Comments on: Status Quo Energy Policy is Failing Low-Income Americans

By: Earl Killian

Earl Killian — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:34:34 +0000

The time to have taken action to bring down fuel prices was the early 1990s, when we should have raised CAFE standards. Now the only thing we can do is hand out cash to make up for lousy vehicle efficiency; cash that partially negates further efficiency.

Any real declining cap will cause most existing power plants to close down and go bankrupt (that is the point, after all). The investors are not going to just roll over; they are going to fight this. The idea of cap-grandfather-trade is that they at least get revenue from selling their allowances to partially make up from their lack of revenue from their shuttered power plant. In that sense cap-grandfather-trade is much more politically likely than cap-auction-rebate; it is a bone to throw to the investors. We’ve already shown that we will bail out investors whenever there is big trouble in the US (but not ordinary people). I suspect this issue will be no different. Another approach would be to nationalize the fossil plants so as to be able to shut them down.

$4/gallon? That is so end of May. In California in mid June the price is approaching $5 for premium ($4.93 yesterday). I am glad I have an electric car; fueling an EV is like buying gasoline at $0.75 a gallon.

By: paulm

paulm — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:28:14 +0000

bush tried to ensure cheap american oil ~ he has sold the sole of america.

By: JCH

JCH — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:32:13 +0000

The time was the 1970s. The country was led out of the post-Carter era by a bunch of spoiled-rotten people. Milton Friedman should be in a jail cell. I was in business school at the time and was forced to go listen to that ignoramus spoon feed a fairy tale to an entire generation. The energy situation at the time was sufficiently understood; including GHGs. Dealing with it required a national energy policy: big government. Oh the horror of it.

The idiots in the nation rejected it. Now we are spread out and linked by useless strips of concrete: fabulous ribbons of freeways and platforms for what is son to be a gigantic fleet of parked airplanes. No trains; no densely built cities; nothing.

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:14:45 +0000

I just can’t get my head round this problem with $4/gallan gas. Yesterday I paid 118.9 pence a litre at my local (UK) filling station. It now costs me around £80 (about $160) to fill up one of our two Toyota Previa 2.4 litre petrol engined cars (UK).

The world didn’t end. I havn’t gone bankrupt. Its just a bit more expensive than usual, that’s all.

The real problem is that crude has been doubling in price every 18 months for the last 10 years. This will continue until the global market has reached some sort of equilibrium. Consuming countries that have not learned to value oil will be the big losers and will be placed on a crash diet, headed I think by the US.

By: David B. Benson

David B. Benson — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 18:37:42 +0000

Robert — Might reach an equilibrium in Pounds or Euros. Won’t in US dollars. Dollar will just go on losing value and losing value.

By: David B. Benson

David B. Benson — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:26:24 +0000

We’re saved. Halaluha, saved!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ tol/ news/ environment/ article4133668.ece

Bugs to the rescue.

By: Peter Wood

Peter Wood — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:51:05 +0000

The Australian Government has introduced an independent review on climate policy by Professor Ross Garnaut, who has advocated most of the permits being auctioned, with a significant portion of the money being raised returned to low and middle income households. This could lead to a net transfer of money from greenhouse intensive industries to households. There could be a significant political impact from this, with households having a financial interest in stronger mitigation policies.