walhima’s Recent Comments

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  Erik

  I second that fourth point.On RFK Jr. advocates for cap-and-trade, renewables, smart grids posted 1 year, 6 months ago 11 Responses

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  Re: Jon Rynn

  I too wish that Kennedy had been more clear in where he got his figure ($1 trillion/year) for oil and coal subsidies.  It seems larger than what I've heard in the past, but I really wouldn't be surprised.  I have to disagree with you about him being unclear on the segment you highlighted.

  Construction of efficient and open-transmission marketplaces and green-power-plant infrastructure would require about a trillion dollars over the next 15 years.

  He was quite clear about what he meant by "open-transmission marketplaces and green-power-plant infrastructure".  He's talking about our aging and overstressed transmission grid:

  There's a second thing the next president should do, and it would be a strategic masterstroke: push to revamp the nation's antiquated high-voltage power-transmission system so that it can deliver solar, wind, geothermal, and other renewable energy across the country. Right now, a Texas wind-farm manager who wants to get his electrons to market faces two huge impediments. First, our regional power grids are overstressed and misaligned. The biggest renewable-energy opportunities--for instance, Southwest solar and Midwest wind--are outside the grids' reach. Furthermore, traveling via alternating-current (A.C.) lines, too much of that wind farmer's energy would dissipate before it crossed the country. The nation urgently needs more investment in its backbone transmission grid, including new direct-current (D.C.) power lines for efficient long-haul transmission. Even more important, we need to build in "smart" features, including storage points and computerized management overlays, allowing the new grid to intelligently deploy the energy along the way. Construction of this new grid will create a marketplace where utilities, established businesses, and entrepreneurs can sell energy and efficiency.
  

  And on a positive note:
  

  ...the good news is that the government doesn't actually have to pay for all of this. If the president works with governors to lift constraints and encourage investment, utilities and private entrepreneurs will quickly step in to revitalize the grid...
  

  On RFK Jr. advocates for cap-and-trade, renewables, smart grids posted 1 year, 6 months ago 11 Responses