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.
Embrace of Renewables Has a Hidden Cost . In yesterday's New York Times, a somewhat left-leaning paper, there was a devastating analysis of the naivete and inefficiency of so-called "renewable" energy sources. For reasons laid out in the article they require massive subsidies. The short version of the problem is that solar power is quite available in the middle of a sunny day, other times not so much. Wind power is similarly intermittent. As the linked article states:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Linked New York Times Article
Is the global effort to combat climate change, painstakingly agreed to in Paris seven months ago, already going off the rails? Germany, Europe’s champion for renewable energy, seems to be having second thoughts about its ambitious push to ramp up its use of renewable fuels for power generation.
Advocating renewables feels good, but has high cost and very questionable benefits.
Other articles have explored wind power's highly blemished environmental record. In an article entitled Wind Forum Explores Concerns. It seems many Vermonters have had not only their scenery, but right to live in reasonable quiet, utterly wrecked.A neighbor of one such project, quoted in the article stated:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Fairneny, Wind Project Neighbor
Now it's like living near the airport. The sound does change.... My wife's ears ring whenever she's at home. She has tinnitus never had ear problems and we've been traveling up and down this mountain for 29 years. Never any issues with going up and down the mountain and we don't know what we're going to do yet.
Vehicle Emissions Standards Produce More Fraud than Benefit for Environment
In another article strongly hinting at the limits of environmentalism, Volkswagen Scandal Reaches All the Way to the Top, Lawsuits Say The linked article is one of many deailing VW's extensive fraud designed to fool environmental tests of diesel engines. For a reputable company with a lengthy history to go to these lengths it strikes me that the limits are utopian and not practical.
Embrace of Renewables Has a Hidden Cost . In yesterday's New York Times, a somewhat left-leaning paper, there was a devastating analysis of the naivete and inefficiency of so-called "renewable" energy sources. For reasons laid out in the article they require massive subsidies. The short version of the problem is that solar power is quite available in the middle of a sunny day, other times not so much. Wind power is similarly intermittent. As the linked article states:
Advocating renewables feels good, but has high cost and very questionable benefits.
It's only relatively expensive because pollution is still heavily subsidized globally. As we are seeing domestically, coal can't compete when you put a price tag on pollution.
Quote:
Other articles have explored wind power's highly blemished environmental record. In an article entitled Wind Forum Explores Concerns. It seems many Vermonters have had not only their scenery, but right to live in reasonable quiet, utterly wrecked.A neighbor of one such project, quoted in the article stated:
Questionable benefits? The technology simply isn't there to rely on it near exclusively. There is nothing feel good about renewable energy as it is still in its infancy in terms of actual power generated.
I wonder how those Vermont residents would feel living close by a coal plant?
Quote:
Vehicle Emissions Standards Produce More Fraud than Benefit for Environment
In another article strongly hinting at the limits of environmentalism, Volkswagen Scandal Reaches All the Way to the Top, Lawsuits Say The linked article is one of many deailing VW's extensive fraud designed to fool environmental tests of diesel engines. For a reputable company with a lengthy history to go to these lengths it strikes me that the limits are utopian and not practical.
LOL. So we shouldn't promote fuel efficiency because some companies may commit fraud? Keep tryin......
It's only relatively expensive because pollution is still heavily subsidized globally. As we are seeing domestically, coal can't compete when you put a price tag on pollution.
Questionable benefits? The technology simply isn't there to rely on it near exclusively. There is nothing feel good about renewable energy as it is still in its infancy in terms of actual power generated.
Maybe you don't pay much in the way of taxes so it's not your money that's subsidizing renewables.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dv1033
I wonder how those Vermont residents would feel living close by a coal plant?
But they don't. And ask people who live near coal plants if they prefer unemployment and a lovely landscape to full employment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dv1033
LOL. So we shouldn't promote fuel efficiency because some companies may commit fraud? Keep tryin......
I can understand hucksters committing fraud but when it is done by a major company I suspect the regulators have set unattainable targets and both regulators and companies look for ways to appear to be taking action.
Much the same was said of that silly airplane gizmo in the Wright Brothers' day, IMPRACTICAL!
Guess we'd better abandon researching alternative energy sources and stick with good ol' coal, maybe we could even bring back Stanley Steamers!
That's just a silly response. Pointing out that renewables are not even close to replacing carbon based fuels is just factually correct. Let them compete, without subsidized (and yes, I know certain things were subsidized in the past.... I'm not a fan of the Hoover Dam and I lived in Vegas for 4 years).
I'm all for clean energy.... WITHOUT SUBSIDIES. hell, I'd even compromise on tax deductions, not credits.... BUT NOT SUBSIDIES.
Create a fund, allow applicants to bid for those funds.
Even better, incentivize through a reward: attach kwh per hour to a price and those that meet it, get a stipend, a la Ansari X Projects.
This is close to my position. There are two different ideas here. One is a search for new energy sources. We have to do that. Wind or solar may not be it but you have to start somewhere. Often times new discoveries are the by product of something else. I completely support this idea.
On the other hand, the global warming Boogeyman and corrupt schemes like cap and trade and carbon taxes I do NOT.
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.
