Beam Me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 09/11/2009 7:50:02 PM PDT by Lorianne
With today the final day of the Legislature's session, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislative leaders are pushing hard for passage of a law that would require that 33 percent of the power used in California be from renewable energy sources by the end of 2020. The main sticking point is over a bizarre proposal that all this power be generated in-state, even though California is fully integrated into a regional grid that helps keep reliability up and costs down.
Our concern is much broader, however. A strong case can be made that the state, the nation and the world need to shift to cleaner forms of energy to reduce the emissions that contribute to global warming. But what Schwarzenegger and company are doing could turn California's deep recession into an enduring depression.
Remember, Congress is expected to act in coming months on a similar mandate for future energy sources. The measure now being considered in Sacramento would almost certainly be much stronger than its likely parallel federal law. Because renewable energy costs are significantly greater, it would lock California's businesses into higher energy costs not borne by their economic rivals — both in other states and other nations.
This would have an immediate, devastating effect on manufacturers for whom energy costs are an absolutely critical competitive factor. This pain soon would spread to all sectors of the state economy and lead to higher costs for housing, food and retail goods in general. It makes far more sense for California to have the same renewable energy standard as the rest of the nation — not one that is uniquely onerous to a state already suffering from record-high unemployment of 11.6 percent. But then that wouldn't allow Schwarzenegger and such lawmakers as Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, to stake their claims as environmental visionaries. We wish they would leave their ego out of this in favor of a common-sense approach. If not, 15 percent unemployment, here we come.
Ping.
KEWL! Add lotsa nukes!
This would have an immediate, devastating effect on manufacturers for whom energy costs are an absolutely critical competitive factor. This pain soon would spread to all sectors of the state economy and lead to higher costs for housing, food and retail goods in general."
No foolin' you idiots! This is not rocket science.
These jerks probably failed the nursery school Paint by Numbers class.
I just can't believe grown, well informed individuals (anyone with online access) can still think this.
Cobra64, this is not a mistake. This is no accident.
HEY!! I Know!
We’ve got 15% unemployment, so let’s make doing business here MORE EXPENSIVE! Surely that will bring the jobs back, right???
We're talking about the California state government. Where do grown, well informed individuals fit in here?
I'm confused. I'm not sure where I stated or inferred that it was a mistake or is an accident.
I hope they find sanity and change. Soon. For everyone's sake.
They won’t until a majority of California voters do.
The only changes in policy will come from the ballot box.
Green jobs.
Van Jones might be working on it.
These people believe in magic.
They think that writing a thing down on paper will cause that thing to become reality.
Writing a law can not change physical laws or economic realities.
If they actually pass this law and try to force it to become a reality they will only succeed in further crippling California’s and the rest of the country’s economy.
The billions of dollars needed to build the power generators and infrastructure required to support them can only come from denying consumers of desired products and services. (Taxing people to the point of eliminating their ability to buy consumer products)
They suck up our nuclear power as well. It sounds like the author wants the rest of us too share in their pain.
LEAVE NOW!
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