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from the stick-it-where-the-sun-don't-shine dept.
CleanTechnica has written a series of articles about the deceptive wording on Florida's Amendment 1, which is meant to slow the Sunshine State's rooftop solar growth and even penalize it — despite language that initially makes it look like a pro-solar amendment. A new press release from the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) reveals that Florida voters are waking up to the deception, but that the big utilities are playing hardball now to keep it up, pumping millions of dollars more into misleading ads before election day.
Fortunately, all of the press (and Elon Musk tweeting) about Amendment 1 have made many voters aware that it is a proposal to benefit utility monopolies like Florida Power & Light, not the people of Florida. But Florida's utilities aren't willing to give up. In fact, they are showing how valuable they consider this anti-solar legislation to be, pouring $3.5 million more into misleading advertisements in the closing days before all ballots are cast. SEIA writes:
"Polls conducted this past week indicate a sharp momentum shift on the anti-solar Amendment 1 ballot initiative in Florida. As public backlash mounts, the electric utility interests funding the deceptively worded amendment have doubled down, reportedly spending another $3.5 million to continue to deceive Floridians."
Lying at such low elevation, Floridians should have particular interest in not contributing to the higher global mean temperatures that drive higher sea levels.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by isostatic on Tuesday November 08 2016, @02:17PM
I don't get this love of direct democracy. Wading through dozens of potential votes, to fully understand the issues, and make an informed choice, is a major workload. That's why I elect politicians to do this for me, and hold them to account when it comes to electing (or not) them again.
By devolving the decision to the uninformed masses is not going to get an informed decision. The only benefit is if your political system is so corrupt that your representatives are easier to coerce than the general population, but the solution there is to fix your political system, as those are where the far-reaching policies are decided.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by art guerrilla on Tuesday November 08 2016, @03:02PM
well, you are wrong on a number of levels, but lets just unwrap a few...
BECAUSE OF corrupted pols, we (meaning we the people, not we the korporatocracy) have -for all practical purposes- been locked out of 'normal' means of ballot initiatives to enact laws we the people want, but since they are actually to OUR benefit, 'our' representatives have zero interest in going to bat for them...
sooooo, that basically leaves us lowly citizens of la florida only one practical option: constitutional amendments...
not the best mechanism for a number of reasons, but about the only means we citizens have of doing an end run around 'our' reps...
(which is the nub of the problrm: politicians DO NOT represent the interests of the poor 99%, but the interests of the monied classes whose 'free speech' is infinitely louder than the 99%...)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 08 2016, @05:56PM
Mob rule is less appealing than voting out the politicians in the first place. The 99% have the true voting power, but 75% of that 99% can't be bothered to actually cast a ballot one way or the other. Politicians focus on the people who vote. It doesn't make sense to do otherwise?
Being a citizen, a good true citizen, is not easy work. It isn't terribly hard work, but it does involve some level of effort. The sad fact is that the majority of voting-eligible people don't want to put in the effort. Take the 18-30 yo demographic; they are the most opinionated, as young people are with a very black-and-white view of the world, and outspoken, but they can't be bothered to actually go out and cast their ballot! It is far easier to not vote and whine about it than it is to actually go out and do vote. And all that nihilistic bullshit about how my vote doesn't matter is all bullshit; it really does matter, but only if you actually do vote. Even if you don't like who your representative is, if he's worried that you can tip the scales to knock him out of office, he'll listen to you.
This isn't just a US thing. Around the world, the only people who vote in large numbers percentage-wise are those from very small countries, or those who only recently were given (or restored) the privilege to vote. For the rest of the world, you can count on the minority deciding for the majority.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Tuesday November 08 2016, @08:01PM
That isn't something new: http://www.electproject.org/home/voter-turnout/demographics [electproject.org]
Nearly the same turnout for 18-30 year-olds since the 1970's.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by kanweg on Tuesday November 08 2016, @06:03PM
That you have bad representation is also caused by making irrelevant factors significant in elections. Yes, i mean religion/creationism. A politician won't get voted for unless he's too stupid to understand evolution or if he's smart enough willing to lie to get the job. If you want better representation, fix the problem at the root and educate your fellow countrymen.
Bert