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from the renewable-energy-will-ruin-the-economy dept.
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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 29 2014, @06:02PM
too bad I canr just stick two wires into my green manicured lawn to power ... but real solar isnt much more difficult. ...sorrry... because I also need a license that allows me to sell electricity. it seems that the right to sell electricity is not a human right.
my house
I live in thailand and the goverment is propaganda on pretty big about going green and stopping global warming. thus I decided to install some solar. having about 40 x 40 meter spare land I would have been able to power a medium sized 100 kva transformer... until I went to the solarpower incentive office where I was informed that by law the solar panels have to reside on a roof. a roof of a house to be exact. not a garage or a shed. also the house to which tbe roof belongs to must already have a regular electriceter installed.
after all this let down I nevertheless decided to spring for a 3 kva. the reason being mostly that that was the only reasonable roof with slope and sunshine duration. anyways the system is installed and ready to go since january and I am holding the power purchase for 25 years in my hand. unfortunatly I cannot connect it to the grid
so in conclusion I th8nk the world wide push for renewables by govermemts is mostly pure propaganda to brain wash the voters. in reality theres tons of corruption and the preferred way to "power the serfs" is one or two generaters that oil/grease the goverments back doors.
propaganda has never been more alive!