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The 5 billion a year subsidizing the oil industry is just a tax break. They aren't giving them anything buy instead letting them keep more of their money. It's for drilling and while a coporation like Exxon can easily absorb those costs the smaller drillers can't. They would be the casualties of removing the tax break.
That 5 billion works out to fractions of a penny per gallon. Exxon by itself for example has revenues like that in a few days... It's drop in the bucket and has no affect on the market.
Did you see the part about a grid that is over a century old and is falling apart?
The fact is we have aging infrastructure that can barely do what we need already. The problem is that people aren't supplying the money to pay for it. Quit complaining that the duct taped POS is falling apart and not meeting demands never dreemed of a century ago...spend the money to fix it or replace it.
yes there is an issue with the current grid, it is old an in need of updating. but that doesnt negate the fact that "green energy" sources are inconsistent in their power output, and no one has taken that into account as yet. and whether it be capacitors or batteries added to the system to damp down the energy spikes from green energy inputs, something is needed.
and part of the problem is that the states and the federal government put up road blocks to electric companies efforts to update the electrical grid, this is one of the problems with excessive government regulation. you want to do just about anything these days? you need a 50 page environmental impact statement done up in triplicate and sent to several local, state, and federal agencies regardless of the fact that they have no reason to get involved. and then you have to deal with all the lawsuits the environmentalists will file to stop your attempts to upgrade the grid, and once you get through the lawsuits, your permits have expired and you get the fun of starting over again. and if by some miracle you manage to get through the second round of red taps and lawsuits, and your permits havent expired yet, then you may have to deal with getting a new source of financing as the bank you were dealing with either folded, or was bought out by another bank, and the new bank wants more information before they reapprove your loan application.
and even after getting through all that, you still are not done with the rubbish, as now the unions get involved, and you have to push the project back yet again, and by the time the unions issues have been solved, you get to start the whole mess over again!! so by the time that section of the electrical grid that your company was going to update in two years time, has taken ten years or more and millions of dollars, and you still havent started the project. back in the 50s all that wasnt necessary and things got done. today it still isnt necessary, but it still happens, and things dont get done.
Speaking of stupid, you know that green energy doesn't necessarily mean wind power, right?
Quebec runs almost entirely on kinetic energy.
The Maritimes are making great strides in harnessing tidal power, as well.
That is still new technology, and like anything it comes with it's plus and minuses. For all we know those noisy hydrokinetic devices might change entire migration patterns and habitats for marine life. It's also not as reliable or dependable as nuclear and fossil fuel generation.
yes there is an issue with the current grid, it is old an in need of updating. but that doesnt negate the fact that "green energy" sources are inconsistent in their power output, and no one has taken that into account as yet. and whether it be capacitors or batteries added to the system to damp down the energy spikes from green energy inputs, something is needed.
and part of the problem is that the states and the federal government put up road blocks to electric companies efforts to update the electrical grid, this is one of the problems with excessive government regulation. you want to do just about anything these days? you need a 50 page environmental impact statement done up in triplicate and sent to several local, state, and federal agencies regardless of the fact that they have no reason to get involved. and then you have to deal with all the lawsuits the environmentalists will file to stop your attempts to upgrade the grid, and once you get through the lawsuits, your permits have expired and you get the fun of starting over again. and if by some miracle you manage to get through the second round of red taps and lawsuits, and your permits havent expired yet, then you may have to deal with getting a new source of financing as the bank you were dealing with either folded, or was bought out by another bank, and the new bank wants more information before they reapprove your loan application.
and even after getting through all that, you still are not done with the rubbish, as now the unions get involved, and you have to push the project back yet again, and by the time the unions issues have been solved, you get to start the whole mess over again!! so by the time that section of the electrical grid that your company was going to update in two years time, has taken ten years or more and millions of dollars, and you still havent started the project. back in the 50s all that wasnt necessary and things got done. today it still isnt necessary, but it still happens, and things dont get done.
We have people who want to put in a environmentally friendly wind farms, but the NIMBY crowd and environmentalists fight them tooth and nail, every step of the way. The greenies just think wind energy just magically appears at their light socket, and don't want any new substations and electrical transmission lines constructed.
That is still new technology, and like anything it comes with it's plus and minuses. For all we know those noisy hydrokinetic devices might change entire migration patterns and habitats for marine life. It's also not as reliable or dependable as nuclear and fossil fuel generation.
hydrokinetic devices will be the wind generators at sea. they will chop up the marine life, just like the wind generators chop up avian life.
That is still new technology, and like anything it comes with it's plus and minuses. For all we know those noisy hydrokinetic devices might change entire migration patterns and habitats for marine life. It's also not as reliable or dependable as nuclear and fossil fuel generation.
Hydro is kinetic energy. Water is pretty reliable. We make so much energy, we sell some of it to you.
When we talk about imported energy, we are usually thinking about oil. But the fact is, we import about one percent of our electricity (43.8 terawatt-hours in 2010) from Canada, the vast majority of which comes from hydropower. Canada has vast hydropower resources, which it has been exploiting aggressively, particularly in Quebec, which has close to 50,000 MW of hydroelectric generation capacity. That is roughly equivalent to the entire wind generation capacity of the U.S. — pretty impressive for a province twice the size of Texas, with the population of New York City. This means that not only does Quebec get 97 percent of its electricity from hydro, giving it the nominally lowest GHG emission profile per capita in North America, but there is still quite a bit left over for export. http://news.thomasnet.com/green_clea...e-of-the-load/
Sure, fine and dandy, what form is this energy future of the future going to take, because your answer will tell us if you are an informed and educated debater on this subject, or just another ignorant liberal spouting talking points.
Lucky for me I don't have to prove anything to you. I gave an hour long lecture on this last Wednesday. Would you like me to send you the PPT slides?
Lucky for me I don't have to prove anything to you. I gave an hour long lecture on this last Wednesday. Would you like me to send you the PPT slides?
Love to see them, take some screenshots and post them up.
The bottom line is this, you're not going to replace electric from fossil fuel energy without extraordinary cost. If you explain how you think that is going to happen in the near future I'm listening.
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