The NYT writes in an editorial that for the last few months, the Koch brothers and their conservative allies in state government have been spending heavily to fight incentives for renewable energy by pushing legislatures to impose a surtax on this increasingly popular practice, hoping to make installing solar panels on houses less attractive.
The coal producers' motivation is clear: They see solar and wind energy as a long-term threat to their businesses. That might seem distant at the moment, when nearly 40 percent of the nation's electricity is still generated by coal, and when less than 1 percent of power customers have solar arrays. But given new regulations on power-plant emissions of mercury and other pollutants, and the urgent need to reduce global warming emissions, the future clearly lies with renewable energy.
For example, the Arizona Public Service Company, the state's largest utility, funneled large sums through a Koch operative to a nonprofit group that ran an ad claiming net metering would hurt older people on fixed incomes by raising electric rates. The ad tried to link the requirement to President Obama. Another Koch ad likens the renewable-energy requirement to health care reform, the ultimate insult in that world. "Like Obamacare, it's another government mandate we can't afford," the narrator says. "That line might appeal to Tea Partiers, but it's deliberately misleading," concludes the editorial. "This campaign is really about the profits of Koch Carbon and the utilities, which to its organizers is much more important than clean air and the consequences of climate change."
(Score: 2) by Geezer on Tuesday April 29 2014, @01:44PM
Sure, making a couple of bucks off of surplus generation is nice, but given the hassle the capitalists are trying to make it, it's quite satisfying to just tell Duke, ConEd, whomever to just "Come get your damned meter." and tell the state/county tax man to go piss up a rope.
Last year I helped a friend put the finishing touches on a totally off-grid cabin (solar power, wood heat, rain water) and she threw a fine party the day Duke Energy came to disconnect her.
My retirement home in the same intentional community will be completely off-grid by design. And the kicker? The 900 acres of the community was basically free...a reclaimed and restored coal strip mine!
(Score: 1) by Hawkwind on Tuesday April 29 2014, @05:11PM
Too cool, can you point to any stories/information about this community?
(Score: 2) by Geezer on Wednesday April 30 2014, @09:49AM
The place is called Wisteria, located in Meigs County, Ohio. Their public web site http://www.wisteria.org/ [wisteria.org] is mostly about the camping and festival events they host to help cover taxes and pay for the ongoing restoration of the land.
It's a remarkable place...3 generations working together for over 20 years to build and sustain a collective dream.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 29 2014, @07:08PM
"The 900 acres of the community was basically free...a reclaimed and restored coal strip mine!"
Which basically means no water, as in no safe ground water.