Octopus Overlords

EVs have become yet another battleground in America’s ubiquitous culture wars, targeted by many Republicans as eco-elitist Obamamobiles. Even before Trump took aim at the tax credit, GOP Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming had introduced a bill that would not only kill it but also would slap new federal fees on EV owners. At the same time, Democratic Rep. Peter Welch of Vermont has filed a pro-EV bill that would remove the 200,000-car threshold and extend the credit for 10 years. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he’ll demand that any bipartisan infrastructure bill include permanent tax credits for EVs, while climate-conscious Democrats like incoming Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are pushing a “Green New Deal” that would bolster government support for EVs.
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Now that electric vehicles are on the verge of going mainstream in the U.S., federal policy could become the primary obstacle to their spread. The Obama administration made a concerted effort to promote all kinds of alternatives to fossil fuels, from solar panels to advanced biofuels to LED lighting, and its 2009 economic stimulus bill included more than $2 billion to charge up a battery industry for electric vehicles in the U.S. By contrast, the Trump administration has aggressively promoted fossil fuels by opening new areas to mining and drilling, relaxing restrictions on air and water pollution, even floating a plan to bail out uneconomical plants.

Trump’s most consequential initiative for the electric-vehicle market could be his effort to reverse Obama’s stricter fuel-efficiency standards, which could dramatically reduce the pressure on automakers to replace gas-guzzlers with cleaner models. “That could be devastating,” says Mary Lunetta, a San Diego-based activist who leads an electric vehicle initiative for the Sierra Club. “The science shows we need to reduce emissions so quickly, and to do that we need to electrify transportation. It’s crazy that we’re even talking about going backwards.”

Jaymann wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 9:23 pm Trump is anti electric cars? He may as well show up at a Christian rally and demand equal time for Satan. (His deplorables wouldn't care).

Kraken wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 11:25 pm Actually, he's anti-GM, and GM is committing to EVs. If he has to kill electric cars to kill GM, so be it. (Fortunately for EVs and GM, he needs Congress to end the tax credits, and Congress is starting to regenerate its spine.)

“What the U.S. needs to do is participate in a long-term conversation about how you get to innovation, and it's going to need to be a conversation again that doesn’t start with alarmism,” he said. “But that starts with some discussion of the magnitude of the challenge, the global elements to it and how the U.S. shouldn't just do this as a feel-good measure but some sort of innovative proposal.”

“The nation is leading the way not because of punishing regulations, restrictive laws or carbon taxes but because of innovation and advanced technology, especially in the energy sector,” he wrote. “Making energy as clean as we can, as fast as we can, without raising costs to consumers will be accomplished through investment, invention and innovation.”

LordMortis wrote: Wed Jan 02, 2019 5:27 pmWent back and

“What the U.S. needs to do is participate in a long-term conversation about how you get to innovation, and it's going to need to be a conversation again that doesn’t start with alarmism,” he said. “But that starts with some discussion of the magnitude of the challenge, the global elements to it and how the U.S. shouldn't just do this as a feel-good measure but some sort of innovative proposal.”

“The nation is leading the way not because of punishing regulations, restrictive laws or carbon taxes but because of innovation and advanced technology, especially in the energy sector,” he wrote. “Making energy as clean as we can, as fast as we can, without raising costs to consumers will be accomplished through investment, invention and innovation.”

1) The nation is not leading the way. The nation has been actively sabotaging the way while we are the biggest consumers and polluters per capita.
2) So now, as industry has basically moved on without you and those who back you, you want start a long conversation. The exact conversation you've been refusing to participate in for the last 40 years?

Welcome to the party. Join the conversation. Don't expect to lead it as a condition of sitting at the table.

malchior wrote: Wed Jan 02, 2019 7:44 pm

LordMortis wrote: Wed Jan 02, 2019 5:27 pmWent back and

“What the U.S. needs to do is participate in a long-term conversation about how you get to innovation, and it's going to need to be a conversation again that doesn’t start with alarmism,” he said. “But that starts with some discussion of the magnitude of the challenge, the global elements to it and how the U.S. shouldn't just do this as a feel-good measure but some sort of innovative proposal.”

“The nation is leading the way not because of punishing regulations, restrictive laws or carbon taxes but because of innovation and advanced technology, especially in the energy sector,” he wrote. “Making energy as clean as we can, as fast as we can, without raising costs to consumers will be accomplished through investment, invention and innovation.”

1) The nation is not leading the way. The nation has been actively sabotaging the way while we are the biggest consumers and polluters per capita.
2) So now, as industry has basically moved on without you and those who back you, you want start a long conversation. The exact conversation you've been refusing to participate in for the last 40 years?

Welcome to the party. Join the conversation. Don't expect to lead it as a condition of sitting at the table.

Except this isn't them joining - it is just a different way for them to delay progress for their sponsors. Notice they are talking about natural gas, etc. They talk about punishing regulations which is code for avoiding strategies that have worked in other countries such as feed-in tariffs. This a cynical stall tactic again because they know they're losing on denial in the face of overwhelming evidence.

Holman wrote: Wed Jan 02, 2019 8:23 pmbearable living conditions

“The big takeaway for me is that we haven’t yet successfully decoupled US emissions growth from economic growth,” said Trevor Houser, a climate and energy analyst at Rhodium Group.

As US manufacturing boomed, for instance, emissions from the nation’s industrial sectors — including steel, cement, chemicals, and refineries — increased 5.7 percent.

Policy makers working on climate change at the federal and state levels have so far largely shied away from regulating heavy industry, which directly contributes about one-sixth of the country’s carbon emissions. Instead, they’ve focused on decarbonizing the electricity sector through actions like promoting wind and solar power.

But even as power generation has gotten cleaner, those overlooked industrial plants and factories have become a larger source of climate pollution. Rhodium Group estimates the industrial sector is on track to become the second-biggest source of emissions in California by 2020, behind only transportation, and the biggest source in Texas by 2022.

“2018 is going to be the warmest year on record for the Earth’s oceans,” said Zeke Hausfather, an energy systems analyst at the independent climate research group Berkeley Earth and an author of the study. “As 2017 was the warmest year, and 2016 was the warmest year.”

Jaymann wrote: Fri Jan 11, 2019 5:45 pm Any guesses as to the 4 warmest years in recorded history?

1. 2017
2. 2016
3. 2015
4. 2018

I'm sure the climate deniers will say, "See, it's getting cooler!"

pr0ner wrote:Wherein President Trump thinks we need global warming, all because it's windy and very cold in a lot of the US today.

https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTr ... 9725160448

Holman wrote: Sun Jan 20, 2019 7:07 pm Love how he takes a "Stay Safe, Americans!" public-service announcement and makes it a dick move.

Jaymann wrote: Sun Jan 20, 2019 7:13 pm According to The Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast, the GOP is the the only political party in the world that has a platform of denial of climate change. Sad.

GreenGoo wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 4:08 pm I'm starting to think AOC needs her own thread. She just schooled Huckabee-Sanders re: God's opinion on climate change.

Remus West wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 10:39 pm

GreenGoo wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 4:08 pm I'm starting to think AOC needs her own thread. She just schooled Huckabee-Sanders re: God's opinion on climate change.

Do share.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y) on Wednesday responded to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders telling her to leave climate change up to a “much higher authority” by invoking the Bible.

While not quoting specific verses, the freshman lawmaker invoked scripture in defense of her impassioned pleas to address climate change.

“Genesis 1: God looked on the world & called it good not once, not twice, but seven times,” she tweeted. “Genesis 2: God commands all people to 'serve and protect' creation.”

"Leviticus: God mandates that not only the people, but the land that sustains them, shall be respected," she added.

“Ocasio-Cortez compares her election to moon landing. Huh? Big difference. Moon landing was LUNAR, not LOONEY; Moon landing done by ppl who knew what they were doing...those who elected someone who thought there were 3 branches of Congress did NOT,” he tweeted, linking to a Daily Mail article reporting the speech in which she drew the comparison.

Ocasio-Cortez doubled down on the comparison, however, this time with reference to her Green New Deal.

“A Green New Deal will take a level of ambition + innovation on the scale of the moon landing. We’ve been done it before, and can do it again,” she wrote.

She also aimed a barb at Huckabee’s daughter, White House Press Secretary Huckabee Sanders—and questioned why he still uses the title 'Governor' on his Twitter profile.

“Leave the false statements to Sarah Huckabee. She’s much better at it.”

“Also, you haven’t been a Governor of any state for 10+ years now.”

DJT, in case of deletion wrote:In the beautiful Midwest, windchill temperatures are reaching minus 60 degrees, the coldest ever recorded. In coming days, expected to get even colder. People can’t last outside even for minutes. What the hell is going on with Global Waming? Please come back fast, we need you!

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 1:29 pm Of course Trump doesn't have the capacity (or desire) to understand how these things work, but increased ice-melting in the Arctic causes a weakening of the jet stream that normally keeps this cold winds up north. So more global warming = more of these extreme winter events in the US.

Kraken wrote: Tue Jan 29, 2019 2:05 pm I'm sure someone just needs to explain this to Trump.