueling cars.    Private citizens do not need to change anything in their cars right now. But they will be able to buy an inexpensive natural gas, dual-fuel car when they need a new one.

Your Department of Energy has not delivered the promise of “alternative fuel.”  But DOE has kept the price of gas high by refusing to open up our oil resources.    This is cruel. You must stop punishing 100 million struggling families in America.  If you don’t take action soon, you will be denying them full use of our largest natural resource – natural gas. You must use the biggest club we have to force the price of foreign oil down to where it will no longer bankrupt the low-income families of America.   High gas prices are a major burden on our economy.   Many low income families have lost their homes since you came into office because they could not pay both their mortgages and the additional $2,000 a year for gas to go to work.

1.   Natural gas is the only significant “alternative transportation fuel” that will be available over the ten to twenty years.   And it is available everywhere, right now!

2.   Dual-fuel natural gas+gasoline(or ethanol) cars will suddenly be available to the general public at no increased cost.   Car makers now deliver them for utilities and Taxis.

3.   The middle east oil countries  know how much natural gas we have. They are terrified that we start using it and less of their oil.   They will bring the price of gas down to $2 a gallon and keep it there to discourage our conversion.

The biggest worry for the foreign oil suppliers is that we will start using our enormous natural gas supplies, now estimated to supply the U.S. more than 100 years. The price of gasoline will drop to $2.00 per gallon or less – even before we convert large numbers of our vehicles to natural gas.   American workers – and the economy — will applaud you.

The outrage of $5 gas is coming soon – probably next year. It will wipe out the recovery and your administration in the next election. It must be stopped.    Challenge the foreign oil suppliers with America’s most abundant and cleanest transportation fuel, NATURAL GAS.   We can still use all the ethanol our farmers can make in these dual-fuel cars.    Conversion to natural gas cars sounds like a long and expensive transition. Not at all!   You don’t need to force anyone. All you need to do is start the ball rolling with a million government cars switched over to dual fuel vehicles.

SIMPLY ANNOUNCING A REAL U.S. GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE TO USE NATURAL GAS FOR TRANSPORTATION FUEL WILL BRING THE PRICE OF CRUDE OIL DOWN BELOW $50 A BARREL AND GAS DOWN TO $2.00 FOR THE SRRUGGLING AMERICAN WORKING PUBLIC –RIGHT NOW, NOT FIVE YEARS FROM NOW.  

Sincerely,

Dr. Bill Wattenburg