All Solar, Et Al, In 12 Years?

[Randolph Kinney]

Unless socialism has other means of generating prosperity, standards of living must fall. Looking at our economy today compared with 15 years ago, we are on that downward slope to maximum income disparity and lower standards of living for the many.

Taxing energy in all forms at the highest rates can accomplish many more government services given away (free) that are all equally crappy that adds no value to the quality of life.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Expanding the search for oil is necessary to pay for the damage caused by climate change, the Governor of Alaska has told the BBC.

The state is suffering significant climate impacts from rising seas forcing the relocation of remote villages.

Governor Bill Walker says that coping with these changes is hugely expensive.

He wants to "urgently" drill in the protected lands of the Arctic National Wilderness Refuge to fund them.

Alaska has been severely hit by the dramatic drop in the price of oil over the past two years.

The state is the only one in the US that doesn't have an income or sales tax, getting 90% of its day-to-day expenditure from levies on the production of oil and gas.

But the halving in the price of crude over the past year has seen Alaska's financial health deteriorate.

The recent decision by Shell to pull out of drilling in the Chukchi sea off the state's north coast has compounded the problem.

Built to carry 2 million barrels a day, the pipeline is running at about 25% of its capacity as existing oil field production declines.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34501867

The humor of this article is 100 years ago, those that lived on the coastline would move by themselves without expecting any help from the government. Today, government has to justify its existence by increased spending on whatever programs no matter how silly or needed. Alaska's government fails when no more oil can be pumped; there is no amount of revenue that can be taxed to replace oil tax revenue. All those spending programs will disappear and people will have to fend for themselves just like in the old days.

 

[Pittsburgh Pete]

Expanding the search for oil is necessary to pay for the damage caused by climate change, the Governor of Alaska has told the BBC.

The state is suffering significant climate impacts from rising seas forcing the relocation of remote villages.

Governor Bill Walker says that coping with these changes is hugely expensive.

He wants to "urgently" drill in the protected lands of the Arctic National Wilderness Refuge to fund them.

Alaska has been severely hit by the dramatic drop in the price of oil over the past two years.

The state is the only one in the US that doesn't have an income or sales tax, getting 90% of its day-to-day expenditure from levies on the production of oil and gas.

But the halving in the price of crude over the past year has seen Alaska's financial health deteriorate.

The recent decision by Shell to pull out of drilling in the Chukchi sea off the state's north coast has compounded the problem.

Built to carry 2 million barrels a day, the pipeline is running at about 25% of its capacity as existing oil field production declines.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34501867

The humor of this article is 100 years ago, those that lived on the coastline would move by themselves without expecting any help from the government. Today, government has to justify its existence by increased spending on whatever programs no matter how silly or needed. Alaska's government fails when no more oil can be pumped; there is no amount of revenue that can be taxed to replace oil tax revenue. All those spending programs will disappear and people will have to fend for themselves just like in the old days.

this from a man who every time he turns on his tap and gets a glass of water is beholden to the government for facilitating that process! Too funny.

(Only 20% of your water source is local---plan on ranting against that government intervention that keeps you hydrated?)

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

the basis of his belief

a sort of John Hagee at a Bolivian Catholic mass, eh?

 

[Randolph Kinney]

this from a man who every time he turns on his tap and gets a glass of water is beholden to the government for facilitating that process! Too funny.

Yeah, even the Romans had municipal baths and running water. That is how the population grew to more than 1,000,000. The problem was agriculture could not keep up. More and more freebies were given to the citizens like entertainment. Rome got its labor and its food supply by tribute (taxes) on foreign conquests.

Too bad you don't know your history. Rome failed just like Detroit failed.

Detroit set to issue water shutoff warnings to 25,000 residents

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/5/11/detroit-water.html

 

[Pittsburgh Pete]

Yeah, even the Romans had municipal baths and running water. That is how the population grew to more than 1,000,000. The problem was agriculture could not keep up. More and more freebies were given to the citizens like entertainment. Rome got its labor and its food supply by tribute (taxes) on foreign conquests.

Too bad you don't know your history. Rome failed just like Detroit failed.

Detroit set to issue water shutoff warnings to 25,000 residents

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/5/11/detroit-water.html

Absolutely no nexus between these two pieces of info. Bottom line is you rail against the government while your very existence in arid SoCal is traceable to government intervention. Hypocritical? Definitely?

 

[Randolph Kinney]

this from a man who every time he turns on his tap and gets a glass of water is beholden to the government for facilitating that process! Too funny.

(Only 20% of your water source is local---plan on ranting against that government intervention that keeps you hydrated?)

Gee, what happens when government becomes too expensive? First, businesses leave. Second, the workforce leaves. Third, even people who receive government assistance are leaving because the government can no longer deliver the promised services.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Census estimate shows Pittsburgh population decreasing

The city of Pittsburgh lost 1,314 people in 2014 from the year before, a downturn after three straight years of small increases since the 2010 head count, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The city’s population stood at 305,412 last July 1, say the estimates being released publicly today for municipalities across America. That is lower than both the estimate for 2013 and the official decennial count of 305,704 in April 2010. It is also less than half the size of the city at its peak in 1950.

The most recent drop is not surprising, as data released earlier this year for Allegheny County showed an estimated loss of 1,698 people. Pittsburgh is by far the county’s largest municipality, and it would be atypical for it to gain while the county loses.

“You knew the city’s numbers would go down,” said Tim McNulty, a spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto. “This is something that’s been going on for decades now.”

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/c...estimates-for-Pittsburgh/stories/201505210043

With the cost of energy rising and regulations on coal, steel and other types of industry, no surprise that Pete's city is going to look like Detroit.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Who needs water?

Imperial County’s Renewable Power Explosion, in One Map

Imperial County’s become a major power player in San Diego.

Nearly half of the renewable power San Diego Gas & Electric sells its customers comes from massive solar and wind projects in Imperial County.

In the last five years, developers have blanketed more than 9,000 acres of county land with solar panels and installed wind turbines on a more than 12,000-acre site in the desert.

SDG&E says those projects have helped it meet a state mandate to get 33 percent of its power from renewable sources about five years ahead of schedule. (The bar’s now been raised to 50 percent by 2030, a figure that still doesn’t include power produced by rooftop solar panels.)

The increased reliance on Imperial County has long been part of SDG&E’s game plan.

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topi...3720657&goal=0_c2357fd0a3-4d150b67dc-83720657

With the price of water going up (with water rationing too) along with the price of energy (solar and wind is more expensive), agriculture as a highest and best use of land goes away.

Those businesses that use lots of water or lots of energy will go away followed by those jobs.

Central planning has its limitations and drawbacks. Providing water is just one of them.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Linguistic analysis of IPCC summaries for policymakers and associated coverage

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Summary for Policymakers (SPM) is the most widely read section of IPCC reports and the main springboard for the communication of its assessment reports. Previous studies have shown that communicating IPCC findings to a variety of scientific and non-scientific audiences presents significant challenges to both the IPCC and the mass media. Here, we employ widely established sentiment analysis tools and readability metrics to explore the extent to which information published by the IPCC differs from the presentation of respective findings in the popular and scientific media between 1990 and 2014. IPCC SPMs clearly stand out in terms of low readability, which has remained relatively constant despite the IPCC’s efforts to consolidate and readjust its communications policy. In contrast, scientific and quality newspaper coverage has become increasingly readable and emotive. Our findings reveal easy gains that could be achieved in making SPMs more accessible for non-scientific audiences.

http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate2824.html

non-scientific audiences - that would be Pete.