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Fukushima Daiichied (March 12, 2012)

Posted in Economics, Energy, Environment, Food, Gas/Fossil Fuel, Global Climate Change, Global Warming, Japan, Peak Oil, Perjury, Perjury/Dishonesty on March 12, 2012 by e-commentary.org

. . .

Cs          “They aren’t telling us anything.”

Sr          “They aren’t tellin’ us nothin’.”

Cs          “The great flotilla of death is floating east to the West Coast from the Far East.  The Pacific is now a polluted pond.”

Sr          “It’s in the air.  An air raid.  That’s the overriding problem.  Death from above.”

Cs          “The only thing the authorities can do is the only thing the authorities do.”

Sr          “Lie.  The official language of government and industry.  The problem is so overwhelming that there may be nothin’ that can be done.”

Cs          “What do you tell a populace that is already angry, broken, confused, desperate, enervated, and frustrated.”

Sr          “And bitter, cynical and distrustful.”

Cs          “The energy source designed to transition us from fossil fuels to renewable energy blew up on us in a day.”

Sr          “We are so Fukushima Daiichied.”

. . .

[http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/publications/nuclear/2012/Fukushima/Lessons-from-Fukushima.pdf]

Bumper stickers of the week:

3/11

Fukushima Daiichied Again

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From e-con-omics to eco-nomics? (August 1, 2011)

Posted in Bankruptcy, China, Economics, Economics Nobel, Education, Energy, Environment, Pensions, Schooling on August 1, 2011 by e-commentary.org

. . .

(           “The Keynesians are using a screwdriver to hammer a nail.  The monetarists are using a hammer to drive a screw.  The wrong tool is selected because the challenge is not understood.”

)           “So we are screwed and hammered?”

(           “E-con-omists do not even recall the central tenet of economics.  Resources are scarce.  Not enough resources are available today to provide the growth needed to provide everyone with a first-world life style.”

)           “You know that observation is politically unacceptable.”

(           “The department of e-con-omics today should be merged with the department of religion.  The e-con-omists are marketing voodoo.”

)           “What about the department of psychology?  Or the department of environmental sciences.”

(           “What about creating a department of 3Es – energy, economics, and the environment?  What about adding a class in Mega-eco-nomics to the traditional classes in Microeconomics and Macroeconomics?”

. . .

(           “Economics is laden with rich irony.  The use of the word ‘gross’ in ‘gross domestic product.’  The products and services often are gross.”

)           “Look at the felicitous term ‘trickle down’ in ‘trickle down economic policies.’  The theory posits that all the money should be given to the wealthy and very little will trickle down to the populace.  Should anyone be surprised that very little trickles down to the populace.”

(           “And the Laffer Curve was worth a laugh but not much more.”

)           “We need more eco-nomists who recognize and accommodate limits to growth even though the realization is anathema in today’s political climate.”

(           “Very few are going to go quietly.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

You are stronger than the tool; the tool is smarter than you are.

Central Falls falls

The Senate confirmed Gary Locke as Ambassador to China by unanimous consent on July 27, 2011

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On Trading Off (May 9, 2011)

Posted in Economics, Energy, Environment, Global Climate Change, Global Warming, Housing, On [Traits/Characteristics] on May 9, 2011 by e-commentary.org

. . .

X          “I gave a neighbor a few dollars a few years ago not to cut a tree on his property that provided ample shade for my house and a sylvan view for me.”

Y          “You paid for what they call ‘borrowed landscape.’  You receive a pleasing view that someone else funds and maintains.”

X          “He pays the taxes and I rake the leaves within the drip zone.”

Y          “Anything in writing?”

X          “Just a handshake deal that has worked so far.  The tree shades the house from the sun and lowers the electric bill.  Now I need the energy from the sun to hit the house and lower the electric bill.  The solar panels are wired in series and when even small areas of a few panels are shaded they produce less electrical output.  I plan to approach him and see if he will let me cut the tree.  He installed a back up wood stove last year and may now allow me to cut it if I give him the wood in sixteen inch lengths.  That would work for me.”

. . .

Z          “We debated the proposed microhydro project last week.  It is hard to be in favor of microhydro at the public forum on alternatives and then against microhydro at the fly fishing club meeting.”

Y          “Hard to have hydro without hydro.”

. . .

Z          “It looks like I am saving the planet until you look at all the costs.  ‘Emergy’ is all the embedded energy in an item.  The measure incorporates all the energy to produce and consume it not just my cost of acquisition and consumption.  Weighing everything, the decision is not as clear.”

. . .

X          “The community council seeks to impose height restrictions on buildings and also require more substantial setbacks from the street.  A building must go up or go out.”

Y          “They may be against buildings.  A building can’t go up if it can’t go up or go out.”

. . .

Z          “Do you support a local farmer who occasionally indulges some pesticides or a distant organic farmer?”

. . .

Y          “Providing fewer parking spaces won’t reduce the number of cars.  Providing more sidewalks may increase the number of pedestrians.  However, aren’t you simply substituting concrete for tarmac?”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Medium Is Beautiful

Eat Mangoes Naked

Sawgrass Is Popeye’s Spinach On Crack

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America Recycles Day, November 15 (November 15, 2010)

Posted in Energy, Environment, Gas/Fossil Fuel, Global Climate Change, Global Warming, Society on November 15, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

C         “The day is not yet as famous as Groundhog Day.”

E         “And it is not a national or a state holiday.  America Recycles Day.  Celebrated in many communities.  For over a dozen years now, they say.”

C         “November 15 is nationally recognized but is not nationally known.  The day may become the equivalent of Earth Day observed in the Fall when the bounty has been harvested.  One day to encourage us to reduce, reuse and recycle.  America Reduces, Reuses and Recycles Day is a bit much.”

E         “And there were no America Recycles Day sales inserts in the paper to recycle.  One day to inform and involve and not spend.”

C         “Once again, however, we may be chanting to the choir.”

E         “The day and effort should be targeted to kids.  They can carry the message home and convey it to the adults.  Yet it is the kids who were told at home to deposit their gum wrappers in the trash who don’t toss their butts out the window.  Reaching those who toss their butts out the window is the challenge.”

C         “What types of vehicles are those butts flying out of?  I suspect that they are the two-gallons-per-mile rigs.  Gasoline is a resource, a resource is finite, gasoline is finite.  We need to get real.  And really reduce not just reuse and recycle.”

E          “Yet, I understand those who don’t worry about global warming because they are worrying about paying their heating bill.”

C          “The warm inner glow you feel when doing right does not warm the house.”

. . .

www.americarecyclesday.org

www.lamprecycle.org

www.lnt.org/programs/peak:  The PEAK (Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids) program

Bumper stickers of the week:

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Don’t light up and turn out the lights

Take the Lead:  Install LED lights and turn them off

Be enlightened:  Lights out or there will be lights out

Build it tight, ventilate it right

Insulation is your friend

The cheapest energy is the energy you don’t use

Get your food from and close to the farm and field; don’t consume gas to feed your consumption

Take only pictures; Leave only footprints

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Girding For The Going Grid (October 11, 2010)

Posted in Energy, Gas/Fossil Fuel, Society on October 11, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

1     “We were warned about the coming storm.  The storm wasn’t any worse than other storms.  Without any warning, the power went out.  The lights went off.  The tv went blank.  The heat went cool.  The cool went warm.  For everyone.  At the same time.  We needed to find a flashlight and then find and hook up an old analog telephone to call about available refrigerator space.  The stop lights did not work.  Some of the electric pumps failed at a gas station.  We happened to have enough fuel in the tank to transport our fuel.  Our food ended up spread out in three refrigerators and freezers in another state.”

2     “Remember that the root word of ‘electric gird’ is ‘fragile and precarious.’  I keep a number of flashlights and candles stashed throughout the house and two analog phones plugged into the wall on different floors.  And that assumes that the phone system even works.  I keep a store of blankets, food, water and a portable radio that typically disappear quickly from the stores before a storm, yet that is desperately little preparation.”

1     “We had no radio in a house, yet we had a dozen remotes to worthless boxes.  At least we resisted recycling the one analog phone that is now stored in the kitchen pantry.  Near the radio.  And that assumes that the phone system even works.  We commented to each other on the drive that the power failure was very democratic, even indifferent.  One Republican Senator’s house was as dark as ours.  He could authorize and appropriate funds to build another TVA but did not have the power to deliver power to his house.  There are no circuits to route the limited power in the system to the homes of the powerful.”

2     “Power outages impact the powerful and the powerless equally.”

1     “At the time, the event was a spooky and sobering evening before a long and uncertain wait.  In hindsight, it was a benign if not an amusing diversion, but that may not be true the next time.”

. . .

(Bioneers Conference, October 15 – 17)

Bumper stickers of the week:

From the Internet to the Inter-mittent-net

Be Less Unprepared

Not “if, or when,” but “when, and when”

The Beginning Of The World As We Don’t Know It

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On Freedom and Liberty (May 24, 2010)

Posted in Bailout/Bribe, Energy, Gas/Fossil Fuel, Government Regulation, Less Government Regulation Series, On [Traits/Characteristics] on May 24, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

F          “Freedom and liberty are easy to define and difficult to protect and balance.  Assign Mill on Liberty.  That is the run of the mill solution.  Yet freedom and liberty are much more complex in practice.”

L          “Who constrains your freedom and liberty?  If prices are controlled by the government, are you free?  If prices are controlled by a private monopoly, are you free?  Monopolies from Microsoft to Monsanto are greater threats to our freedom than the not infrequent bumbling actions and inactions of incompetent and officious government officials.”

F          “I have a beef with four beef producers controlling the price and quality of beef.  From what I read, every major industry in America is monopolized.”

L          “Which constrains our freedom and liberty.  The chance, albeit slight, of restraining the monopolies and protecting our freedom requires government involvement.  That realization is the beginning of frustration.”

F          “And a few private sector monopolies own Congress and thwart any possibly effective legislation.”

L          “A generation ago, then-Senator Philip Hart of Michigan worked to break up monopolies and confronted Texaco, the oil company, who asserted in ads:  ‘We’ve been working to keep your trust.’  They worked hard and kept their trust.  Those oil companies have their own special charm.”

F          “How do we regulate the financial institutions that are ‘too connected to fail’?  They limit our freedom and liberty.  Lehman deserved to fail and was allowed to fail in part because Paulson did not like Fuld, the President of Lehman.  Washington Mutual deserved to fail and was allowed to fail in part because a West Coast bank is not among the East Coast players.  The other institutions deserved to fail and yet were bailed out.”

L          “It is not pretty or easy.  Why not limit the size of every financial institution to 100 billion dollars?  There are no economies of scale above that limit and many benefits from more players.  Any financial institution with more than 100 billion in assets is a direct threat to our freedom and liberty.”

F          “Great, but the financial sector will veto it.  And regardless of what Congress directs, the regulatory agencies are captured by those who are intended to be regulated.  Investment banks and others realize that no investment pays a greater return on investment than purchasing a piece of a politician.  Money invested in R&D or in HR or in PR does not come close to providing such a handsome return.  Purchasing an entire government agency is cheap and tax deductible as a business expense.”

L          “It is not easy or pretty.  You are doomed if you do and doomed if you don’t.  On the other hand, when the invisible hand begins to backhand the people, the heavy hand of the government is often the only recourse.”

F          “On the other hand, it seems that the government comes around when it is not needed and is not around when it is needed.”

L          “It is not pretty or easy.  I have worked for years with some agencies that are useless.”

F          “Need I say more.”

L          “I would like to see private sector initiatives such as the Young Americans For Freedom allying with the Innocence Project to protect freedom and liberty.  The white boys are too fixated on limiting taxes on their greens fees when they should be concerned about freedom and liberty for those who are black, brown, red, yellow and ivory.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” dated Mar. 26, 2007 titled “Who Is Your Big Bad Bogeyman?” and dated Sept. 4, 2009 titled “The Meltdown Continues, Subtly.”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Freedom is not free so pay your taxes and shut up

Boycott Arizona

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Drill, Baby, Spill (May 17, 2010)

Posted in Antitrust, Energy, Gas/Fossil Fuel on May 19, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

“Long before the oil tanker EXXON VALDEZ ran aground in 1989 in Prince William Sound, the maritime pilots and local fishermen knew and protested that a tanker would run aground.  No doubt about it, they warned.”

“The tanker was caught between a rock and a hard piece of ice.  The rock was less forgiving; the rock did not forgive.  There were also warnings about deep drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.  The damage may be far worse than suggested.  And the by-product of the same arrogance.”

“Arrogance and avarice are the two companion killers.  Oil companies are so diabolically ironic.  Exxon once was called ESSO, the ‘Eastern Subsidiary of Standard Oil’ or the phonetic pronunciation of the letters ‘S’ and ‘O’, so that no one would forget that it had been part of the great oil monopoly Standard Oil.  Before that, the company was known as ‘Humble Oil’ to remind the public of its humble manner.”

“BP had been doing an effective job of appearing green.  Although if you think about it, it looks like the British Polluters made all the decisions to maximize the green.”

“I am also afraid that we need to continue exploring for dead compressed dinosaurs in the short term.  Drilling on American land or in American waters does make the country less vulnerable to foreign suppliers.  Drilling within an American jurisdiction is more likely to result in the oil company being compelled to internalize the ‘externalities’ which are all of the costs of production.”

“Externalities?  I’m not quite with you.”

“The company may be required to pay for anti-pollution safeguards and the actual cost of labor including safety measures and the like.  Foreign operators are even worse because they can totally disregard health and safety concerns.”

“Except when domestic operators have enough stroke to avoid paying and complying.”

“There are no guarantees.  O’Bama’s recent statements about opening coastal areas to drilling are also ironic.  He is trying to develop a realistic and balanced energy policy.  The oil industry did not do much to help the case.  And look at you.  And me.  Before this day is concluded, I will drive my car with the ‘Support the Terrorist Tax’ bumper sticker on a trip that may not be necessary.  I am voting on drilling.  If not here, then there will be drilling somewhere.”

. . .

Bumper sticker of the week:

Drill, baby, spill.

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Less Government Regulation Series: The Terrorist Tax Again (August 3, 2009)

Posted in Automobiles/Automobile Industry, Energy, Gas/Fossil Fuel, Less Government Regulation Series, Taxation, The "Terrorist Tax" on August 3, 2009 by e-commentary.org

July, 2008:   Gas:   over $4 a gallon   Toyota Prius Hybrid Car:  $3000 over MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price) and a line of buyers occupying the showroom.

July, 2009:   Gas:   under $3 a gallon   Toyota Prius Hybrid Car:  $3000 under MSRP and a flotilla of the cars littering the car lot.

The Volkswagen tdi (turbo diesel injected) cars followed the same price arc in response to the price of diesel.

The market should maintain its central role in American society.  Embrace it.  Taxing gasoline/diesel at a “quarter a quarter” per gallon contemplates a twenty-five cent ($.25) increase in the tax on fuel each financial quarter (90 days).  [See the “e-ssay” dated December 18, 2006 entitled “Pass The ‘Terrorist Tax’”]  As a compromise, raise the tax twenty-five cents a year every year.  Any tax by its nature contracts the economy which in this situation is akin to the body politic sucking in its stomach a little.

Implementing the tax while the market price of fuel is low is timely and crucial.  The market is ready.  More Prius cars will be built without the government passing legislation requiring more Prius cars.  More resources will be invested creating a more improved hybrid car or a new more efficient car without further government directives to create improved and new vehicles.  Although not fundamentally a revenue-generating measure, the tax funds can fill the fisc and reduce the country’s dependence on Chinese money.  So many other positive economic changes will result without any further government action.

O’Bama must deliver a speech on the proposal as compelling as his speeches in Philadelphia and Cairo.  He can sell it.  Writing the speech would be fun.

The Cars Allowance Rebate System (CARS), the “Cash for Clunkers” Program, is a short-sighted, expensive and misdirected use of government resources and misuse of public resources.  Too much government money is being spent to spew vehicles on the road that require substantial resources to produce and consume substantial resources to use.

Bumper stickers of the week:

25 cents a quarter

Stop funding terrorists

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Energy Policy In A Nutshell (March 31, 2008)

Posted in Energy, Taxation on March 31, 2008 by e-commentary.org

Energy policy is complex.  A few general ideas.

1.                  Increase the tax on a gallon of gasoline by a quarter (25 cents) every quarter (3 months) for two years or longer to reduce American consumption, spur alternative energy options, and reduce transfer payments to many of America’s enemies.  The revenue, a secondary concern, could be used in a market-efficient way to offset some of the painful economic impact of increased gas prices.  Taxes should have been increased when oil was at $25 a barrel, yet action now is better than more delay.  (Okay, this will never happen in the current political climate with prices already rising daily, yet one can dream.)

2.                  Appoint Amory B. Lovins as Secretary of Energy.

3.                  Release 70 percent of the employees at the Department of Energy.

Bumper stickers of the week:

Pass the Terrorist Tax

A Quarter Every Quarter

Keep your tires properly inflated

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