Something about the energy in the room here that excites me. Ed Markey has a record of sincere activism. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is full of piss and vinegar. Sign me up.
The resolution does not include a price tag, but some Republicans predict it would cost in the trillions of dollars. They denounced the plan at House hearings on climate change on Wednesday.
Hot sauce and vinegar. A real nasty woman.
Important to realize that this is not a radical plan. Itās the very least that must be done. Itās a conservative plan.
REPUGS, STFU, if you cared about costs as much as you preach, you would have never given trillions away to the .01%. I believe the plan as I read so far is a good start and very pragmatic. The goals such as energy becoming 100%, or as close as possible, renewable within 10 years is not that hard to envision and for sure not that hard to accomplish.
In 2012 I built a home from materials found on site, milled my lumber for example after clearing the lot. One of the things I planned from day one was to install a solar field. At the time I was nearing 70 and was not looking forward to placing the solar on the roof as I wanted to do as much work myself as possible. I therefore contracted for an excavator to level/gravel a surface area. Much like putting together an Erector Set plan I assembled the framework and then installed the panels. I hired a retired electrician to make the final electric connections, had inspected and was running 100% off the grid within a week. Now if a 70 yo can do the work as I stated above it is not hard to believe that a New Green Deal plan to go renewable is feasible.
I sold that home and purchased a 1956 built rancher in 2016. What did I do first, why remove all power lines connecting the grid to the home after installing solar of course. So I am once again 100% off the grid and loving every minute of the no monthly utility bills. Of the peace of mind when my neighbors power goes out, etc.
In summary 2 solar installations. Both 100% off the grid. 1st installation had a 7 year ROI, installed 2012, payback this yearā¦ 2nd has an ROI of 5 years, nice, so a couple of more years to go. Question, why does it seem unreasonable to ask utilities such a TVA to accomplish the same.
āāā¦some Republicans predict it would cost in the trillions of dollarsāā
Funny how these logic-averse tools of the plutocratic elite can always account for the āācostsāā of cutting pollution but never for the long term savings that would result. Intriguingly, when it comes to the cost of cutting taxes, itās the other way around: they predict huge benefits in the future but claim the obvious immediate shortfalls are not to be considered.
āHey, man. Have you heard about the Green New Deal?ā
āIf itās what you say, I love it especially later in the summer.ā
AOC and other GND proponents are making one huge messaging mistake on this. There are countless examples of successful GND-type programs that already exist - they just need far greater investment. We donāt need to figure out solutions, we need to invest in them. California, for example, has a billion dollar program to install solar on new and existing affordable housing, along with workforce development programs to bring the jobs and economic benefits of renewables to low-income communities. Itās not enough, but itās a model that is working at significant scale and could be replicated accross the country.
AOC allows interviewer after interviewer to suggest that because GND is short on detailed proposals, that means we still have to āfigure outā how to address Climate Change. She did that on NPR just this morning. Forget Fox viewers, if NPR listeners arenāt sold weāre screwed.
YES! Dems need to push this and hopefully get some GOP politicians to come on board.
This kind of stuff is profitable. They just need to mobilize capital. Which includes both seed money and jawboning.
Answer: Utilities do not own enough surface area.
Bull phucky, plenty of open areas around the fosil plants in my area. Utilities say they need for future expansion. Also they keep trying to purchase even more. TVA was offering incentives for business to put solar on their flat roofs. So many signed up for the program that it was cancelled within the 1st of a 3 year program. It turned out the reason was the solar installations, all grid tied, began to interfere with new NG plant justifications. So cancelā¦short sited in my opinion.
Enough to run a city with??? Your appreciation of the scale of the problem is limited. Do you have any idea what it takes to supply a 60 floor office building with electricity? And then figure in the energy it takes to move the workers to and from the buildingā¦
How about a meat packing plant (pork sausage), one down the road switched to 100% solar about 4 years ago. Has expanded the plant since and are still selling excess to the local power board. Plant is at least 4 very large buildings.
Then again, since when does not America believe they can do it. Nations like Norway and Denmark are well on their way to provide 100% renewable nation wide. I believe Germany has also recently stated they want to be near 100% renewable within the decade. Iām sure they have numerous 60+ story buildings.
Comfortable in ignorance, fearful of changeā¦
How about we go back to your post that said it was āthe utilitiesā fault for not converting all their extra land to solar. That was what I responded to. I said absolutely nothing about people going greener.
Never actually said that in response to your comment of āUtilities do not own enough surface areaā, I replied āplenty of open areas around the fosil plants in my areaā.
Hmmm. If I failed to understand, then why didnāt you correct me when I said: āEnough to run a city with?ā etc. Look, I give up. Have a great life!
And I asked if others can do it, mentioned Norway, Denmark, Germany why can not American government and utilities also make the investment. Not saying it is a piece of cake but it is much easier than many try to make it to be.
If I at 70, can build a house from scratch without any but handyman skills, including adding a solar field, it is not all that hard. Businesses just need the desire. As a retired COO, I know profit is important but also long term goals should be in the mix. Lack of greed level profit now will pay off in multiples not all that far down the road.