Posted on 01/16/2008 2:13:20 PM PST by calcowgirl
I admit that I didn’t believe the first reports that the California Energy Commission is seriously considering a law to require homeowners to install a thermostat that can be adjusted by government bureaucrats. It seemed like “black helicopter” hysterics to suggest our government has become so intrusive that it would seek to monitor and control minute decisions like what temperature we set for our own homes.
But seeing is believing. The proposed regulations can be found beginning on page 63 at this link [PDF FILE].
The rationale for this brave new world is that government can promote energy conservation and avert blackouts by electronically entering our homes and adjusting our thermostats for us. But wasn’t that the purpose of Orwell’s vision of Big Brother: to “help” individuals lead “better” and more “secure” lives?
And why stop there? Shouldn’t government promote additional conservation by requiring microchips that will disable our major appliances when it suits officials? Shouldn’t it adjust the water flow and temperature of those miscreants who take showers that are too long or too warm? Shouldn’t it disable bank cards after too many junk food purchases to reduce obesity? And imagine all the lung cancer it could prevent by sniffing for smoke in our homes, or all the crime it could prevent by peeking through cameras in our living rooms. All are well within the reach of current technology – and, judging from the Energy Commission’s agenda, well within the appetite of California’s leftist officials.
In response to initial public outrage, a spokesperson for the Energy Commission assured a reporter that the proposal would probably be modified to allow homeowners to manually override the government thermostat setting. Then why mandate the device at all? Why not allow homeowners to decide for themselves whether their thermostats contain a government microchip and whether they wish to invite officials to control it? The answer should be obvious: the bureaucrats are trying to accomplish in two steps what politically they can’t do in one.
If there is any doubt that this has little to do with electricity and much to do with raw power of quite a different kind, consider this: according to the Energy Commission’s own figures, Californians already rank dead last among the 50 states in our per capita consumption of electricity. Indeed, the average Californian uses about half the electricity as the average American, and less than consumers in Luxembourg, Guam, the Cayman Islands and Aruba. How many more kilowatts do they expect to squeeze from California consumers?
The great and tragic irony is that a generation ago, electricity in California was clean, cheap and abundant. It was an era of hydro-electric dams and nuclear power plants that today are generating electricity for between ½-cent and 3-cents per kilowatt hour, and there was serious discussion about doing away with home electricity meters completely. After all, at 3-cents per kilowatt hour, the average household electricity bill should come to about $18 per month.
But then the California Energy Commission was created in 1974 and it began systematically obstructing the construction of new power plants. And having imposed an artificial electricity shortage by its own overbearing regulations, it now seeks to ration what’s left by setting your thermostat for you.
What can Californians do about it? The Commission will consider these regulations on January 30th. All five members of the energy commission are gubernatorial appointees, and four of the five were appointed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. They need to be flooded with protests and placed on notice that this is one vote that they can’t cast in obscurity. And the governor needs to know that voters will hold him accountable for the decisions made by his own appointees.
We will watch the vote and report to you HOW the governor’s appointees voted.
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Crikey! $.03 a Kwh for electricity. Put a dang nuclear reactor in MY backyard...
Orwell missed it by 25 years ...
Is the bill in Ca large? I imagine that it would be.
BTW, I do have a reactor nearby. About 8 -10 miles. :)
First, the Governor
Second, every elected official in the state
Third, every state commission
New politicians, drain the swamp of liberalism
pay down the debt
build a reserve
Somehow I think we’d survive.
So, I wonder how they propose to control plug-in heating devices that people will begin using enmass if this lame-brained scheme does go into effect? Yes, they might be able to set what temp my thermostat is set at, but they cannot control whether I am using electric heating or cooling appliances. Or, can they?
Californians already rank dead last among the 50 states in our per capita consumption of electricity. Indeed, the average Californian uses about half the electricity as the average American, and less than consumers in Luxembourg, Guam, the Cayman Islands and Aruba.
All you have to do to get the A/C turned back on is to place a lamp that uses an old fashioned light bulb directly under the thermostat to warm it up some.
Ah....but incandescents are already about to be outlawed.
To quote Huckabee, "I don't want to use the word 'conspiracy'...but..."
In many coastal communities, that is true. But inland it is desert and the valleys are over 100 degrees. Much of California cannot go without air conditioning.
Common sense must be in real short supply in government circles.. :)
Ban them. Simple.
Obviously. However, I suppose they could next move to limit the amount of electricity that a family can use in a 30 day period of time. That would curtail use of heating and airconditioning appliances. Oops, there I go thinking outloud again. Sorry.
What about indoor propane heaters that you attach to a regular propane tank?
Mighty effective and they should love them - no carbon footprint. :)
Yeah, that will work. :)
BTTT
Well, there are those who will wind up blowing their homes up using those things.
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