In CT, utilities are spending almost a billion on about 700Mw of new power and transmission upgrades in order to shave the peak. This was funded by Federally Mandated Congestion Charges, gathered from electricity ratepayers bills to the tune of @ $13 per $100. We just said No to a floating natural gas terminal in Long Island Sound. The four new plants will burn natural gas that is steadily rising in price. Someone’s not connecting the dots.

Meanwhile, for 1.3 million, the CT Clean Energy Fund brought 300 Kw of photovoltaics online (gathered from ratepayers at @ 60 cents per $100). Give the Fund the same resources and we get about 225 Mw worth of PV. Great for peak shaving, and works year round also.

A study on CT energy efficiency indicated that there are 900 Mw to be saved.

I vote for efficiency, the PV, and a whole lot of educational outreach for the pro drilling crowd.

With all due respect, that doesn’t avoid the fact that it won’t do any of the positive things its proponents are claiming. And it’ll cost a boatload of money to boot.

Rant if you must about drill now, drill here. The reality is it is favored by a majority of the people and the Congress. Energy independence is a critical step to energy transition.

“McCain has a plan that will replace fossil fuel.”

And he’s doing that by drilling for more?

‘Cap and Trade”

McCain has said cap and trade isn’t mandatory; and his plan has so many loopholes it would not result in any real cuts until 2020. Moreover, a cap and trade program that doesn’t have supporting policies — such as RPSs; tax credits; forward capacity auctions etc … would need to reach more than $400 per ton to have any effect on fossil fuel consumption. Talk about an economy wrecker.

Then you say Joe can’t muster enthusiasm for Obama’s plan, when the opposite is true.

Each of these issues has been painstakingly documented by Joe and others on this site, in excruciating detail, with highly credible references.

In contrast, you come on this site and just make stuff up based — apparently — on a knee-jerk and totally blind obeisance to the Republican party’s latest position. A position that puts oil companies’ profits above the interests of America and the Earth.

Not funny. What’s next: Sarah Palin is a greenie and a great statesman?

McCain good on energy and climate? Whew. That’s as big a whopper as I’ve seen in public in a long, long, time.

Look, McCain voted against tax credits for renewables; he abstained in a vote on a Climate Bill WHERE HE WOULD HAVE BEEN THE DECIDING VOTE.

His “Drill here, Drill now” mantra is bought and paid for by the oil companies — who have literally thrown money at McCain once he was against what he used to be for before he was against it.

As even the Bush EIA points out, drilling’s not a solution; it’s a distraction.

McCain has backtracked so far and fast from his own global warming bill that he could have entered and won the Olympic 100 meter race.

Reality. It can suck, especially for a Republican right now. But geez, Paul, saying up is down and white is black won’t make it so, no matter how hard you click your heels.

You Party is wrong on energy; wrong on global warming; wrong on the economics of green energy; and firmly in the pocket of big oil.

Sorry, but them’s the facts.

By the way, we call our planet Zorkar where people would rather reach a goal than win an argument.

Paul, perhaps you forgot to read Joe’s article, in which he described Obama’s plan as “easily the best energy plan ever put forward by a nominee of either party”:

http://climateprogress.org/ 2008/ 08/ 04/ barack-obama-new-energy-plan-for-america-efficiency-now-10-renewables-by-2012-1-million-plugs-in-by-2015/

These installs were picking up speed… until it became clear that the Credit was in trouble. I can point to two prospects that had the green light up to June of this year. And then forward progress simply stopped.

Big Mistake. On jobs alone, the number of CT solar installers (and their work force) has almost tripled in less than three years.

While some may argue that renewable standards, regulatory incentives, and market forces are sufficient, McCain’s website details a cap/trade plan. If a true market system can be developed, I think both Repubs and Dems will support it.

McCain has a plan that will replace fossil fuel. He is doing it for reasons of national security and economic survival. He is supported in this by a large majority of Republicans. McCain also cites climate change as a reason. Many, but not all, Republicans are AGW skeptics, but that does not mean they are not committed to an alternative future. Do you think T. Boone Pickens gives a fig about global warming?

Senator Obama’s plan is stunningly weak. Even Joe couldn’t muster much enthusiasm for it.