Nonsense, the market is perfect for energy...

The reason it pollutes is there is no bill for the pollution... If we have, for whatever reason, decided that carbon is pollution, then tax it and be done with it.

Let the market come up with solutions, don't try and pick winners. The government SUCKS at picking winners, but it is pretty decent at picking losers.

Coal?

Yes, coal is indeed likely being used faster than it is replenished.

Does this matter if we have 50,000 years of coal in the ground?

The current estimates are based only on existing mines, the whole bloody planet is swimming in coal and oil.

Note: This doesn't mean I think we should burn it all, I actually don't. We just have a LOT of it...

The amount of subsidies going into those are minor compared to those of solar...

And they aren't really subsidies, they are tax breaks, just like all businesses (including solar) get.

Solar gets direct tax credits and payments of money.

Now THAT scares me... that you'd rather have her than him.

She is an idiot who doesn't know anything about anything, at least Trump knows about business.

Yes, he is a walking ego trip, perhaps a blowhard and a PITA...

But he isn't stupid, he knows how to build things, and while he isn't my first choice, he is ahead of the other people running.

Have you stopped to consider that some of his comments of the past few months are actually quite carefully considered? He would not be getting anything close to the media attention without them, he is leading the republican polls, so clearly he is doing something right.

Why does everyone want to hire a lawyer or professional lifetime politician to be President, instead of a CEO?

Another example, Steve Jobs was a PITA to work for, he'd yell, scream, tell you were you a moron, yet he clearly knew something.

Some of the nicest people in the world would make for crappy leaders.

That reply can be given to anything new... Cars, airplanes, computers, robots, etc.

It doesn't address anything...

That was not my intention... I thought I made that clear, but perhaps I didn't...

:)

Yep, all true, except perhaps for the lunatic part. You don't generally become worth billions of dollars by being a lunatic... unless there is a new use for that word I'm not familiar with.

I did say he has a massive ego and he is probably a SOB, but that doesn't make him wrong either.

Keep in mind that he would be held in check by Congress and the SCOTUS to an extent, we're not electing a king after all. So he stirs things up, he can reach across the isle, he can kick over a few tables. But he can't go too far, because he has to deal with Congress and consider what the SCOTUS will rule on as well.

Subsidies pick winners...

Government SUCKS at picking winners... It is much better at picking losers...

If we really want to get off coal and oil, tax carbon emissions and be done with it. Let solar stand or die on its own.

This way, if coal and oil become more expensive, the proper and best solution will come out, rather than the one picked by those in power.

So, what you're saying is that if you can do the install yourself (which most people can't), you can use a $13k tax credit paid for by everyone else, and you have stupid high power bills because your house sucks, then solar makes sense?

Got it...

If you're a self-respecting engineer, did you bother to consider that a new HVAC system, new insulation, better windows, LED lights, etc, would probably have cut your bill by 30% or more and cost half of what the solar system did?

Just curious, but what rate are you paying for power? We just got a new power contract, it went down from last year due to the cheap oil and gas prices. Now paying 6.1 cents per kWh for the first 2,000 kWh and 6.8 cents per kWh after 2k. I live in Texas, part of EROCT, Texas/New Mexico PDC.

At those prices, solar is not even a consideration.

No, it isn't, but they are trying as hard as they can to make it look that way and spending a huge sum of money to do it.

That is an opinion, not a fact. Even most of those who believe in AGW don't think it will cause extinction, rather just pain and suffering.

If AGW is real and the projections are correct, then "now" is far too late. This had to be done 30 years ago, we've passed the point where the proposed cuts will matter, if AGW is correct.

It is also worth considering what it will cost to adapt to AGW rather than fight it, that conversation isn't being had and it should be.

I would love to put solar on my house...

It makes no sense... no amount of looking at the numbers sideways causes it to make sense...

My total energy costs will go up if I put solar up...

That is actually not true...

About half of my power bill is the cost of generation, the other half is transmission...

Sanders either doesn't know what he is talking about, or doesn't care.

I'll give you an example:

"Millions of Americans are working for totally inadequate wages. We must ensure that no full-time worker lives in poverty. The current federal minimum wage is starvation pay and must become a living wage. We must increase it to $15 an hour over the next several years."

That is a quote from his campaign web site.

That sounds really nice, and if you could just wave a magic wand and fix everything, it would work.

What it leaves out is that it will create lots of unemployment. He wants to ensure that no full-time worker lives in poverty. Fine, we'll just have to fire all full-time workers who don't make enough, then it becomes true.

We have millions of jobs that don't pay much because they don't require much. The supply and demand in the labor force is all messed up, too many unskilled workers chasing fewer and fewer jobs, this holds down the price of labor. Government can't change this basic market force just because it doesn't like it. We either need fewer unskilled workers or more jobs for them. Since government doesn't create jobs, all we can ask it to do is removed the unskilled workers.

Kicking out 11 million illegals would be a really good start, that would force up wages and fix a lot of the problem without needing to change the min wage.

And you think Bill Clinton did all that?

And you think George W. Bush did all that?

Both of them are tools of the establishment, if you elect either one of them you'll get more of the same, because they aren't nearly as much in charge as you give them credit for.

Both are just puppets, doing what they are told.

At least Trump doesn't have to play puppet if he doesn't want to. Now, that doesn't mean he won't turn into one, but at least there is a chance of something else.

Yea, the outrage over that is amazing...

People are so stupid, I sometimes have little hope for humanity.

If you want to care about something, how about the thousands of miles of coral reef that China is destroying to build islands in the South China Sea? That is FAR more damaging to the planet than a lion dying.

But no one cares, because they aren't being told to care, because people are idiots and sheep. Which I guess isn't new, but it is sad. :(

No it isn't, but thanks for playing. Note that you listed 2 rates, then noted it costs more elsewhere "without subsidy".

So those rates aren't real and couldn't be scaled up because they are being bought down with tax dollars.

The irony is that you need a mirror, you're the one with fantasy thinking...

Let me help you out with a specific, real example.

I just signed an agreement for power for my business. Thanks to the dropping price of oil and natural gas, my rate is going down for the first time in awhile.

I'll be paying 6.2 cents per kwh for the first 2,000 kwh and 6.8 cents per kwh for everything over 2,000 kwh. That is the total bill price. That is very cheap for such low usage and it includes everything, from power delivery to generation to taxes. The source of that power is a mix of coal, natural gas, and nuclear.

The same company can provide me with 100% renewables if I want it, 9.1 cents per kwh for the first 2K and 9.6 cents beyond that.

So renewables are 50% more than coal and natural gas where I live.