Yesterday a friend informed me he will buy a car early next year for in the city driving. An EV. Either a Chevy Spark or Volt, Honda Fit, or Nissan Leaf. The Spark and Fit have an 82 mile range, not sure about the others.
He works for a company who is openly hostile to conservation of fossil fuel, part of their business is oil, I told him they'll slash your tires.
Which brings me to ALEC, the boiler plate corporate/fossil fuel legislation mill that writes industry and racists bills and sends them ready to vote to every red state in the union. For next year they are announcing their push......bills that will punish solar panel owners with a "free loader" tax, as well as more attempts to make wind farms harder to approve, and higher car tax on hybrids and EV vehicles. Weren't those guys against higher taxes and gov. regulations?
WTF, I have sunlight falling on my house, I could buy (from a local businessman and craftsman to install) something that will turn it into electricity, and they want to get the public to consider me a free loader for not buying energy from a giant corporation at a higher price, for being independent, not only that, but put a tax on me for not buying from the monopoly. This is government by corporations.
Here's another thing. The more people and businesses with a supplemental source of power, the stronger the community is during a natural or man caused disaster. If a few gas stations can pump, a few pharmacies are open, some of the homes have limited power, the community can function at some level, the quicker the recovery. ALEC's interest does not include these.
Darrel,
ReplyDeleteI seen what ALEC is proposing and it is insane! To punish people financially for becoming energy self-sufficient is wrong! We should encourage that. But, big money is behind the anti-climate change crap we are seeing. Darrel, right now we could convert two dams along the Ohio River to provide hydro-electric power - But, we have a economy tied to coal mining across the river and two asshole Republican Senators that would block doing so.
Upside: KentuckyCare is working and McConnell is fucked!
Bests,
Ron
ALEC is running a deficit at the moment, a few million in debt. Seems so many companies have dropped their membership due to public pressure. Still the bastards will survive at some level to keep fucking up things for the public to benefit their corporate owners.
DeleteThe truly amazing thing is that there are people who don't make a dime off any of this who will nevertheless defend it.
ReplyDeleteMost of that stems from the religiosity of coupling opposition of evolution to all science and devices that satisfy the interest of belivers in global warming.
Delete