EXCLUSIVE: Bill Gates: ‘We’ll have more crises like the oil spill’ if we don’t invest in clean energy innovation

Liberals are exploiting the oil spill to inject their personal pet environmentalist experiments onto America. This is nothing less than fear mongering to politically legislate even more sweeping political legislation onto Americans. In our current economy sweeping widespread liberal experiments is the last thing we need. America needs to get PRODUCING with those resources we ALREADY HAVE. The only politics that needs to be playing out right now with energy production in America is the loosening of strict regulations on commercial fishing, logging, land based ONSHORE drilling, etc.
The liberal mentality of preserve what we have while use OTHER nation’s resources is selfish and reminds me of a rich miser hoarding his own resources.

Oh bummer. I was going to comment on a very good post that has been deleted.
Christopher Carr, repost without long cut and pastes and links! Your post was very thoughtful and spot on.

now now everyone, Obama is “trying” to look like he cares. after all wasn’t that Obama that said offshore drilling is ok and accidents very rarely happen on oil rigs..if fact he gave them a safety award….maybe he should do what MSNBC said he should do.. go back down to LA and eat some shrimp with the people.. LMAO

Why doesn’t Bill Gates use his own frickin’ money to create alternative energy research and companies if he thinks it’s so important and such a good deal?
But no, he wants the taxpayers to kick in the bucks…while he shields and hides income. Talk is cheap, Mr. Gates!

I will be glad when the revolutionaries like Van Jones sieze his money and drive his women and children before them .

“I guess being a billionaire is so passe` when you can scam the world and become a TRILLIONAIRE!!!”
Yeah, like cap and trade supporters stand to make money while big polluters won’t make anything by continuing to pump megatons of carbon into the air unabated and dump the consequences on everybody else for free….

O.K., let us have Bill Gates apply his personal genius as he “did” for the PC. Invent is the most stupid word in the world. Invent? Is that the entire point in the universe? The left refuses to see and certainly the progressives don’t care but will use whatever is at their disposal to destroy America. You cannot invent anything this moment that can help our energy needs for the next two decades, at least. And if something were to be, invented, the enviros would fight it tooth and nail. There will be some special interest group to fight whatever might be invented now or in the future.

You cannot invent anything this moment that can help our energy needs for the next two decades, at least.
Posted by: Sue | Jun 12, 2010 8:08:32 PM
The bigger danger is the neanderthals who think everything is ‘just fine’ as it is – big oil, banking and the military industrial power structure.
Fortunately we have cutting edge scientists working for a better future despite the Republican right.

Looks like Billy Gates is in on the Climate Exchange Inc scam too…
Posted by: katy | Jun 12, 2010 7:21:51 PM
I recall Bill Gates was invited by Ted Kennedy, the strongest advocate of amnesty of Illegals, to the U.S. Senate to pitch about the need for increase in import of foreign scientists and engineers.
If Bill Gates was willing to spend a small amount of his wealth on solving the problem of deep sea oil spill prevention and stoppage, we may not have the gulf disaster today.

The ultimate free market opportunist is calling for tax dollars to spur innovation? Something stinks to high heaven here.

What? Do you think the oil companies are too strapped for cash to do their own safety R&D or something? You have got to be kidding.
I do believe that U.S. , government and industries, should build up their own technologies regarding deep sea drilling, rather than depend on one foreign company to provide safety of spill on our land. Do you think we have no money to do that ? A lot of engineers and scientists are looking over work of this kind.

Jack Tapper, you surely know that a bunch of nonsense and politically biased people follow your report.You should not be surprised because you report sometimes something to get attention from them.I understand this is our journalism now a days.

requires some sacrifices and inconveniences and costs
—
We went down the “trust me” road with HC and the cost of that of that disaster is still growing. (doc fix?) Bill Gates and Barak Obama won’t be inconvenienced nor will they sacrifice a damn thing. Nor will their families.
Obama, himself, just last week, sent a quarter million people looking for jobs that aren’t there. He took those people’s livlihoods from them as if it were nothing. As if they and their families were spittle on his tie.
So, no more “trust me”. Tell us the complete truth. How much more does he think we’re supposed to “sacrifice”?

That is why the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are usually Democrats. The Republicans have nothing to offer.
As for the cost some people are complaining about, it only takes one $3T war to drive your whole economy into the ground, as W. has proved. Clean energy would provide real jobs and a long-term low cost energy source, not that the Republicans would ever concern themselves with that until an oil spill occurs.

“That is why the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are usually Democrats. The Republicans have nothing to offer.”
Really? What is your source of such a wild statement? How about Meg Whitman or Vinod Khosla to name just a couple of well known Republican entrepreneurs?

So called CLEAN ENERGY is a FAILURE – ask Spain and Germany, who’ve together wasted billions on this pipe dream pushed by academics, “green politicians” and the dreamy eyed mega rich like Gates while laughed at by professional engineers who know better. They know the energy in quantities and at PRICES we need can only be provided by Coal, Hydro Electric and Nuclear power plants. Everything else is a WASTE OF MONEY and a PROSPERITY TAX that makes EVERYTHING move expensive, provides no effect on the GLOBAL WARMING NONSENSE while KILLING JOBS and LOWERING OUR STANDARD OF LIVING. You think the academics and democrats know something special about “science”? Ask yourself who paid BILLIONS for the ABANDONED AND HALF BUILD E85 ETHONAL PLANTS sprinkled around the mid west before these nitwits figured out E85 has only 65% of the energy of gasoline and it’s a TOTAL FAILURE and can’t be transported by pipeline? YOU DID!! Unless neophyte obama convinces the UNITED STATES that if enough of our paychecks are used to pay for a MASSIVE INCREASE IN ENERY COSTS because what we buy will CHANGE THE EARTH’S CLIMATE, they we are being RIPPED OFF BY DEMOCRAT LIES. ….think prices are high now – democrat ignorance is about to cost us all dearly….

Mr. Gates…what rock have you been sleeping under the past 20 years, the alternatives are ready to go but every time they get close the US Government never follows through, the say we need to get off of the oil addiction but where is the follow up….have you heard even a peep about conserving or worse yet the promises made by the bailed out auto makers who took money on condition of making high mileage new technology vehicles…none have and in fact all are back to selling their bigges profit gas guzzlers and the wind energy that was supposed to put Americans back to work is being made not in the US but in Brazil and China and that funding has dried up as well…bottom line, you want it you need to support it or do it yourself and quit relying on a failed Government and a lying INEPT President
to do it for you!

Or are you just looking for an opportunity to wave a fist in the air and whine about Obama?
Posted by: progressive mama
—-
No maam. At least, I hope I’m not. I gave you a good example of a program that became law through bald-faced lies. Call them accounting tricks, politics, whatever you want. They were lies from the very beginning and there is no debate about that. It’s already over $1 billion and not even implemented.
And he wants to spend another $billion$?
All I said was tell the complete truth from the outset and share the pain equally.

“provides no effect on the GLOBAL WARMING NONSENSE while KILLING JOBS and LOWERING OUR STANDARD OF LIVING”
Yes we’re quite aware that right-wingers are perfectly willing destroy the environment in order to maintain their standard of living, and justify it by pandering to total scientific nonsense. It’s no wonder BP wasn’t concerned enough to avoid cutting corners on their ill-fated rig, they know all these beaches and marshes everybody is so concerned about will eventually be underwater anyways. I’m sure if the climate change deniers are dead wrong they won’t be volunteering to foot the bill for all the damage their policies inflict, including building levees around all the affected coastal cities and towns, and the entire state of Florida. They seek to dump these costs on others.

Watch out for that global warming warning in west Wyoming today.Make sure you put those climate change chains on your tires.

“For 30 years the country has poured money…”
“poured”? You have got to be kidding. Absolutely nowhere near as much money has been “poured” into alternate energy R&D as has been spent on continuing our dependence on fossil fuels. The comparison is ridiculous. The reason you’ve been hearing about it since the Carter years is because nobody has done anything substantial about it since then.

Gates, you are awfully generous with investing OUR money! Let Americans decide what do with America’s money, not one liberal activist!

“Americans do well when government gets out of the way”
How do you think BP’s management if it’s own affairs is working out for Americans living along the Gulf Coast bob?

We should invest in alternative green energy, the rest of the world is moving fast forward, we’ll be begging for their technology and thereby become imitators rather than innovators.

you have a capatilistic monster on the show that has all the wrong values on our society, telling us again what we should do: 1: INNOVATE: To date M$ has pushed or sued everyone with a better idea out of business, off-shored more Call Center and Programming jobs. He could care less what happens here.
2: TAX CRUDE: M$ spends or saves billions on CDS, DVDs and anything made out of plastic which in turn is made out of crude. What his company fight any initiative for a hike in pricing.
3: INVENT: M$ has no real interest in innovating its own products, in fear of hurting the bottom line. They sap this countries greastest resource so the dividend is a few more pennys on the dollar.
Bill Gates got 15 minutes of free advertising and said nothing, because he knows nothing significant is going to come out of this. BOA got a state court to release 997 houses to be sold on foreclosure in Utah rather modify the loans. BOA has had to pay $4.7 mill, so what, their Million dollar ads play on your same station. Big business is a gutless wonder with big pocket reserves and its in their best interest, as always, to keep the status quo.
3

tillyerkt:
You forget the fact that our nation is a “Representative” government. Bill Gates doesn’t represent anybody except his own opinion. If he wants to get things done he should run for office. Otherwise Gates should invest in alternative energy on his own dime not America’s.

Why don’t I believe anything this guy says? At the turn of the last century they coined a phrase that is still appropriate for Mr. Gates and his cronies:
“Robber Barons”
He’s made all his money shutting down all competition, and using other people’s innovations to create a greedy monopoly that now is trying to make people think he is another Albert Schweizer. He reminds me of the Medieval Catholic Church who preached Love and redemption while it tortured and burned heretics at the stake, and would later create the third world as the fodder for its wealthy parasites to prey on (by the way, isn’t he doing the same thing now in India; like begets like, I guess).
When is America going to wise up and finally see that it’s real enemies and the enemies of all humanity are right here within its own borders?

Try to say Gates, MSNBC and objectivity with a straight face.

In 1978 Jimmy Carter, citing energey independce and a desire not to return to the Oil embargo crisis, set up the Synfuel Project to invewstigate and develop alternative energies. Some of the top minds in the field were lured to the project. As soon as Reagan came into office he killed the project, rather amazing for someone who had a ring side seat for the Santa Barbara oil spill from his ranch…..Republican domination over the next couple of decades prevented a return to this program. Had we continued with the research, we would probably be numver one in energey today – as producer not user!

Similarly, in response to inane comments about “global warming warning in west Wyoming”, all it takes is a dictionary for someone as ignorant as you to learn the difference between climate and weather. Weather is local and temporary; climate is long-term and atmospheric. A cold winter or warmer-than-usual weekend says nothing about climate change; get your facts straight. By doing so, you’ll understand that climate change is a real and serious crisis. Until you have a better understanding, please defer from posting comments like this one.

Until you have a better understanding,
Posted by: df12
—
There is no misunderstanding on my part. When did “global warming” become “climate change”? And why?

The US has 5% of the world’s population and consumes about 25% of the worlds oil. Its been like that for the last 50 years and shows no sign of changing. That’s why your government is authorizing companies to drill in deeper and deeper waters. Waters so deep that when something like this occurs it is very difficult to fix. So who is responsible for this disaster? ummm…
Bill Gates is right!

jmac: Your “…US has 5% of the world’s population and consumes about 25% of the worlds oil…” Is is a common LIE told by INEPT COLLEGE PROFESSORS AND THE DEMOCRAT LEFT AND BELIEVED BY OUR MISGUIDED PRESIDENT. In 2006 the United States had 4.3% of the WORLDS POPULATION and with those people, PRODUCED 25% OF THE WOLDS GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT!! This compares to Russia at 2.1 % population and 2.2% GDP! In order to accomplish that, we use a lot of resources MORE EFFICIENTLY THEN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. I hope this generations survives it’s vast ignorance.

Facts are not “believes” sport. You “believe” that if Americans waste enough money on inefficient, uneconomical energy schemes, al gore will get richer and the earth’s temperature will change. NOW THOSE ARE “BELIEFS” in the vane of a the sun revolving around a flat earth. Learn the difference. There are hundreds of oil platforms and this incident is unique and had nothing to do with how much oil the WORLD uses. In fact, deep water drilling is only pursued after dimwitted democrats blocked drilling in safer areas. Obama and his party caused this spill and FAILED TO CLEAN IT UP. Ask Louisiana what they think of your hero and his “control”! Worst president ever.

Both Republicans and Democrats have stopped all drilling and energy production. In 2007 Bush and Pelosi’s Congress stopped Chevron from drilling the largest natural gas field off Florida. Chevron had the drilling dright and the gas field would supply our country for 100 years. Now it is off the drilling areas even through it was out of coast view.
In other areas we have the ability to produce oil and natural gas from shale. Each time the government takes the area off drilling. This has happened multiple times under Obama.
Natural gas could be used in vehicles with little changes and would be environmentally friendly. Neither party cares. I think Obama cares even less with the destruction of the Gulf as he and his admin has done nothing to save it.

Also Gates is just rhetoric. My sister-in-law was once up for a job at MICROSOFT and after going through multiple interviews MICROSOFT flooded the pool with H1B Visa people. She and the other Americans lost out on the jobs, but the foreigners didn’t. If Gates cared about the USA he would have been hiring skilled Americans, which she and others had the qualifications. Gates is a hypocrite and should stick to PC’s.

“There are hundreds of oil platforms and this incident is unique and had nothing to do with how much oil the WORLD uses”
No, there are thousands, but even so a failure rate of 1 in several thousand is nowhere near good enough when the consequences are this catastrophic. And no, the amount of oil the world uses has everything to do with whether it’s worth the risk to drill in difficult areas. There is nothing more funny that self proclaimed economically sensible right-wingers trying to totally ignore market forces, as if it’s inevitable that are forced to consume oil as fast as we can.

The kind of defeatism espoused by Shepherd is exactly the dribble that has been fed to us by the oil companies in the 37 years since the first “oil crisis”. Here we sit in the same or worst position 4 decades later
It’s really simple; take HALF of our massive military and aid investment we make in the Middle East to subsidize the price of oil and invest it in R&D and infrastructure.
We’re more than capable, we just need to get out from under the thumb of the oil lobby and do what’s in the best interest of the nation. The oil companies can truly become energy companies, or get out of the way and new businesses will form to take advantage of these opportunities.
Quit shilling for the oil companies and consider our national interests for a change. We need to convert to domestic produced renewable energy. This will improve our balance of trade, national defense, job creation, budget deficit, and environment.
We put a man on the moon in a decade, and Brazil eliminated foreign oil inputs in the same amount of time. It’s time for us to quit leaning on the Founding Fathers and the Great Generation and do our part to maintain and enhance America’s greatness. If you’re too weak to change, then you’re simply in the way.

“We put a man on the moon in a decade, and Brazil eliminated foreign oil inputs in the same amount of time.”
Brazils discovery of giant deep water oil fields just offshore has changed them from an importer to exporter of oil. Are you suggesting we should follow their example?

“Brazils discovery of giant deep water oil fields just offshore has changed them from an importer to exporter of oil. Are you suggesting we should follow their example?”
What changed Brazil from being an importer of oil was the massive change from imported oil to domestic bio fuel. Their deep sea oil discoveries came after they had already converted to ethanol based automotive fuel. Unless one desires continued servitude to imported oil, common sense suggests that we follow a course that allows us to use renewable domestic sourced fuel.

There are the Zapata towers in Houston that is separated by nine feet. There could be a vertical wind generator installed in that space to capture the wind that blows though that area daily.
Parking lots should be shaded with solar cells.
Any wheel that needs brakes should have a motor/generator.
Even without the needed research for clean,and free energy, common sense gives us many ways to help remove the destructive energies we are currently locked into.

Amusing to read the same old eco drivel of pipe dreams and fairy dust. Yea, we went to the moon so we can replace the global oil economy with nonexistent discoveries? Eco nitwits wave away an entire global society built on the benefits of oil as though with enough MONEY, “someone else” will find some way to replace it….cause we went to the moon! While money can fund research, it cannot create discoveries on demand or change basic physics and chemistry. This is the kind of eco gibberish that lead democrats to waste billions of AMERICAN TAX DOLLARS on the huge E85 failure and the rusting abandoned plants AMERICAN VOTERS PAID FOR! Is that negative or just the kind of truth you can’t handle?

Gates makes some good points but it is difficult to know if he is making those points for altruistic reasons or because he sees a way to personally benefit (either financially or by an improved public image) by his statements. Microsoft was not known as an innovator; a copier, a borrower, perhaps even taker of others ideas, but not an innovator. Except in one interesting area; the Microsoft business model was not based on competition in the sense of building a better product, but in establishing a larger user base (perhaps by unfair means) and then becoming the de facto standard so that consumers would have little choice but to by what Microsoft offered. Unfortunately, due to Microsoft’s behaviors and values (such as, IMO, “trust no one, take advantage of all”,”life is a competition and a zero sum game, so if anyone gets something from you, you have lost”), most of Mr. Gates’ comments have to be taken with a grain of salt and viewed with a distrustful eye. he is a smart man, but that does not mean he is necessarily a moral, ethical, or selfless man.

Bill’s right. But the American people are far too greedy to do anything about it.
We won’t change until we’re absolutely forced to. Basically, until we’ve ruined our planet and our economy.

The Oil Gusher in the Gulf was unfortunate?
I am voting against anyone who is a member of the party that screamed and shouted “HELL NO!” on Federal Government interfering with business, industries, or corporations.
If we had shouted “HELL YEAH!” instead, that Oil Gusher in the Gulf wouldn’t of happened in the first place!

“I am all for drilling in safer areas. But these opportunities are getting less and less which is why all across the world oil companies are drilling in deeper waters. This inevitably increases the risk of something like this disaster happening.” Oh… NO. There is plenty of oil in safer places… the companies are being forced to the deepwater locations by the regulations everyone seems to think we need more of. Go figure.

Funny, I thought Mr. Gates IS the status quo. His philanthropic goals ameliorate problems, but never prevent them. Same here with his very obvious suggestions to oil. Better he put his vast amount of money into supporting the alternative (and ignored) scientists and PR.

In regard to Mr. Gate’s proposal for adding another $11 billion of government “investment” in alternative energy research: I think that would be great if the money would be spent on developing Zero-Point Energy, Low Energy Nuclear Reaction (aka cold fusion), Electrogravitics or some other truly advanced zero-polluting unlimited resource energy technologies–but we all know that’s not going to happen.
The multi-trillion dollar global energy industry is not about to relinquish its stranglehold, power and control over governments, industries, and the masses for such an antiquated and altruistic motive as doing what is right for civilization and the planet.
Governments, corporations and foundations allocate scarce R & D funding resources based on those projects that have the highest potential yield for return on investment. Consequently, truly revolutionary, non-polluting, and virtually unlimited resource advanced energy technologies like ZPE, LENR, Electrogravitics, etc. are not likely to ever be funded for the same reasons why JP Morgan shutdown Tesla’s projects when he discovered Tesla was more concerned with providing limitless free energy and advancing mankind than he was with how JP Morgan could “put a meter” on his discoveries.
This same mentality persists today. If huge profits can’t be made then it isn’t worth doing or, worse, we need to bury the technology—regardless if it is the right thing to do for society or the planet.
If government or industry was truly interested in finding new advanced energy technologies that could be sustained even moderately into the future then why has there been virtually no discussion or even mention of ZPE, for instance, by the government, the media, or our universities? And the answer isn’t because it would be a waste of research dollars when we have spent tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars over the last 40-50 years attempting to harness hot fusion in Tokamak reactors and we’re no closer to commercializing that technology than we were when we started—and that doesn’t even address the ridiculous millions and billions of dollars we’ve spent over the years on incredibly stupid and worthless projects, ostensibly, to keep some PhDs gainfully employed and/or not working on truly worthwhile projects –particularly if those projects might upset the status quo.
We’ve had the technologies to provide the planet with zero polluting, free, or nearly free, energy with virtually unlimited resources for decades, but as long as leaders put money, power, and control over improving life and the environment for all, you can rest assured we will continue our current spiral down into oblivion.

Thanks, Mr. Gates, for stating the obvious. as long as this country is dependent on fossil fuels means the longer we will be dependent on foreign sources and the big oil companies who own our polititians. Fossil fuels foul our environment, no matter how “clean” the producers tell you it is. We should be racing toward fossil fuel energy independence and funding research to make alternative energy a reality. we’re Americans, we can do it!

There isn’t a technological fix for the fuel problem. Live more simply, that’s the fix. Massive energy consumption leads to massive waste and to extinction. It is the same for every living thing on earth. What makes us think we are special?

Sure, it can be great, on the other hand two vital issues had been skipped.