Comment Re:No middle ground anymore. (Score 1) 146
1) I would love nothing else for petro-power to become economically unsustainable with respect to renewables. Currently, that's not the case even with massive green-power subsidies. Here in CA, power prices are pushed ever higher as they push the mandates higher.
2) Functional regulation also requires a principled opposition that is willing to focus on actual deliverables rather than scoring points.
3) There is no way that global warming is going to be solved by regulations on the extractive industry, so this is a non-goal in this domain. If we want to try for a comprehensive solution to AGW, it needs to be done across industries and across countries. Global problems cannot be solved locally.
Now proper regulation would raise costs significantly and put pressure on finding REAL solutions sooner which is why environmentalists want to use them to prohibit dirty industry growth
This is exactly the problem, you are effectively deciding on the solution rather than the goal. If it's possible to pump crude out of Alaska without spilling it on the tundra, then you should be in favor of it. To the extent that safety requires raising the cost, that's an acceptable tradeoff, but it absolutely is not the goal unless you are just being obstructionist instead of productive.
Nuclear power is a great example. A still functioning regulatory system makes nuclear power more costly than solar PV. This is still the case with the large government subsidies involved in that industry already.
I worked in nuclear for a while. Most of the cost increase goes to lobbyists and lawyers to fight the other guys' lobbyists and lawyers. Which is all that the nimbyciles have every really accomplished -- making the industry grease the same palms that they are doing with at least as much dough.
[ Kind of ironic actually -- the fight against the parasitic plutocrats only spawns more plutocrats. Perhaps that's a sign about why it's unproductive not to engage with problems directly and find solutions. ]
I keep hearing other nations do a better job deciding such things; like Canada for example.
You mean that country that's pissed off we are stalling our decision on the giant pipeline to transport their oil from the tar sands?!
Truth be told, I've heard they don't care what the answer is since if we say no they'll build the pipeline to the Pacific themselves, but they wanted the stability of shipping it to us. Such a shame really to keep them in limbo, since they can't go elsewhere until we've officially said no too. But yeah, that oil isn't going to the stay in the ground in any event.