Comments wgartist has made

  • Thank you hapa

    Thanks for saying it. I completely agree. It's obvious that this whole compromise with capitalism thing did not work. And it's not going to work.
    My favorite line of Speth's was : We need to challenge consumerism.
    He's just now figuring this out? Presumable people have been paying him for his thinking over the years. I hope they don't feel too bad about wasting their money like that. Or Roberts in investing his time interviewing a clown like this. It's obvious that this guy (good bureaucratic player as he is) is just sensing a change in the wind and tacking to get a little more "green" in his sails.
    On Gus Speth chats about his new book and increasingly radical green views posted 1 year, 5 months ago 28 Responses

  • State run transit systems

    What kind of ignorance is this? It's the state that builds roads and all the other infrastructure needed to support cars.
    Railroads, at least in the U.S. are privately owned. So are (or were) many bus and streetcar companies. It's the car that deprives the people of freedom and allows the state to control transportation. Pedestrians aren't required to show their papers, drivers are. Cars are constrained to go only in certain places, at certain speeds, and are required to arbitrarily stop and go. And you've got to pay every time you use one.
    Cars are not only hegemonic, they're dictatorial. traffic lights train you to be an easily controlled moron.
    On It's shifting consumer demand that will drive increases in vehicle fuel efficiency posted 1 year, 6 months ago 25 Responses

  • Car hegemony

    "not that people should do without cars altogether"
    This is where people like Krugman (and many others) really don't get it. Cars are a hegemonic technology. They don't co-exist with other methods of transportation, they drive it out. If you don't believe this, just try walking along any 4 or 6 lane road in your vicinity. Or biking along it. Or waiting for the bus along it. Cars take up space, they degrade the environment severely. They're dangerous and threatening. They allow the rich to push aside the poor.
    One of the major efforts of environmentalists should be to break the hegemony of the car completely. Do away with them completely and never let them return.
    On It's shifting consumer demand that will drive increases in vehicle fuel efficiency posted 1 year, 6 months ago 25 Responses

  • Lifestyle choices

    "I flew down to Pasadena today for the Fortune Brainstorm: Green conference."

    Wow. We really ARE doomed.On Fortune Brainstorm Green posted 1 year, 7 months ago 4 Responses

  • It's pretty clear.

    Judging from what is written by Joseph Romm, it's pretty clear that nothing substantial (correction, make that nothing at all) will be done about global warming. Minor techno-fixes but nothing to disturb the sleepy consumer, and this is the progressive side.
    On Solving the climate problem will solve the peak oil problem, too posted 1 year, 8 months ago 37 Responses

  • well...

    Actually it was a trip that needed to be done. And it was on the road. Hence road trip. But actually, look at the statistics. It's really ONLY recreational driving that we should be doing. It's the business stuff that's got us into trouble.
    On Prius 'proven' to get worse gas mileage than BMW 520d posted 1 year, 8 months ago 9 Responses

  • Honda Civic

    Meanwhile, on my latest road trip with a 2005 Civic I got 43 mpg. It consistently gets 37 or 38 in mixed driving. The solution to the car syndrome is smaller, lighter, slower and less frequent and more intelligent driving.On Prius 'proven' to get worse gas mileage than BMW 520d posted 1 year, 8 months ago 9 Responses

  • I don't trust them

    That's why I want to have my own carbon allocation, that then the utility has to buy back from me, if it wants to supply electricity to me (or anyone else). It also gives me the option of withholding my allotment and living like a monk for the good of the planet. If I want to.
    Btw, this also uses the "law of large numbers". The allocations are spread out over large numbers of people whose cumulative decisions then drive policy and innovation. Radical, I know.On Duke Energy CEO defends the need for free permit allocations posted 1 year, 8 months ago 4 Responses

  • Dreams are nice

    I think it's unrealistic at best to suppose that the  revenue from a carbon tax will find its way back to us (us being the non-rich.) There's nothing in the recent history of this country to suggest such a thing.
    The carbon allotments need to be allocated per person, globally, or nothing constructive will happen.
    On What investments should be made with carbon tax revenue? posted 1 year, 8 months ago 7 Responses

  • Give to those that gots, or to those that don't

    It's simply not true that the only trading is black market. The trading is the same. The difference is who gets the initial allotments. In the auction scheme it's those with money. And guess what? Here we go again on round two of rule by the rich.
    As for sulfur? Yeah I want whoever wants to use my sulfur allotment to buy it from me. Each year.On Campaign energy wonks clarify candidates' differences on climate change posted 1 year, 8 months ago 11 Responses

  • Solar subsidies

    Recently our local paper had an article about green pioneers. One of the people profiled had recently installed a PV system, spending about $20,000 of which the state (Florida) rebated him $10,000.
    The guy thought it was great because before he had been paying about $500 a month for electricity (mostly air-conditioning) and after the PV installation only $200 a month. This was, if I recall correctly, on a 5000 sq ft house.
    Now, meanwhile, I don't run the AC at all and my bill is about $40. So if the solar subsidy is not just a hand-out to the rich, where's my rebate?
    On Are solar incentives a subsidy for the rich? posted 1 year, 8 months ago 11 Responses