As in any transaction that has to change hands form one hand to the "6"th one... you have to follow the money and what is "skimmed" off in the preocess. Numbers are another item I feel needs scrutinized. IE... all the Housing starts opposed to the number of PERMITS issued... What was the calalyst and how long will it continue.... past the date of the $8000 housing credit?
I can't wait until the REAL final readout on the "Clunkers For Cash". Or maybe they will stretch it out so far it is no longer on the radar..sort of out of sight out of mind.... I love the giant "FANS" and their promise to save power and those houses that dread a good hailstorm or falling tree. What I want to see is the repair/replacement costs.... we already know it isn't cheap in the first place or they wouldn't help pay for them. I love inovation..... true inovation.... not the flavor of the day. I still think we have the minds to improve what we have already. Natural Gas...and does anyone remember the conversion of coal to gas and liguid fuel?
We have a lot of coal right here in PA.... enough to power us and the grid for a very long time. I have to always wonder who and what is the push to these other technologies when we have what we have ALREADY there. "Don't build another mousetrap.... make the old one better."
We do that with homes and autos.... both basically the same as they were the first time they put them together. We were told to live in homes built underground..... be honest.... how many of those have you seen lately?
? Or how many have seen an ACTUAL electric car in use on our roads.... No... not the hybrids..... if anything....we still have gas powered cars that get the same or better mileage as the hybrids. I see the Hybrids as a "paid for message" by the owner as LOOK AT ME.... I AM SAVING THE WORLD. Sorry...... ya gotta do more than that according to some..... Save the world, quit eating breathing or flatuating.... So, as an experiment, great for the College.... they get the Government Grants.... Ohhhh excuse me...a share of OUR tax money to do this... not that the cost of college isn't high enough yet, for student and parent......
European countries tout the use of this technology and that is nice.... in a country with populations the same size as one or two of our CITIES and a tax base rate that can eat up well over 50% of your gross.... This all seems like the Fight of AC vs DC over a century... or VHS vs BETA not that long ago. In the end.... I see I will be gone and maybe most of my present family before fossil is replaced unless our GOVERNMENT.... pays for it all... Hmmmmm we are actually moving that way with no thought of where the money they use ...comes from...damn....did I just feel another hand in my pocket?
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In my opinion, we need to finetune what we have already. Not that many years ago, we had 6 cylinder cars using more fuel than the V-8s and V-10s we have today. I had a "Muscle Car" that was V-8 4 bll and a whole 225 HP with 26 MPG if I didn't jam my foot in the pedal. I now drive a luxury sedan with a V-6 that gives me 28 or more MPG Highway with 253 HP and comfort for 4 or 5 adults.... and this car is over 10 years old.... The new ones are even better. Even the 6 cylinder Mustang has 30 MPG with 305 HP. Innovation is great.... but innovate to improve what we have ..... In the long run it is less expensive and not as tricky or traumatic..... Oh my... what about those poor birds hitting the blades LOL and God forbid the cost of repair.
Well.. sort of. The headline reads "Allegheny College in Meadville to run solely on wind power" but it's a yes and a no. Read the article to see carbon credits, cap and trade, etc. This all seems well and good but I wish that they would explain how the actual recipient of the electricity produced remits their portion of the bill. There's a lot of money that will be changing hands during this process nation wide. I haven't seen too many articles that follow the money trail. Usually what we get is the 50,000 foot view of "...A pays for this, B gets what A paid for, B pays C, A gets a reduction in this..." and so on. Somewhere in these sordid trails of trading there is a parasite. Nobody seems to be willing to say who it is.
While I applaud many institutions and companies for taking this stance, I wonder if they would all be so eager if they really knew how this played out.
