Friday, November 28, 2014

Post Thanksgiving tirade, Part I… by gimleteye

The best fiction title of 1980, "A confederacy of dunces", (John Kennedy Toole) has stuck with me ever since, when I try to capture the essence this place we call home.

Calling people names is not a way to win friends, but how else could one respond to the news that the state legislature, Gov. Rick Scott, and PSC have all acquiesced to the demand by Florida's utilities (FPL) to cut renewable standard goals, making it even harder for citizen ratepayers to diversify energy sources (ie. solar panels).

The problem is that in our confederacy of dunces, there are not enough sharp minds to collaborate on what mix of fossil fuel dis-incenctives is necessary to spur technologies. President Obama has done a credible job of at least trying. The Republican Congress -- run by Big Coal and Big Oil -- seems intent on giving up. "It's in God's hands," is their best response to climate change.

A thoughtful response came out of one of the foremost industry technical journals last week. In our confederacy, does anyone read at all?

What It Would Really Take to Reverse Climate Change - IEEE Spectrum


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't care about climate change as long as it doesn't come in my lifetime.

Anonymous said...

It's here, and it will get worse in your lifetime, unless you die really soon (consider it).

Anonymous said...

THE PARADE OF INCOMPETENCE DISGUISED AS POLITICAL PROCESS IS AN ENDLESS PROGRESSION OF ERRORS AND MISTAKES BREWED WITH A GARGANTUAN SERVING OF SELF AGGRANDIZEMENT AND THE 'WHAT'S-IN-IT-FOR-ME" MANTRA. LOOK LOCALLY AT GIMENEZ, REGALADO, SARNOFF, SOSA, SUOTO, CAROLLO, GORT: A PARADE OF THE CORRUPTIBLE. AND THEN, AT THE STATE LEVEL, THE LIKES OF SCOTT, BONDI, FRESEN, DE LA PORTILLA, AND THEIR ILK. AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ON. IT IS TRULY A MIRACLE THAT MIAMI, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, AND THE STATE OF FLORIDA STILL MANAGE TO SURVIVE EXPLOSION AND IMPLOSION AT THE HANDS OF THESE NEANDERTHALS!

NOME CHUMPSKI said...

YEP FPL hand its fingerprints over the last Ice Age.
Have any of you seen my Chinese manufactured lead painted bicycle?

....Where have you gone Che Guevara our lonely world turns its eyes to ...woo woo woo....

Philip Stoddard said...

Don't rail, go solar. My roof makes more power than the house and car consume, and the long term cost is only half the price FPL charges for electricity. If I got one of these darlings for Christmas, even a small one, I could go off the grid entirely: http://www.primuspower.com/products/

Anonymous said...

This is what happens when new technology emerges. Consider war: rocks vs bow and arrow; bow and arrow vs gun; gun vs bomb; Consider transportation: walking vs horse; horse vs car; car vs train; train vs airplane; so we continue to advance. Usually the people who try to hold on to old technologies disappear in the dust bins of history.

Anonymous said...

Quite a sobering read.
Lets assume, humanity solves the energy problem just in time. Would that really solve humanity's problems for good?
And will only the privileged get to enjoy this new technology with the left behind to keep catching the buffalo dung to kook a meal?
What about the endless growth aspect. We already use most arable land at increased efficiency.
What of waste, toxic waste, ever increasing.
What of diversity of species in all living things? Will there be space left for it after humans double again?
And on and on.
So little time, so many problems waiting to be solved.
Or nature will solve them for us; think Easter Island.

Science Teacher said...

Climate change. LOL!