Comments on: Apollo Alliance Impact on Stimulus Bill http://organicpulse.com/2009/02/08/apollo-alliance-impact-on-stimulus-bill/ Keeping the Pulse on Organics and the Green Economy Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:34:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Ellen http://organicpulse.com/2009/02/08/apollo-alliance-impact-on-stimulus-bill/#comment-191 Ellen Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:04:30 +0000 http://organicpulse.com/2009/02/08/apollo-alliance-impact-on-stimulus-bill/#comment-191 So a friend sent me an article in the Wall Street Journal on the new cap and trade bill. Not suprisingly the article was 100% negative (the friend is a Republican...). I sent him a reply but wanted to post it somewhere, and I thought of this blog. First, here's a link to the article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124588837560750781.html My response: Objecting to this is a bit like the car companies (successfully) objecting to raising mileage standards from the late 70’s till just this year. Everyone is arguing that they should be allowed to make whatever idiotic long term decisions on energy they want, so as to maximize today’s profits and to hell with our future. You can see where this got the car companies. Don’t you think that if they had been mandated to raise mileage standards a little bit every year from the last increase (which I think was around 1979) to today that they’d be in better competitive shape now than they are? It’s the same thing with energy. As we have past peak oil, energy prices are BOUND to increase sharply every time demand recovers enough to bang up against the gradually lowering supply ceiling. Now we can let industry continue to take the short term maximize-my-yearly-bonus viewpoint they currently have, just as we let the car companies enjoy their lack of vision, with similar predicted consequences for the economy as a whole – a massive downturn as energy costs drive hyper inflation for everyone. Or we can introduce some vision. If this bill causes a modest amount of conservation and/or investment in on site alternative energy – put up a windmill or solar collector and bang, you not only have reduced your energy costs but have credits to trade in the bargain – it will benefit everyone. The only way this does not make sense from an economic perspective is if we assume that conventional energy resources are magically infinite. Failing to get everyone to do a bit of conservation or invest in alternatives just means the next price spike will be a huge killer. We will ALL feel that – at the pump, buying groceries, manufactured goods, heating our houses, electricity costs, you name it. Whatever you think of global warming, even if you believe (unlike 99% of scientists) that it is a hoax – this is still a very positive bill for our economic future. Embrace it! Life on earth is changing, status quo simply won’t be possible, and the sooner we begin adapting the better for all of us. So a friend sent me an article in the Wall Street Journal on the new cap and trade bill. Not suprisingly the article was 100% negative (the friend is a Republican…). I sent him a reply but wanted to post it somewhere, and I thought of this blog.

First, here’s a link to the article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124588837560750781.html

My response:
Objecting to this is a bit like the car companies (successfully) objecting to raising mileage standards from the late 70’s till just this year. Everyone is arguing that they should be allowed to make whatever idiotic long term decisions on energy they want, so as to maximize today’s profits and to hell with our future. You can see where this got the car companies. Don’t you think that if they had been mandated to raise mileage standards a little bit every year from the last increase (which I think was around 1979) to today that they’d be in better competitive shape now than they are?

It’s the same thing with energy. As we have past peak oil, energy prices are BOUND to increase sharply every time demand recovers enough to bang up against the gradually lowering supply ceiling. Now we can let industry continue to take the short term maximize-my-yearly-bonus viewpoint they currently have, just as we let the car companies enjoy their lack of vision, with similar predicted consequences for the economy as a whole – a massive downturn as energy costs drive hyper inflation for everyone. Or we can introduce some vision. If this bill causes a modest amount of conservation and/or investment in on site alternative energy – put up a windmill or solar collector and bang, you not only have reduced your energy costs but have credits to trade in the bargain – it will benefit everyone. The only way this does not make sense from an economic perspective is if we assume that conventional energy resources are magically infinite.

Failing to get everyone to do a bit of conservation or invest in alternatives just means the next price spike will be a huge killer. We will ALL feel that – at the pump, buying groceries, manufactured goods, heating our houses, electricity costs, you name it.

Whatever you think of global warming, even if you believe (unlike 99% of scientists) that it is a hoax – this is still a very positive bill for our economic future. Embrace it! Life on earth is changing, status quo simply won’t be possible, and the sooner we begin adapting the better for all of us.

]]>