Looking forward to paying more for the energy I use

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/24/AR2009062403648.html?hpid=topnews


Thank you, Washington Douchebags, for pushing your liberal, over-regulatory agendas. I'm looking forward to paying more at the pump, on the meter, and in the grocery store. Furthermore, I'm not surprised that "nearly two-thirds of those younger than 30 support cap and trade" -- after all, a vast number of my peers are (frankly) ignorant.

I mean, this is the same crowd that helped sweep Obama into the White House.

Yup, nothing makes me feel more warm and fuzzy than the thought of my utility company passing costs on to me. I'll tell ya -- I'm really looking forward to the cost of meat and produce going up because farms need to make up what they have to pay out to satisfy what some asshole legislator deems is a reasonable emissions goal.

You know what the worst part of this is? It's just one more weight they're tying around the ankle of our country in its pursuit of 21st century competitiveness. WHY DO YOU PEOPLE KEEP THESE PIGS FEEDING AT THE TROUGH ELECTION AFTER ELECTION!? Holy crap -- it's a simple flick of the wrist and you've cast a vote towards doing away with these career numbskulls. And you wonder why we're facing a crisis in healthcare and a shortage in credit and a deficit that will be staring our children's children in the face...

Before this turns into a stress release topic, I'm going to reign it back in -- we need to stop letting these people run away with policy like this. Cap and trade WILL end up costing the consumer more, and even if it is "only" an extra $120 or so a year per person on average, that's an extra $120 I won't have to invest in our financial markets. Now extrapolate that out to even a mere 1000 people. This starts to add up to real money real quickly. Nope, instead my $120 will go to the utility company, so they can pay back to the government, which will in turn take that money and invest it in... socialized medicine? Propping up their new Government Motors venture? I understand Jesus Christ has big plans to tackle immigration policy within his first year in office -- maybe it will be spent there? (Hopefully on some committee to research the possibility of setting up a committee to look into the situation. This administration seems to love committees.)

Ugh.

What the hell has happened since I've been gone!?!?

I seem to remember a tenguzero that, to me, leaned left and came across as liberal. The past few post have sounded so correct and....right (pun intended). Have I entered the Twilight Zone here or something?

Okay, this IS worthy of a stress release rant. Forgive me, and do not take offense, but here goes!! :)

Last time I looked, Americans consumed more energy per capita that anyone else (except maybe us Canadians, but were freezing up here!)

Yet, energy consumption emissions affect the whole planet. Why should other countries, who use less energy, have to live with the fall-out (literally and figuratively) of the American (and Canadian) lifestyle?

Current energy use is simply not at a sustainable rate. The solution, for the sake of the next generations is two-fold: Conserve now, and develop alternative energy and renewable energy programs. And guess what..... higher prices are essential for both to work. Higher prices encourage conservation, and also make alternative energy more viable.

Does this seem unfair? Not really in the long run. I do not want my kids and grandkids (nor yours) to freeze in the dark. For the betterment of mankind, pay a bit more now, for their benefit in the future.

Frankly, a managed program of moderately higher prices, moderate conservation and greater investment in renewable energy programs is the best way. If this is not done, you can have cheap energy now, but when it runs out or the Arabs turn off the taps again, it will get really expensive really fast!!!

The key here is intelligent management....... and here, I do agree with you. Partisan politics, pork barreling and lobbying by special interest groups are not in the best interest of the general public. The issue here is not IF this should be done, but HOW.

Finally, what the heck does socialized medicine have to do with this? The current state of US medicine is a disaster....... the US spends nearly double the money on health care (as a percentage of GDP, according to the latest Economist magazine article I read,) yet has a lower life expectancy than many other developed nations with socialized medicine.

Medical special-interest groups (insurance companies, drug companies) rake in billions in profits, on the backs of hard-working Americans...... and what do they do with this money?..... lobby Conservative politicians to keep privatized medicine....... and what do the politicians tell the public..... lie to them and tell them the US system is better than anything else!!!

Try telling the 57 million Americans without health insurance that the current system is better!

What the hell has happened since I've been gone!?!?

I seem to remember a tenguzero that, to me, leaned left and came across as liberal. The past few post have sounded so correct and....right (pun intended). Have I entered the Twilight Zone here or something?

HA! Well, a few things have changed that affect my life -- (home ownership and this country's election of a loser being two big ones.)



MagicRat: I agree -- current energy usage rates certainly aren't sustainable -- especially with China ramping up the way they are. We do need to find alternative energy options, whether they be coal scrubbers or biofuels or (what we should have been using all along) nuclear power. However, I don't feel that we should be somehow compensating others for our energy usage habits. Our president does enough apologizing for everything else (you would think the U.S. is somehow this giant boogeyman by the way too many people would have it portrayed.)

Higher prices though are not the answer though. One entity bumps up it's prices to satisfy government regulation, and everyone ends up having to pay more, so there's less capital left for R&D expenditures, investment, etc. (the exact components required to foster increased alternative energy work.) Everyone ends up suffering. The crappiest part is, this whole boondoggle is being managed by probably the most wasteful and incompetent entity around -- the feds. And the socialized medicine thing is a topic for a different post, but I mentioned it just as another black hole that would eat up tax dollars if put into place. Don't forget -- the U.S. has 9x the population of Canada. Plus I like not having to wait boatloads of time for simple health procedures because the government's got their inept paws dug into that system (in addition to the untold numbers of people ahead of me in line who feel newly empowered by their government provided healthcare, so now they're going to treat healthcare like they do the other social systems already in place, and milk it for all they can.) I don't need any more of my tax dollars buying them the Rascal they're going to use to roll themselves out to the mailbox for that magic check I'm already providing. :eek7:

Cap and trade will cost anyone who works at an oil refinery in the US much more, it will cost them their job. You don't need the permits if you import gasoline instead.