Comments danallen has made

It would be wonderful to have here in California the kind of high-speed rail I've experienced in Europe and Japan. However priority being given to high-speed rail is wrong. Money on high-speed rail is wasted unless we have first built our tranist and interurban systems up to at least somewhere near the caliber of those in Europe and Japan.

No. By definition of "externality" those are not factors in an economic analysis. One might wish them to be, but they just aren't. Everyting the environmental political movement is an has been doing is one way or another trying to convert "externalities" to "internalities" for decisionmakers -- whether a homeowner considering a solar rooftop or a power company choosing the technology for a new generating plant.

No. By definition of "externality" those are not factors in an economic analysis. One might wish them to be, but they just aren't. Everyting the environmental political movement is an has been doing is one way or another trying to convert "externalities" to "internalities" for decisionmakers -- whether a homeowner considering a solar rooftop or a power company choosing the technology for a new generating plant.

Well, not so fast. The solar cells in the panels we put on our roof two years ago have a performance deterioration rate such that they will be essentially useless in 20 years. The output is already going down. (The sun's rays are doing more to the silicon crystal structure than just pumping photons through.) The right way to do the economic analysis has to take that into account. Plus, the coal or natural gas plant in any comparison will have a 30 or 40 year lifetime, and while it will still have a fuel cost in the out years, the initial capital cost will be almost insignificant in an analysis.

Let's be fair and not try to re-write history

It is incorrect as this item says that George W. Bush "ditched" the Kyoto Protocol in 2001. The U S Senate rejected Kyoto four years earlier. The Byrd-Hagel Resolution (SRes 98) passed on July 25, 1997, by a margin of 95-0. The resolution stated that the U.S. Senate wiould not ratify the treaty as-signed at Kyoto, and consequently the Clinton-Gore administration gave up on it.On U.N. climate talks in search of leadership and ideas, say delegates posted 11 months, 4 weeks ago 1 Response

Theft and Damage

This article and the comment from archiqeek remind me that so far the biggest negative factor of the PV installation on our home roof has been the hit we took on our homeowners' policy. Of course, we told our agent the replacement cost, not the subsidized cost we paid for it. When I put the increased insurance bill into my cost calculation, it is obvious that I was a fool to buy into solar power. But if one ignores insurance you are also a fool. Our system cost as much as a new car. You wouldn't spend that much if it was for a car and not buy theft and damage insurance.On Solar-panel thievery taking off in U.S. posted 1 year, 2 months ago 2 Responses

Cap and trade versus a carbon tax

Do I misunderstand, or is not the cap and trade concept going to establish a barrier to new entrants, given a free market situation? Suppose I want to build a new oil refinery (of course, one that is much cleaner per unit output than any already operating, but nevertheless an emitter of CO2.) I will have to buy allocations from someone. That is a burdensome up-front cost for me. Whereas if there were a carbon tax, the carbon costs would be incurred in operation and my up-front costs would be less. In other words, doesn't cap and trade entrench the established polluters and enhance their monopoly status?

(I don't see this factor in Ken Johnson's reference, although it may be there.)On Obama would make cap-and-trade program a top economic priority posted 1 year, 3 months ago 3 Responses

The ruination of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Of course this transmission line issue is not as simple as presented in a brief summary. The utility already has an easement for transmission lines running through the park right along side of an existing highway that runs through the park. The new transmission lines would be power lines on metal poles relacing existing lines on wood poles. I think it is a matter of aesthetics by degree and hardly the ecological disaster portrayed by some opponents.

The real issue is whether Los Angeles or San Diego will tap the solar energy resource of Imperial County, and so if San Diegans who oppose this power line don't come up with an alternative way to import the power, then San Diego will be stuck indefinitely with natural gas combustion generators in its air basin.On Huge Calif. solar plant would run transmission lines through state park posted 1 year, 5 months ago 39 Responses

Significance of significant change

solarwind can't be serious that consumers don't have control over emissions. One consumer of course not, but collectively consumers set the demand for gasoline, natural gas and electricity. Turn off the switch and powerplant emissions go down. It is as simple as that. (Utilities do not go on burning coal or uranium just to make electricty that they "throw away".)

Higher energy prices, whether from higher resource costs or carbon taxes will reduce consumption and reduce GHG, but there will be serious economic repercussions. How will the environmentalist - consumer advocate - progressive politico coalition hold out then? Looks shaky already with Hillary and Barak over retail gas tax!On Connecticut goes big with emissions-reducing goals posted 1 year, 6 months ago 4 Responses

not so

I also live 5 miles from Torrey Pines State Reserve, and I'm relieved to see that it is not on the closure list:

http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/BudgetSummary/ImagePages/FG-RES ...On Schwarzenegger proposes closing some California parks posted 1 year, 10 months ago 10 Responses

The last 30 years

Compared to 30 years ago cars do pollute less and they do consume less gasoline, unlike what DaveGreenandRed implies. He is right that vehicles sold in the US (not just made in the US) are bigger, and since vehicle weight is a trade-off with fuel consumption and consequent emissions, that is why new vehicle milage has declined some over the last 10 years. (http://www.epa.gov/oms/cert/mpg/fetrends/420s07001.htm)

But cars are not faster. What they are is more powerful. I think it is logical that the American consumer wants a vehicle that accelerates to freeway speed more safely. It should be obvious that the consumer wants a larger car for safety as well. (I think the US car buyer also knows that the government is in a sense lying to them about crashworthyness tests. Those tests only rate how passengers will fare in a collision with a car or truck about the same size.)

The SUV loophole created in prior efforts to improve auto efficiency should be a clue that legislating the technology that goes to market is difficult. Why not do as the Europeans do and let the free market forces do the job -- double the price of gasoline and see what happens.On Ford Motor Co. unveils greener engine posted 1 year, 10 months ago 12 Responses

We're screwed? Murdering the planet?

Maybe it is too much to ask, but is there a quantitative analysis of just how much worse the effect will be of the federal standard embodied in the Energy Bill and the California standard? On Multiple states will sue over EPA decision to not let California regulate vehicle emissions posted 1 year, 11 months ago 6 Responses

They can't breathe the air.

And if they do breathe the air, don't forget that it will be CO2 they exhale!On China's population rapidly rising posted 1 year, 12 months ago 10 Responses

Hillary will ban incandescent lightbulbs

Why are people promoting compact fluorescent lamp bulbs to replace incandescents. Have they ever tried them? I have tried twice to substitute CFLs in out home, and both times I took them back to the store and demanded a refund. They don't fit in the recessed fixtures in our ceilings, they can't be used outdoors (where we would think the most saving would accrue from those lights that are on most of the night), they buzz on dimmer circuits, they don't go on instantly (I got one so I could see into my closet and I couldn't tell black from brown socks for two or three minutes) and they can't be used with electronic timers. On that last point, timers on lights is a great energy saver. Using CFLs ruined my timer. I called an engineer at Levitton - the timer maker. I told him the CFL package said they were good with timers. He told me to get my money back from the seller on the grounds of false advertising.On The full text of Clinton's plan posted 2 years ago 18 Responses

CO2 buried 'literally forever'

Interesting that there are people who seriously belive that CO2 gas can be pumped into the ground and will remain there forever, while spent nuclear fuel -- a cermaic inside an alloy tube inside a steel canister inside an engineered cave inside a mountain in the desert -- is not sure to remain isolated from the biosphere for thousands of years. Don't they realize that forever is really longer than a few hundred years or a few thousand years?On Coal Is the Enemy of the Human Race posted 2 years, 6 months ago 3 Responses

A long-shot indeed

He's a political coward. I want to hear a presidential candindate who will slash greenhouse-gas emissions at least 100 percent. 200 percent is a minimum!On It Takes a Vilsack to Raise Our Hopes posted 2 years, 9 months ago 2 Responses