I found this article to be enlightening, seeing as I am a lifelong Georgia resident - from birth to present.
Gotta keep fighting the good fight, making good trouble.
Regarding seeing a spike in the electricity bill, the bill this month went back down to normal. January's bill said that the electricity was delivered at a rate of 12.3 cents per kilowatt. The new bill went back down to 3.6 cents per kilowatt.
@baba I suspect that what we will find is that a large number of prominent Americans accepted money in exchange for doing Vladimir Putin favors. I certainly suspect that this is the case with Donald Trump as well as several prominent supporters of Trump and people who actually worked in his cabinet.
@enkasongwriter Hi Enka, thanks for alerting us. Could you or someone explain what happened and why it dropped again? If people have solar or wind energy, there would not be a spike. I have not found any good articles on this subject, but perhaps someone here has some reliable sources they can share with us.
Also, if NYC is to make their stated goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2040, they would do well to use these higher supply prices as a way to get people to switch to renewables. It is complicated by all those who have no control over their energy costs, like renters, the high percentage of renters. What are the state and city doing about this issue?
https://gothamist.com/news/the-electric-bill-is-too-damn-high-heres-why-and-what-you-can-do-about-it
@jeanne-mayell I am getting that government intervention and angry residents caused it.
Yes, energy prices are affected by a number of factors, weather, fuel supply, and energy demands among others. Utilities have been able to pass along costs and make profits without the typical barriers of a competitive market.
We absolutely do need to transition to renewables but that will take both time and money. The electric grid needs to be updated, we need high voltage transmission lines that can carry power long distances, we need more renewables and then we need energy storage so that we can have power when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. There are many legal, policy and financial hurdles involved in all of those steps.
So, it will take many billions if not trillions to us to a 100% green grid. The grid is not currently ready to accommodate a fully electric NYC or the electrification of vehicles. We have a bit of a chicken and egg dilemma.
The one positive aspect about higher energy costs is that it sends the price signal to customers to use less energy. As I have mentioned before, the single, most effective policy lever is a “price on carbon” which is basically a pollution tax on fossil fuels. A fee and dividend scheme would protect low and middle income households by returning the fee to them but they would still see higher prices at the gas pump which would in theory, inspire them to drive less. However, with higher energy prices, politicians (American ones) will be loathe to do anything to raise prices especially for what opponents would call a tax.
I sit on a variety of committees trying to foster more renewables in my community and region but I can tell you that it takes a huge effort by many people and it is very slow going. Local politicians are not well educated about energy issues, state energy policies are not well integrated and money flows too slowly and bureaucratically. We have to move many order of magnitudes faster if we are to prevent all of Antarctica from melting. https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/03/18/antarctica-heat-wave-climate-change/
The big missing piece is energy efficiency on all levels. We know how to build houses so tight that don’t need to have any heating systems but it takes more money up front and builders and developers resist stringent code requirements. Plus, those would be new houses. The really big challenge is taking our old buildings and making them more energy efficient. It is an unsexy, hard sell and there are too few well-trained contractors.
I am committed to addressing climate change, but my daughter got an estimate for the best sort of heating and cooling system, a ground source heat pump/ geothermal—- $80,000. Gulp. Too high to achieve rapid and widespread adoption.
Easy first steps: For all readers here, in your own homes get all LED lights, “warm” have the best color, and buy an appropriate (check whether gas or electric) wrap for your hot water heater. Both expenditures will pay you back in less than a year. Then move on to air seal and improve insulation in your attic. There is much more to do but those are the basics.
Easy first steps: For all readers here, in your own homes get all LED lights, “warm” have the best color, and buy an appropriate (check whether gas or electric) wrap for your hot water heater. Both expenditures will pay you back in less than a year. Then move on to air seal and improve insulation in your attic. There is much more to do but those are the basics.
Thanks for your informative post. Big help. We have done all those things you mention above, and in our town, the leadership is telling us we could go all electric no problem. They are electrifying buildings when they need to be rehabbed anyway. We also are on the verge of passing a heat pump bylaw that will make it easier for people to install heat pumps without needing to go through the building inspector. But I have an old house and the cost to convert it is out of our range.
The government -- Fed and State -- should pay for the conversions and get the money from the polluters. As you said, that is a hard sell.
This technology that accesses true geothermal energy would be extremely helpful in transitioning off of fossil fuels. In my area, cutting down forests to put up solar panels is growing conundrum. So this source of energy could create a paradigm shift.
https://www.freethink.com/environment/geothermal
@lovendures I like wind energy too. Wind energy has been fueling our electricity now for eight years. With climate change, winds are already 3 times what they were before. And they are expected to increase. They have had to update the turbines to handle the higher prevailing winds which means more energy per turbine.
So let's talk Ted Cruz because he just had another classic airport moment. It is so rich.
Apparently he was in Montana Sunday on the eve of the hearings for Jackson. He missed his check-in window and lost it. Airport police were called to take care of the matter. He appears to have also pulled the "don't you know who I am card as well.
https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-not-recognized-cop-montana-airport-frustrated-passenger-1690332
Utah Governor Cox just vetoed a republican bill banning transgender youth from competing in athletics. His main reason for his veto?
He wants these kids to live. He is reading stats and understand the mental health ramifications.
Amen to that Governor Cox.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/03/23/utah-cox-transgender-athlete-veto/
Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort blocked from flight for invalid passport
Former Trump campaign chairman and presidential-pardon recipient Paul Manafort was blocked from leaving the country Sunday because his U.S. passport was not valid, a Miami-Dade police spokesperson told NBC News on Wednesday. [This post needs a reference].
Thoughts on Anonymous hacking Russian Central bank? So hoping that it exposes the gop money links to russia especially Mcconnell and rand paul
@lovendures Indeed! I was thinking someone had predicted that he would try to flee the country . I suspect the former idiot in chief is thinking about it as well…
I have been thinking about AG Garland and whether he will be a force in the fight for democracy. He was so sincere at his nomination hearings, but now moving so slow to bring indictments from the Jan. 6th committee referrals. Has anyone here in the forum had insights about him?
I think Covid created a ton of backlog in the DOJ and Garland hiring more lawyers yesterday is a good indicator that they will keep following the crumbs. Like NY, the hurdles to prove beyond a reasonable doubt get read by the public as they won’t go after the big guns. Stone and Bannon may be in peril after the oath keepers and proud boys get charged. It all depends on who is willing to roll over. Unfortunately, in the NY case they didn’t get cooperating witnesses that are credible. The illegal electoral college submissions may also turn into prosecutions. Also someone predicted Dan Scavino would cave regarding Trump, so Jan 6 committee may just get a big break
@barbarmar22 My gut feeling is that Garland is moving slowly but surely. He wants to have all the cards in place before showing his hand. If true, this is smart. He doesn't want to give the bad guys any unavoidable hints as to what is coming for them.