Both the federal government and many of the state governments are mandating much increased use of so-called renewable power such as solar and wind generated electricity. We should be very aware of the costs of doing this. Germany has gone far down this road. What are the results in Germany?
Germany makes Germans pay high levies on their electricity bills to pay people to invest in offshore wind turbines and roof-mounted solar panels. These levies are guaranteed for 20 years. Offshore wind turbine generated electricity is supported with a levy of $0.21 per kilowatt-hour and roof-mounted solar panels are given $0.46 per kilowatt-hour! As a result, Germans have rushed to put solar panels on their roofs and the levies paid for wind, solar, and hydro power will be $11.3 billion this year, which is a 55% increase from last year. About 8 gigawatts of new solar panel installations are projected for this year. This is the electricity output of 4 large nuclear power plants, or would be if the sun always shone brightly in Germany 24 hours a day. Those installing solar panels after this summer, will be paid 16% less for the electricity they produce.
The result is that on a German's electric bill, taxes and levies are now 41% of the bill and that percentage has been climbing rapidly. VZBV, the German consumer association, says the solar panels installed in 2010 alone will cause additional electricity charges of $36 billion over the next 20 years. Similar mandated renewable energy is constantly being advocated by Democrats, our version of socialists, in the U.S. Our costs, especially if you live in California, have been cranked up as a result also. Texas and Colorado are other states where the cost of electricity has been cranked upward significantly. Read more about this here.
Incurring these increased energy costs is pointless. Political central planners are frightening people around the world with stories of almost immediate failures of our energy supplies and catastrophic man-made global warming which require us to turn to incredibly expensive renewable energy. The renewal they are talking about is apparently the renewed poverty of people around the world, who have often been improving their standards of living recently. Their improved standard of living is offensive to Democrats and will be greatly impeded by nonsensical requirements to drive energy costs sky-high in accordance with the otherworldly dreams of Obama, Pelosi, Waxman, Markey, and others of the lunatic fringe of American socialist politics.
Showing posts with label energy taxes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label energy taxes. Show all posts
13 October 2010
13 October 2009
The U.S. Debt Clock
Stop in now and then for some great entertainment at US Debt Clock.org and watch the U.S. federal debt increase along with other liabilities such as Social Security and Medicare. You can also watch how each citizen's portion of the debts and liabilities mount ever higher. You can also see the annual figures on the GDP grow and check out the assets of small businesses, big businesses, and households as they change. You can monitor the assets per citizen and the government liability per citizen. You can also monitor such things as mortgage debt, personal debt, credit card debt, and debt per citizen. You can watch the state and local government debt sums also. You can watch the population estimate and the number of illegal aliens as they change.
09 July 2009
G8 Nations Leaders Make Insane Agreement on CO2 Emissions
The G-8 nations, consisting of the United States, Russia, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Canada met and agreed upon drastic reductions in the emission of CO2. They set a goal for developed nations to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. They called upon the rest of the world to cut their emissions by 50% by then. This is primarily about reductions in CO2, which is more of benefit to the world as plant food than it is any harm. In fact, compared to the long term of world history the CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere at the start of the Industrial Age were very low and much too low to be optimal for plant growth. This extremely low CO2 concentration has served as the very poorly chosen reference point for CO2 concentrations minus the effect of man. Yet without man, CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have almost always been higher than they were in 1850 and than they are now. Declaring a cut in energy use so drastic that the 80% reduction goal for CO2 emissions can be met in order to reduce plant growth and to prevent a possible, but not assured, increase of temperature of 0.5 C, is insane.
A big deal is being made of the fact that the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, which includes the G8 nations and Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Mexico, and South Africa is going to agree that global warming should not be allowed to exceed 2 C. Of course natural forces have often made the world more than 2 C warmer than it is now, though this has not happened in recent human history terms. But, it is totally implausible that the next 100 years will see a rise in temperature of more than 0.5 C due to man-made CO2 emissions, so this declaration by the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate is meaningless.
The G8 also made pledges to assist developing countries to adapt to global warming. There will be many false claims of global warming effects to get such aid, but any damage done here will be small potatoes compared to that done by stunting the G8 nations economies with the massive energy taxation and the foolhardy redirection of money, employment, and skills into many forms of alternative energy which have never been able to compete in the free market with fossil fuels, despite much effort in the past to help them to do so. The lesson has been clear. When and if, fossil fuels become expensive enough, other forms of fuel will be developed, but this has never happened despite constant predictions that it would. As with corn-derived ethanol, the politicians will refuse to recognize the inefficiencies of wind generators, solar power, and biomass energy, with the consequence that huge resources will be wasted on them at the expense of everyone not working in those specific industries.
But all this drastic and unnecessary destruction of the greatest economies in the world is not enough for Oxfam, an international aid charity. That group is calling for CO2 emissions decreases of 40% by 2020 and wants the G8 to pledge much more money to help the poorest countries deal with "climate chaos." Some people are clearly of other worlds!
Of course, I would say the same of Obama and the other leaders of the G8 nations. They are all disconnected from this world. All of them have enough access to information and are supposed to be intelligent enough that they should easily be able to make the judgment that man's emissions of CO2 are not going to cause catastrophic global warming. If it is not going to be catastrophic, then there is simply no rationale for interfering with the private sector's use of energy to produce goods and services as efficiently as possible. There is no reason to impose government will upon the people in how they use energy either. It is a very valid concern for many that they and their family should be safer on the roads in a heavier vehicle. For Obama to put many thousands of Americans to death in road accidents in the name of a false global warming hysteria is simply an evil act. [It is a curious fact that everyday I see Obama stickers on SUVs. Apparently, his supporters rarely note where his policies would interfere with their own personal choices.]
It is incumbent upon a President of the United States of America to have a great deal more wisdom than Obama is showing himself to have on this issue. This is not a surprise, however, since he has shown himself to be wrongheaded on issue after issue. This man is clearly not an observer of the facts of this world. Perhaps we really do need to see his birth certificate. No, not so much to find out if he was born in Kenya or in Hawaii, as to see if he was born on a planet of another solar system. Admittedly, there is a more plausible explanation for Obama's and the other leaders of the G8 nations actions: they lust for power over the private sector of their economies and energy taxes, use restrictions, and subsidies are a very powerful way for them to attain more tyrannical powers.
A big deal is being made of the fact that the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, which includes the G8 nations and Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Mexico, and South Africa is going to agree that global warming should not be allowed to exceed 2 C. Of course natural forces have often made the world more than 2 C warmer than it is now, though this has not happened in recent human history terms. But, it is totally implausible that the next 100 years will see a rise in temperature of more than 0.5 C due to man-made CO2 emissions, so this declaration by the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate is meaningless.
The G8 also made pledges to assist developing countries to adapt to global warming. There will be many false claims of global warming effects to get such aid, but any damage done here will be small potatoes compared to that done by stunting the G8 nations economies with the massive energy taxation and the foolhardy redirection of money, employment, and skills into many forms of alternative energy which have never been able to compete in the free market with fossil fuels, despite much effort in the past to help them to do so. The lesson has been clear. When and if, fossil fuels become expensive enough, other forms of fuel will be developed, but this has never happened despite constant predictions that it would. As with corn-derived ethanol, the politicians will refuse to recognize the inefficiencies of wind generators, solar power, and biomass energy, with the consequence that huge resources will be wasted on them at the expense of everyone not working in those specific industries.
But all this drastic and unnecessary destruction of the greatest economies in the world is not enough for Oxfam, an international aid charity. That group is calling for CO2 emissions decreases of 40% by 2020 and wants the G8 to pledge much more money to help the poorest countries deal with "climate chaos." Some people are clearly of other worlds!
Of course, I would say the same of Obama and the other leaders of the G8 nations. They are all disconnected from this world. All of them have enough access to information and are supposed to be intelligent enough that they should easily be able to make the judgment that man's emissions of CO2 are not going to cause catastrophic global warming. If it is not going to be catastrophic, then there is simply no rationale for interfering with the private sector's use of energy to produce goods and services as efficiently as possible. There is no reason to impose government will upon the people in how they use energy either. It is a very valid concern for many that they and their family should be safer on the roads in a heavier vehicle. For Obama to put many thousands of Americans to death in road accidents in the name of a false global warming hysteria is simply an evil act. [It is a curious fact that everyday I see Obama stickers on SUVs. Apparently, his supporters rarely note where his policies would interfere with their own personal choices.]
It is incumbent upon a President of the United States of America to have a great deal more wisdom than Obama is showing himself to have on this issue. This is not a surprise, however, since he has shown himself to be wrongheaded on issue after issue. This man is clearly not an observer of the facts of this world. Perhaps we really do need to see his birth certificate. No, not so much to find out if he was born in Kenya or in Hawaii, as to see if he was born on a planet of another solar system. Admittedly, there is a more plausible explanation for Obama's and the other leaders of the G8 nations actions: they lust for power over the private sector of their economies and energy taxes, use restrictions, and subsidies are a very powerful way for them to attain more tyrannical powers.
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