Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:"Could", (Score 1) 401

They don't see it as pollution, but an assault on the very moral fabric of their being. If they are wrong about AGW, so then think about the consequences!!! TEH SOCIALISM!!! And so the cogs turn in the mind of the ideologue who, with no trace of irony sees themselves as balanced, nuanced and reasonable. Hence all the projection and gnashing at teeth.

Comment Re:"Could", (Score 2) 401

It only takes a microsecond for a claim to be generated, and another microsecond of the ideologue to convince themselves it is true based on its pleasant chime. It takes forever to disprove the claim because, as the Japanese say, he who doesn't listen cannot hear. Thus it is, has been, and always will be. I'm convinced that the name "homo sapian" is a failed attempt at irony.

Comment Renewables are cheaper than you think (Score 1) 401

You probably believe that renewables can never compete with carbon energy on price alone -- unsubsidized. The simple truth is that after subsidies are removed, only gas can compete with renewables. Gas wins handily, for now. The main obstacle for renewables in that the USA needs more high voltage capacity -- blocked by the nimby crowd -- to move electricty across the country. With more high voltage power lines, it would quickly start to cost more to mine and ship coal to existing coal power plants than build wind power. Solar is close behind, and the prices are coming down fast.

Now it is not true that the above pricing estimates are purely subsidy free. Coal, oil and natural gas are still given huge subsidies in the calculations: private profits, socialized losses. You see, coal/oil/gas does not pay for the significant health burdens, or the trillions in wars. And that is leaving aside using the atmosphere as a free waste tip.

If your main concern about climate change action is "ruining the economy", then pull your head out of partisan news sources, and go look at the actual figures that businesses and governments use to make decisions. Most economists believe that climate action costs are negligible, but that not doing anything will cost a lot -- starting with all the beachfront property on the East coast, which will have moved in land within 100 years.

Comment Re:Fire all the officers? (Score 5, Interesting) 515

Yeah, the police feel they are under assault. Yet there is almost a live-stream of police abusing the moral privilege they are given, even though the job is far safer than many other jobs. I've seen a good friend enter the police, and adopt the cultural talking points. There are real systemic problems with how police do their jobs, and how interrogations and prosecutions are done -- and at no point do police seem willing to accept any criticism or feedback at all. If there is video evidence, then the problem is that there is video evidence.

Comment Deal is the opposite to what you think. (Score 1) 145

The deal is actually the opposite. America doesn't really need to do much to meet Obama's target. The natural market-driven growth of renewables will do it, so long as the GOP doesn't play pick the winners and losers by slapping regulations. (*cough* Kansas *cough*). It may well cost the US consumer $0. China, on the other hand, is deploying huge amounts of new energy, and will fundamentally need to shift their plan in order to have emissions peak in 2030. But they want to do it anyway, since -- pollution, and they will be at the bleeding edge of renewables technology with will own carbon by 2030. Heck, wind is already price parity with coal, and solar is dropping fast. See Levelized cost of electricity by source. And I say all of this knowing that you cannot understand it, because you are a "skeptic" with the "truth". (Somehow not a contradiction -- but that's human nature for you.)

Comment Single-year does not make a decadal trend. (Score 1) 145

A single year does not a trend make. It's a decadal trend. Average the temperatures on a decadal basis, and you will see that there was never an abatement from warming. Furthermore, most of the heat (90+%) goes into the oceans, which makes them rise (because they expand) and the signal is much less noisy. No abatement there either. And besides, 1998 wasn't the hottest year on record -- that's is an ambiguous statement -- and it was hot because of a record El Nino. The next record El Nino will blast 1998 to bits, unless there is some mitigating circumstance such as huge volcanic eruptions in the same year. And I say all of this fully aware that you cannot possibly understand it -- being a "skeptic" and all.

Comment Re:Subsidies (Score 0) 516

Without. See levelized cost of electricity by source for more information. The formulas are complicated (because the world is complicated) so do some reading to figure out what is going on with them. If you have been watching these numbers for a few years -- as I have -- fossil fuels are in big trouble. They're already crying to the government to bail them out. It won't be long until box stores, data centers and factories switch. I think the big change-over will come around 2020. Obama's deal with China was really pretty cheap on his part. The chinese will actually have to do some work.

Slashdot Top Deals

He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him. -- Bion

Working...