Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Solar is remarkably efficient. Where on earth are you getting this information from?
Solar is cost-prohibitive because the industry doesn't get the amount of subsidies the oil industry gets. Maybe they should go bribe Congress like the oil tycoons.
I don't know what you're talking about. The oil industry gets the same "subsidies" any other industry gets, i.e. an allowance for the fact that its resource base depletes every time a barrel of oil is extracted.
China is a perfect example of what happens when you put the economy ahead of the environment. A small minority gets rich and escapes to Canada while the poor have to live in the mess they've created.
China gets rich because of our hairshirt policies.
Solar panels provide more than enough energy? For what? 1/2 a typical home? 1/4 of a typical home? That's "more than enough" for you??? I guess we have different interpretations of "good enough"... if a typical home doesn't have the surface area to provide complete solar energy for the entire time, that means efficiency is pure crap... the only way to change it is to get better efficiency... and how has that gone exactly? Less than 1% improvement in efficiency? At that rate, we all be dead before it gets to a usable level... but maybe to you that is lightspeed...
It's more than enough for one home. Like I said, it is dependent on how many solar panels you would like on your house. The climate possible sunshine is a function of surface area of panels. AKA, Arizona will need about half the amount of solar panels as Seattle to create the same amount of power.
There's a reason power companies in Oklahoma are lobbying to put an extra tax on solar users. They are powering their own homes and having negative power bills.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lookb4youcross
See that right there ....That whole line is nothing but a subtle personal attack.
Try responding in a professional manner so people take you seriously.
Do you have any facts to prove Solar is remarkably efficient?
Where on earth are you getting this information from that solar is remarkably efficient?
See what you did. You accused me of not knowing what I'm talking about, then asked me to provide evidence for you. Like I said, it's not my job to do the homework for you. You had the issue with my original post. Provide counter evidence.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbgusa
I don't know what you're talking about. The oil industry gets the same "subsidies" any other industry gets, i.e. an allowance for the fact that its resource base depletes every time a barrel of oil is extracted.
Yes, I have the mercury-filled Frankenlightbulbs in my place.........THEY SUCK.
I can find good'ole incandescents that do not have the fruity, energy-absorbing, soft-white coating........but only up to 60 watts.
There is no end to this craziness.......these same people would love to blanket the USA with HSR, no matter how dumb, inefficient and money-losing this idea is.
1. The Founding Fathers were NOT 3rd world country immigrants.
How many Americans are descended from colonial Americans? It's a matter of numbers and most people are descended from the third world immigrants of the time. America grew the most from the mid 19th century onward, especially the 20th century. So you are mistaken.
Quote:
2. Immigrants had to either work or have family/friends standing by to take care of them until they could work. There was no welfare.
3. America has "throughout most of it's history" provided the opportunities for everyone to rise from the level of poor. Those who have not taken advantage of that can fault themselves.
That's the tip of the iceberg to point out where you are very wrong with your statement. I'm hoping perhaps you were not considering all the missed opportunities by those whom you consider "poor."
Not at all. Throughout most of America's history, people were self sufficient because technology hadn't been developed yet. We were a rural, agrarian for most of our country's history that was labor intensive and required large families. That's throughout human history, it's called survival. Where America stands apart is because of our government didn't meddle too much and succeed more than it failed.
It's no coincidence that welfare came about when we became industrialized and mechanized.
Not at all. Throughout most of America's history, people were self sufficient because technology hadn't been developed yet. We were a rural, agrarian for most of our country's history that was labor intensive and required large families. That's throughout human history, it's called survival. Where America stands apart is because of our government didn't meddle too much and succeed more than it failed.
It's no coincidence that welfare came about when we became industrialized and mechanized.
You could be self-sufficient when land was cheap and settlement was actively promoted by the government via the homestead acts. But only if you managed to beat the capitalists to the punch-- hoarding resources was an inexplicably more popular scenario than that of honest pioneers trying to live in harmony with nature. And then there's the fact that the land was stolen in the first place, which tended to mean conflicts with the Natives (nothing a few short but brutal wars couldn't handle, of course... but that's only if you managed to convince the government your life was worth fighting for, or I suppose if you were good at killing Natives). So you can probably see why the little people ended up in the cities where they didn't have to worry about being attacked or attempt to buy water from the local rich capitalist.
But they're not giving away 160 acre parcels of land anymore... the land is too valuable now with all the infrastructure and irrigation and highways and such.
The idea that America wasn't shaped by wealthy capitalists is largely a myth. Of course, as with any free-for-all people got lucky but it wasn't some honorable thing where everyone was given a chance to fulfill their dreams as long as they were willing to work hard. That was a marketing tool.
A great deal of that pollution isn't from residential heating and small businesses.... Are you kidding me? Maybe 15 years ago, but China is a different beast now:
LOL... and if the other half are still getting their heating from coal? You don't seem to understand. Imagine an area like New York and the suburbs where every other residence was heating with wood. That's about the equivalent when heating with soft coal.
Like I said, because they don't have the benefit of the oil lobby.
Firstly this notion of your that they don't have a lobby is BS, secondly you need to go back and reread what I posted. If you remove the tax breaks from fossil fuels it's going to have absolutely zero affect on the market, they are not dependent on them. Just to put this into perspective the total tax breaks to oil and gas is equal to Exxon's revenue in a few days by itself.
Do you understand? It's nothing compared to the market. The cost of gasoline would increase fractions of one penny if they were removed.
Solar and wind on the other hand are dependent on the subsidies and even more importantly the mandates which rarely get mentioned. The subsidies drop their costs but it's still not enough, the mandates allow the producers to sell that power at a premium price so distributors can meet state imposed mandates.
For example that wind farm in Mass. started out something like 18 cents per kWh with 2.5% increase each year for 15 years. The final cost is going to be something like 30 cents/kWh. That's whole sale not retail, in comparison coal and natural gas are something like 3 or 4 cents.
You have to look beyond efficiency, efficiency is important variable but only in that it's part of the formula for determining cost per unit. Electric heat in your house is 100% efficient but the lower cost per BTU from other less efficient fuels like natural gas or coal bury it when the actual cost is considered.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
