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Comment Re:So, Biden took the legislation...and rewrote la (Score 3, Informative) 19

Congress: "Streamline the approval process so permits get issued faster."

Biden administration: "Okay. Here's a memo to our various agencies on how to do that."

Where's the overreach? It's literally the purpose of the Executive branch to implement the laws that Congress passes. Offering instruction on how to expedite green energy projects in addition to the other streamlining measures is 100% within the letter and intent of the law.

They didn't alter anything; they did exactly as was required by law. Sucks for the people paying you to shit on anything that's bad for the fossil fuel industry it I guess?
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Comment Re:Oh, Virtual E-commerce? (Score 1) 29

E-commerce is buying something off of a website. Search and view items or options from a list, select what you want, enter payment info, and they send it to you.

Virtual E-Commerce is sorta like that, but the convenience of browsing things on a website is replaced with the inconvenience of having to hold "W" on your keyboard while your virtual avatar slowly glides through a 3D rendered space at 10 FPS looking for the items you want, which may be difficult because instead of being a nice photo they're shittily rendered 3D objects that vaguely resemble the item in question using low resolution textures that you can't see properly unless you're looking straight at them from up close.

It's not E-Commerce, it's virtual E-Commerce!
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Comment Re:hydrogen has no chance with EVs (Score 1) 131

The things you're talking about don't exist yet. There is theory, a few pilot programs using electrolysis powered by nuclear reactors, but the number of nuclear reactors generating hydrogen through thermochemical processes is currently zero. Even if the tech is proven, it takes decades to build a nuclear plant so we're at least 30-40 years out before this becomes a thing.

We simply can't wait that long. By the time any of that technology actually exists, the entire market will have transitioned to BEV out of necessity if nothing else. And of course, both BEV technology and supporting infrastructure will also be improving over that time so it's not clear nuclear hydrogen will ever be competitive.
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Comment Re:Just in time for a new prez to ruin it. Great. (Score 3, Insightful) 38

Apparently someone thinks shit like this happens on a whim.

For example, the non-compete rule was first proposed in January 2023... 15 months ago. God only knows how long it took to get through review committees or whatever other red tape it takes to get to that stage. That's almost certainly been cooking for at least two years.

The process of this current ruling to restore Net Neutrality started at least with Executive Order 14036... which was 2021.

Controlling insulin prices? There was movement on that last year as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (itself introduced in 2022) when it was added to the list of pharmaceuticals Medicare is allowed to negotiate prices for.

But sure, it's because it's an election year. That's gotta be it. No way were these things and more being quietly worked on for years...
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Comment Re:No wonder (Score 2) 93

Just so we're clear, the ruling in that case is not so much "overreach" since it explicitly acknowledges the threats of pollution spreading between surface waters and affirms the EPA's role in protecting those waters, but rather is entirely hinged on a technicality in the definition not being strict enough. The EPA has jurisdiction, and therefore it's not overreach, but the wording defining what qualifies as protected wetlands isn't lawyer-y enough for SCOTUS.

THIS is the best argument you have?

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Comment Re:toyota is a dying dinosaur (Score 4, Insightful) 159

The one pure EV that Toyota makes was co-developed with Subaru and is in fact a terrible EV by current standards. It would have been a mediocre EV 10 years ago.

Perhaps "disappointing" is more appropriate? For a company that has decades of electric drivetrain experience is is perplexing that Toyota could produce something so subpar. They rode their battery patent exclusivity for so long they forgot how to be competitive in an evolving market.
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Comment Re:Free money! (Score 1) 106

> Please explain how it raises money with a tax rate that's below the existing corporate tax rate

15% minimum. You're a fool if you think a large corporation pays anywhere near the corporate tax rate. 15% is much more money than these businesses are paying now.

Some of them are so good at the game that they effectively "pay" a negative income tax. To pull the first example from that link; AT&T earned $29.6 and the Feds effectively paid them another $1.2B - effectively a -4% income tax. Under the IRA their tax bill goes from getting paid $1.2B to paying $4.4B

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Comment Re:lawsuit in 3..2..1... (Score 1) 49

Beyond the TOS, there are actual laws that might apply to this situation.

First thing that comes to mind? Depending on the method used, it might fall afoul of the The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Not all Discord messages are public, and if some technical abuse was involved in accessing messages in an unauthorized manner (peeking into DMs, servers you've not actually joined, etc) then that could be grounds for criminal prosecution.

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Comment Re:And in five years they have to do it again? (Score 1) 169

Considering there are EVs that are 10+ years old and still doing just fine, I challenge the "isn't insignificant" part.

BMW, Audi, Tesla, and Ford warranty their packs will retain 70% capacity for 8 years/100K miles. Hyundai does 70% at 10Y/100K. Rivian is 70% at 8Y/175K. This gives us a pretty good picture of what to expect at a minimum - The manufacturers are willing to put their money down on these numbers, so chances are good they will be exceeded for most owners.

People like GP are constantly wanting to conflate EV batteries with cell phone batteries. They are not even remotely the same.
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Comment Re:great, now think again (Score 1) 215

> the demand and supply must always match

Correct. Overproduction results in increase in grid frequency which can cause a lot of damage.

> this means that that you produce more than you need and have to either sell outside ... or switch off the source

Or import less (Cali imports up to ~30% of its power from Arizona and Utah). In this case, the a good chunk of that excess power seems to have been absorbed by temporarily increasing demand through charging grid scale batteries. That energy can be (and has been) released later in the day to help offset peak loads, allowing utilities to avoid spinning up expensive gas turbines.

> If on the other hand they invested in say nuclear this would not be necessary

Nuclear is far and away the most expensive and has the longest lead time. It also has a problem of needing large supplies of water, and that water needs to be not too warm or else they need to throttle or shut down the plant. Drought and heat waves are both issues in California so expanding nuclear power is difficult even if the local population was accepting of their presence.

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Comment Re:... for a small fraction of 30 of the last 38 d (Score 3, Informative) 215

> What the heck kind of tortured cherry picked thing is this?

It's pretty simple? For 30 of the past 38 days, renewable energy production exceeded energy demand for at least 15 minutes.

While the 38 days part is a little strange, this is overall good information. Paired with their burgeoning energy storage capacity it means we are starting to catch a glimpse of the break-over point where we have 100% renewable energy 24/7. 15 minutes of surplus means 15 minutes of not burning fossil fuels after the sun sets.

It's a start, and already more than the shills told us was impossible.
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