|
||||||||||||||
Climate change. It’s a touchy subject, with experts constantly debating whether and how humans are impacting the environment via carbon emissions, energy consumption and more.
But clearly, the Obama administration believes more needs to be done to fight global warming. That’s why the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released landmark, wide-ranging regulations today aimed at the electric power industry. The goal? Encourage much cleaner energy production in the U.S. over the next several years.
Specifically, the new rules are designed to cut carbon dioxide emissions from domestic power plants by 32% by 2030 (from 2005 levels). That’s up from a previous 30% reduction target. The EPA estimates the industry changes required to hit that target will cost $8.4 billion per year. But it also believes they will result in total benefits to things like public health of as much as $54 billion, making it all worth it.
How will we get there? Who wins and who loses? And what do the new regulations mean for investors?
Well, the coal industry is a major loser here. Utilities have already been shuttering coal plants and abandoning the dirtier fuel in droves, and these new regulations will only accelerate the shift. Coal produced just 369 million megawatt hours of power as of the first quarter of this year, down from 496 million ten years ago.
|
|
| Will solar power be a big winner under President Obama’s energy plan? |
As a matter of fact, the coal meltdown claimed its latest victim just today when Alpha Natural Resources filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Virginia-based company operates 60 coal mines in five U.S. states, and it joins several other competitors who have already gone broke. It will likely close or sell off some facilities as it struggles to restructure its $3 billion in debt amid plunging demand and prices for coal used to both generate power and make steel.
Who wins as a result? Companies involved in the natural gas, wind, solar and even nuclear power industries. Nat gas is already generating 291 million megawatt hours of power now, almost double the 148 million a decade ago. Wind produces 45.6 million, compared with 3.7 million, while solar is up to 5 million from hardly anything in 2005.
One firm, Sanford C. Bernstein, estimates that nat gas consumption by the power industry will jump by a further 7.1 billion cubic feet per day, or 32%, over the next few years. Coal consumption will tank 23%.
That said, the benefits for the nat gas industry look a little less generous than they could have been. Incentives for the renewable power industry look more generous than originally expected. So that makes renewable energy companies even bigger relative winners.
The regulations are also sure to face tough legal challenges from the coal industry, certain states, and other interested parties. That means a Supreme Court challenge could ultimately loom, just as it did with Obamacare.
| “Regulations are sure to face tough legal challenges.” |
Bottom line: The power industry won’t change overnight. Rule modifications may loom down the road. But the gradual shift in the U.S. toward energy sources like nat gas, renewable, and nuclear, and away from coal, will likely accelerate as a result of these new regulations.
That means you may want to continue avoiding beaten-down investments like the Market Vectors Coal ETF (KOL), already off 33% year-to-date. Instead, take a look at investments like the Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN) – up around 3.5% YTD – or consider bottom-fishing in the nat gas sector.
Things like the First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas Index Fund (FCG) and First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund (EMLP) have already been hit hard (down 38% and 10% YTD, respectively) amid the broader energy sector struggles. But some of these companies should be able to benefit from increased gas consumption, transportation, and storage in coming years.
Now, it’s your turn to let me know what you think of the Obama administration’s power plan. Do these new regulations make sense to you from a cost-benefit standpoint? Or are they going to hurt too many businesses and drive our electricity costs higher? What investments should benefit the most, and do you own any of them yet? Here’s the link to the Money and Markets website; let me hear from you when you get a chance to speak up.
|
What’s ailing America’s workforce? Why can’t salary-and-wage-earners get bigger raises, even this many years into the purported economic recovery? That’s what you were discussing over the weekend.
Reader Nerdmedic talked about the impact of rising health care costs, and how that is impacting total compensation: “In my experience, while wages are flat, the costs to the employer are not, particularly when healthcare benefits are provided. In the past five years, the increase in the employer-paid portion of the healthcare premiums represented an 8% increase in employee compensation even though take-home pay remained static or, in some cases, dropped.
“When it dropped, it was generally due to an increased pension contribution which I view as deferred compensation. Granted, this is within a local government agency and may not reflect what is going on within the larger private sector economy. But it does illustrate that the total returns on employment are not as bad as suggested.”
Reader Mike said he’s seeing the same thing being captured by the broader statistics — income stagnation. His view: “My wages have been basically stuck in neutral. Lucky if I get 1% for an increase.
And the main reason: They can get the labor cheaper (in terms of hourly rate) overseas.
“A lot of our work is being moved overseas. And being we have to monitor (and usually fix) all of the overseas work, our productivity in the U.S. is going down (in terms of what we produce ourselves). So we look even worse in the reports that management looks at. They think the overseas labor pool is great and the U.S. folks are slacking off. Talking with folks from other companies, it doesn’t sound a whole lot different anywhere else.”
Reader Bill W. added the following observations: “Based on the last few years, I’ve seen and heard from many friends and family that raises have been scarce. Recently, I worked for a company that gave us bonuses that reflected our performance – salaries didn’t change for five years.
“It was difficult managing cash flow when expenses go up, but your salary doesn’t. It’s also frustrating to see EPS going up 8% to 9% a year, but our salaries only go up 1% to 3%. No money for salaries, but plenty for acquisitions. Corporations aren’t engaged to employees like they are to Wall Street.”
Finally, Reader Chuck B. weighed in on the impact of globalization and trade on American salaries and wages. His take: “Years ago, the politicians began screwing around with various laws, regulations and policies that would supposedly ‘improve’ things for American companies and workers. One thing all these changes did was to increase costs for American manufacturers.
“The manufacturers weren’t stupid. They realized if they could no longer compete with foreign companies due to the various restrictions, they could subcontract the work to those foreign companies and import things at a lower cost to resell at a higher profit for their companies.
“America, which was once the ‘maker’ for the world, became the importer of the world. The American workers lost their jobs and had to find work elsewhere, often selling those imported products that took away their jobs, and at a lower wage.”
Thanks for sharing. Proponents of freer trade (and new trade pacts like the TPP currently being debated) point to its positive impacts – new markets for American products, increased economic opportunity overseas, and more. But clearly you’re worried about the economic fallout of increased globalization here at home.
Regardless of the causes of income stagnation, it’s clear the effect will be economic malaise – unless and until we see take home pay increase at a healthier rate. And so far, there’s little evidence of that happening.
Anything else you want to add to the discussion? Then don’t forget to head over to the website when you have a minute.
|
Greece’s stock market opened for trading today … and promptly tanked by more than 20%. Trading had been suspended since June 26 as part of the country’s financial meltdown.
Here in the U.S., the Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF (GREK) remained open for trading throughout the halt – so it had already declined. It’s down 27% year-to-date.
There’s been a ton of focus on the wide-open race for the GOP presidential nomination. But could the Democratic race get more interesting soon? Reports suggest Vice President Joe Biden may throw his hat into the ring and challenge front-runner Hillary Clinton for the nomination, though nothing is certain yet.
It’s wildfire season out west, and 21 major fires are burning throughout California. The Rocky Fire was in the news today, after expanding to more than 47,000 acres yesterday. Thousands of homes are threatened by the fire located roughly 100 miles north of San Francisco.
Investigators in France will soon examine the flaperon aircraft part that washed up on Reunion island in the Indian Ocean recently. The Wednesday testing will determine if it is from Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared a year and a half ago.
So are you intrigued at the idea of someone giving Hillary a run for her money? Do you think we’ll finally get some answers about what happened to Flight 370? Any other stories that caught your eye over the weekend that you wanted to chat about? Then head over to the website and let me hear about it.
Until next time,
Mike Larson
Mike Larson graduated from Boston University with a B.S. degree in Journalism and a B.A. degree in English in 1998, and went to work for Bankrate.com. There, he learned the mortgage and interest rates markets inside and out. Mike then joined Weiss Research in 2001. He is the editor of Safe Money Report. He is often quoted by the Washington Post, Reuters, Dow Jones Newswires, Orlando Sentinel, Palm Beach Post and Sun-Sentinel, and he has appeared on CNN, Bloomberg Television and CNBC.
{ 74 comments }
The new EPA regulations on the use of Coal by utilities only make sense if they are covered by tariffs on imports of goods and services from countries that do not adopt the same regulations. There is no point allowing business to shift production to countries not bound by the same rules.
The President lied to the American public with the savings associated with Obamacare and he is lying again about the health care benefits associated with these strict emission controls. He is just pushing his electric agenda and no one can seem to stop him. He is just going to make everyone pay more for their electricity. Maybe Trump can stop him since no other republican leader seems to take on the leadership role. Hopefully someone takes on Obama on these new rules before the Biden/Obama ticket gets rolling.
Ron S. “before the Biden/Obama ticket gets rolling”? Did he sign an Executive Order that allows him to run for president again? I would not be surprised,all hail King Obama.
Obama is once again trying to fix a climate change issue that many experts do not believe exists. The result will lead to higher utility bills that many ordinary people will not be able to afford to pay. Wind farms and solar energy methods of generating electricity are not able to fill the power gap that coal now very efficiently provides.
It’s not really higher for those getting government support. It’s only higher for those who actually pay for their energy consumption and who cares about them?
“that many experts do not believe exists” …your so called experts are Republican politicians in Congress with a 9% approval rating. Then again only 97% of Scientists DO believe it exists……hmmmmm ….who should we trust !
Just because politicians keep saying “97% of scientists agree” does not make it truth. Google it and try to find out where they get that number. It is all propaganda to get the American people on board with this crazy agenda. The Wall Street Journal did a great article on the fallacy of the 97% number.
Lies, manipulation, fraud are the characteristics we have seen with the current administration. It will not stop as long as the current political leadership exists.
elect Trumpie!!!!!
elect Trumpie!!!!!
The Current political leadership in the House and Senate is REPUBLICAN……It will not stop as long as the current leadership exists !
RATE PAYERS ARE THE BIGGEST LOSERS
Coal is a dirty source of energy, but on balance, it is the most abundant. Every Western State except the Pacific States has large surface reserves of coal. Utah, Wyoming, and Montana have loads of it and its the cheapest source of electricity out there. All the alternatives cost comparatively more per Kilowatt Hour. Wonder why your electricity rates keep going up at double digit rates? They will keep going up too if we keep the same public policy that environmentalists dictate. Most voters don’t see any connection. So, let them pay more of their wages, after taxes, for power ( also going up to pay for debts).
Stupid is as stupid does, as “they” say. Personally, I vote my own interests which is the lowest possible cost for utilities such as electricity and gasoline. Government involvement in markets results in supply shortages ( brown-outs) and/or higher costs. Others may see it differently. That is their right: “You have the right to remain stupid”
Wyoming is dependent upon coal income but it’s a strongly Republican state. I live there.
We all know but “global warming” proponents choose to ignore the fact that Climate has been changing for thousands of years, cooling and warming without benefit of man. Period. Clearly the POTUS is “hell” bent on breaking the USA or is on such an ego trip to leave some kind of legacy besides the worst POTUS in history that he is pushing the UN lead man made climate catastrophe mantra to be the “greenest” POTUS on record. When I do the math, I see the initiatives with Obamacare, Global Warming and Immigration are issues the USA cannot afford as presented and followed. Gun control or Govt control. That is why the 2 nd amendment was inscribed into the constitution. I know the POTUS is allegedly a lawyer but can he be that bad at math? Really?
Its a shame to see and industry that employs so many folks be so vilified, with the abundance of coal that this nation has, you would think that we would at the very least develop a process that allowy’s us to use this abundant natural resource to create the needed electrical power this nation needs, along with the other sources of power.
If we can do this we could then provide dependable safe and affordable energy to the entire nation and at the same time secure the future of so many who depend on the Coal industry for their lively hood.
I donot think that Nuclear Power generation is even an option, we should be working on other resources such as Coal, NG wind and solar to name a few, to replace and rid our selves of the potential disaster that we witnessed in Japan, and we are still feeling the affects from and probably will for a very long time, one of the ” experts” there in Japan made the comment that the technology to deal with the disaster that continues to un fold there does not yet exist, that said why would any thinking nation take the risk of employing something that we cant really control or contain when released.
No we really need to look at those things that we can control and even modify and improve how we extract the energy that is contained in the various other sources of energy.
Japan is coming to their senses and restarting the neuclear power plants they have. The so called disaster that is overstated is of the misguided efforts of the environmental establishment. The disaster in Japan was not the Nuclear power plant it was the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that damaged the facility. if proper waist management had been allowed to be employed there would not be the big problem of dealing with the spent fuel that should never have been stored on site. The rest of the world is going full speed ahead developing their nuclear power and is not listening to the unfounded science and misinformation of the environmental agenda. The technology is available for the proper development, installation and operation of the safest, most efficient and most environmentally friendly power generation we have on earth to date.
Wyoming is largely dependent upon coal for it’s government and for many workers in the coal industry. These are people who actually work for a living.
What difference does a little decrease in the US coal consumption? It’s a drop in the bucket compared to China and the rest of the world. That goes for all carbon emissions, so Obama should be working on them. Dean
So when are we going to put the atom to work generating power? Spend fuel diluting plutonium gets rid of bombs, storage for spent fuel and more fuel for more plants. Build parking meter/charging station infrastructure in the cities. If you don’t build the plants on the cheap they are safe. PG&E’s Canyon Diablo plant has ridden out several earthquakes without even a hiccup and keeps right on kicking out the juice.
Without governmental (taxpayer) and ratepayer subsidies, wind and solar make little sense for the average ratepayer. The enormous costs, the unpredictable supply and the short panel life, make it doubtful anyone but the equipment manufacturers and installers will come out ahead.
Unfortunately, policy makers who have trumped up the global warming meme as reality when climate history shows many spikes and drops in climate measures. It sounds very politically correct and responsible, but it is a colossal waste of public funds to continue propping up such ventures. If they (solar and wind) are just grand ideas, they should be able to self-sustain rather than relying on bureaucratic dicta and money subsidies.
I think this is a farce as CO2 has been in existence for the history of the earth and during our history high levels of CO2 were present during both cold and warm eras as well as low levels of CO2 present during different cold and warm periods. I’m more concerned with a solar minimum that may soon be on its way, the same as the Maunder and Dalton Minimums and severe cold coupled with food shortage. A 206 year cycle and the last period was around 1800’s. Where is this side of the issue in the media? Russian scientist are calling for a “mini ice age”. Someone is definitely wrong. By the way, mankind thrives in a warm environment. I wish mankind had more influence than the sun, but I don’t think so. The year 1816 was termed “the year without a summer”.
While Obama is talking about “Global Warming” why is only the United States taking the brunt of trying to fix this. Did he talk to China, India, Russia, Europe, the African countries he just visited. One easy thing he can do is keep that Airforce One on the ground. Biden: Airforce Two, Hillary what do you say, are you in? Historically there have been climate changes that occurred naturally. Why does the United States have to pay the price. We are all going to pay dearly. I am retired, income stays flat, but expenses keep going up. Now we are going to face a huge increase in utility bills. What about all the people who are going to lose their jobs, companies that have been around forever are folding. Global warming is the major threat to our country? I can think of some other “issues” we are having.
balderdash.
I have never subscribed to the theory that the bubbles in soda pop and what every human being and all breathing species exhale contributes to global warming. Every green plant on the face of the earth needs it to give us oxygen and or food. I believe that smog components such as sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and ozone do contribute to ill health. While we are increasing our energy costs and the cost of every product that is transported, everyone agrees that that the net world wide CO2 reduction will be unmeasurable. Ostensibly, other nations will follow us:to date India and China said in so many words: fagettaboutit and we expect to peak around 2030, respectively.
It is a real crime that the environmentalists destroyed the safest, most efficient power source capable of providing the electrical power needed to meet the ever increasing demand. I worked in the Nuclear power industry in the 60s and 70s and saw the minor incident at Three Mile Island mushroom into the overblown propaganda of misinformation and unfounded science that literally killed the continuing development of Nuclear Power in the United States.
The reality of Three Mile Island is that is debunked the so called “China Syndrome” theory which Jane Fonda and co. espoused during that period. Due to operator error of not heeding the automatic safeguards built into the power control system, wrong valves were manually turned off and on and off again. The liquid coolant around the reactor core was drained causing the core to overheat. This happened more than once during the incident, but guess what! The core did not go into total meltdown and turn into a molten nuclear ball of unstoppable overheating mass burning a hole thru the earth on it’s way to China!
The truth about the radioactivity that leak out of the plant turned out to be minuscule. The reality is that my son used to go rock climbing in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and on a day of rock climbing he would have been exposed to more radioactive emissions from the granite rocks that he would have been if he had been standing outside the building at Three Mile Island.
The whole United States Nuclear industry was pummeled by the ill-informed masses of environmental propagandists and thus started the dismantling of the best chance we had of developing a safe, environmentally friendly and cost effective power source that would have been able to meet and exceed the power requirements for decades to come.
People do not realize how many thousands of acres of solar panels are needed to generate an equal amount of power that one small Nuclear plant would generate. Or, how much damage to the environment is caused by the manufacturing of those panels.
Even worse is the damage to the wildlife that is caused by the massive whirling blades of the wind generators, how many thousands of birds will be killed over the short life span of these monsters of the windswept hills, valleys and seas.
Nuclear Power generators operate 24 hours per day 7 days per week and operate several years before they need to be refueled. They don’t need the sun to shine or the wind to blow, they just keep generating power continuously year after year.
ya.. and all the people that hate us will be more than pleased to blow a few of your safe energy places … then have your son stand next to it. And.. .all those folks in the former Sov Union…. all false reporting eh???
Damage to the environment caused by manufacturing those panels??? any more than manufacturing a car?? your boat?? Your house??? Oh… too specific eh??
but, but, not so fast—–what about energy stocks= oil and gas. they were so fabulous a few months ago. what, what, what happened? all so sad.
es bin ein berliner
You are a jelly donut?
EPA says that Obama’s sending coal to the doghouse will cost industry $8.4 billion a year for 15 years until 2030, or $130 billion. EPA says total benefits (to public health and other esoteric causes) will be $54 billion. American industrial might will have a rough time running on windmills and pond slime for the next 15 years. Does EPA really know what it is doing, or is it just bending to Oberfuehrer Obama’s will?
The renewable energy sector is behaving as if reduction of fossil fuels is already a done deal. That will not happen until there are rational alternatives in the form of hardware in action. There are some exciting possibilities on the horizon, struggling to be born for the public. I have such a technology. While some bemoan the loss of things “overseas”, they should realize that the only entrepreneur to take up my invention was a European. Where were our American entrepreneurs? Cowering in the corner, banking on a “safe” 5%. They will be kicking themselves for passing up this glaring opportunity in the future.
The only chance the Coal Industry has of stopping this president’s executive order’s on climate change, or on anything else for that matter, is by challenging him through legal action. However, now that we have a Supreme Court, that legislates our chances of stopping him are very slim. This Congress has proven its self to be virtually impotent when it comes to opposing this president. Why does Congress just keep on delegating their legislative powers to the Executive Branch, by empowering the EPA, and other Agencies within the Executive Branch? Perhaps they are too lazy to perform the duties the constitution outlines for them to do. Since China and third world countries are bringing more Coal fired plants on line every day it is foolish for the U.S. to try to significantly improve climate conditions through the entire world. Getting rid of coal fired plants will cost jobs, weaken our economy and place a severe burden on low income people including the middle class through higher energy prices. It’s not about climate change its about more power, control and this presidents legacy.
Oxygen and nitrogen make up 99% of our atmosphere; all other gasses make up the other 1%. C02 is just four- tenths of the remaining one percent and should not be feared. It’s a poor greenhouse gas and it is essential for, and absorbed, by green plant life. That includes ocean plankton necessary for the food chain leading to our fish harvest. The earth has built in controls, thermostats, that regulate heat and CO2. More CO2 makes more plant mass and more heat results in more clouds that reflect light back into space and cools the planet. We are all helpless to heat or cool this planet. Get over it.
The sun provides 98 per cent of the heat in our atmosphere. Do you think variations in its radiation might have something to do with global warming and cooling? A Kw hour of electricity generated by coal costs 4 cents, natural gas 8 cents, oil 10 cents, solar 24 cents, wind 30 cents. The coal plants have already reduced their emissions by over 80 per cent since 1990. We also have three hundred years worth. Solar and wind are wonderful things but they are nowhere near being economically feasible on a large scale. The air has never been cleaner where I live. I’m not willing to pay seven fold increases in my electric bill for a benefit that could very well by imaginary. I thought the latest satellite surveys confirmed virtually no global temperature rise in the last twenty years. Damn the computer models, full speed ahead! Jim
It also takes huge amounts of fresh water to keep the solar panels clean. Windmills grind up 50,000 birds a year. The production and use of energy in any manner is going to have unpleasant trade offs. Our only real alternative is to adopt the lifestyle of the Paleo Indians.
Bankrupting the coal companies and making the clean energy companies a fortune isn’t going to do a thing for the “global warming”. It’s a solar cycle, plain and simple, but the culprit down here on earth is the chemtrail spraying carried out by HAARP! If that could be exposed for what it is, we could all start breathing better and avoiding these devastating droughts in the west and floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, snow storms etc. plaguing the mid west and the east coast.
Bob, James and Henry… how sad… how selfish. Just thinking of YOUR almighty income… or, could you consider the generations to come? Doesn’t sound like either of you can see beyond your wallets.
My family invested in solar hot water years ago, and have just built our “downsized” new home… solar totally keeping us cool.. and warm (until the heat pump becomes inefficient and we turn to N Gas).. and we don’t make enough to really reap the benefits of the USED TO BE tax incentives… we just believe it is the right thing to do.. so the next generations can enjoy the benefits of clean air (and hopefully water). We are now full of hope that Mr. Musk will come up with the best batteries that will allow us to store OUR solar energy… so we can completely tell Duke Power farewell. We’re sleeping well at night… hope prevails…
We hope you three will wake up and look to a bright future for your children/gd. children… peace. jtk family
So, many of those coal fired power plants will no doubt convert to natural gas, which produces CO2, but avoids the ash and mercury, at least. Those of us who heat or cook with gas will no doubt be happy to pay the higher rates that will result. Thank you Mr. O.
Nixon issued an Executive order after the 73 oil embargo that mandated using coal as exclusive boiler fuel. The lead time on building power units is quite lengthy: utilities put a lot of effort and planning into projections of capacity need, and building what’s needed. The Eco Gestapo (EPA) would not permit many of the plants built under the coal mandate to be bi-fuel-i.e. also set up to burn gas or fuel oil. The cost to retro fit most of these plants amounts to the cost of building new units from scratch. So, we have one idiot make a mandate for coal, and before those plants have time for full payback have another idiot make the reciprocal mandate. No wonder the empire is falling apart. Am I the only one out here with any knowledge and memory of these events?
This bum president and his cohorts are pushing solar and wind upon the consumers. If either was cost effective, the market would run coal out of business. Government should keep its nose out of private business. It has never operated a successful program.
I read a great article the other day about why our leadership has been so inept. It’s really a failure of the concept of popular democracy. We have placed ourselves in a position where our leaders know very little about science, economics, and military matters. The only thing they know about in great depth is how to win elections.
An excellent example of this is the current Planned Parenthood fiasco. The only reason any one with a heart or brain would support what’s going on there is because they think it might win them an election. Jim
And you win elections by playing to the lowest common denominator, which means being one of those lowest…. Donald Trump is a good example. We haven’t had a decent nominated candidate for president since John McCain.
You’re right…the Republicans have lost the popular vote in 5 of the last 6 Presidential elections…and as the C-Span Clown Show last night proved…..you’ll soon be 6 out of the last 7 !
I think it’s past time to realize that investment in fossil fuels is a fool’s errand with devastating consequences. Stop riding the down-alator and start seriously investing in renewables. Your grandchildren will thank you for a world that hasn’t been completely ruined by exploitation.
They will not be saved. They will be shivering in the dark!
Obama promised to bankrupt coal mines when he was first running for the democratic nomination in 2008. He seems to be keeping that promise or at least giving it the old college try.
Obama also said that a top priority was to lift other countries up to the same level playing field as the U.S. Obama’s is living up to that promise too! These countries that we have trade agreements with don’t have to abide by these regulations! It is no wonder the economy is not doing better.
I think you got it upside down. Obama is transforming the U.S. into a third world nation down to their level playing field.
Stuff up the country “Yes we can”
Addressing this unproven problem of Climate Change caused by man through higher costs is a wonderful idea if you want to bankrupt the country. It fits perfectly with no budget and constantly increasing debt. Why not concentrate on balancing our budget and bringing industry to this country rather than increasing debt and forcing jobs out of this country through killing an industry and increasing debt.
The time to work on the facade of Climate Change Caused by Man is when you have a stable economy, jobs families can depend upon and reasonable debt load.
Obama promised to bankrupt coal mines when he was first running for the democratic nomination in 2008. He seems to be keeping that promise or at least giving it the old college try.
I believe in climate Change…
It’s really hot now…
In a couple of months it will be cold and snowy…!
April 10, 1815, Mount Tambora sent so much nasty crud into the atmosphere that it blocked the sun and this period became known as the Year Without a Summer in 1816.
Actually, it was calculated by accredited climatologists in 1980 that this single eruption and subsequent explosion of Mount Tambora, the largest ever recorded by humans, ranking a 7 (or “super-colossal”) on the Volcanic Explosivity Index spewed more pollution into the earth’s atmosphere than all of mankind had since the beginning of his time on earth.
This volcano, which is still active, is one of the tallest peaks in the Indonesian archipelago. The eruption reached its peak in April 1815, when it exploded so loudly that it was heard on Sumatra Island, more than 1,200 miles away. The death toll from the eruption was estimated at 71,000 people, and clouds of heavy ash descended on many far-away islands.
If the series of volcanos in Yellowstone National Park ever erupts in our lifetime you can count on a possible ice age occurring. It is not a matter of “if,†it’s a matter of “when” it’s going to happen. We simply do not know when, and geologist that are knowledgeable believe discovering “when” should have a much higher priority than the fable about climate change (previously known as global cooling before it became global warming).
Totally accurate. All if this climate change nonsense is simply a bunch of Reds changing their color to Green. It’s all about control and money. Jim
Throughout geological history, Earth has gone through dozens of warmer and colder cycles. For the 10,000 or more years it has been warming – not continually, or all at once, but by huffs and puffs. Right now, it seems to be puffing pretty strongly. We’d do well to be thinking more about such things as relocating the world’s big seacoast cities and their manufacturing capacities: Shanghai, New York, Tokyo, etc. All of Florida’s largest cities except maybe Orlando, will be under water by the end of this century unless there is a cooling hiccup.
Obama-nation that causes desolation has done nothing to help this country only to try and turn it into a communist country and make everyone dependent on the gov for support. Why else would he take away jobs from American programmers by bringing in foreign workers on H1B1 visas just so he could get more Americans to lose their jobs! As far as I am concerned he is no different than the Anti-christ spoken of in the bible in the last days.
I am probably very naive but I have often thought about how the businesses could provide jobs for many of America’s unemployed, but willing workers, if they brought all the their overseas projects back to the U.S. Are profits so much more important than taking care of our own??? I believe we owe it to our own citizens to take care of them first. I also believe that we reap what we sew eventually in various unwanted ways. Good luck!
Mr. Cooper,
There would be adverse effect of almost immediate costs for everything we buy…
However I believe at some point Americans will need to pay the short-term additional costs until the benefit of lower taxes because more workers will be paying taxes and this will also help to some degree with the Social Security shortfall(s).
There is no free lunch, and the piper will be paid… A complete reset is in order soon since no one seems to want to pay the higher costs in the near term.
Just keep buying those Chinese, Japanese, and German cars (and other durable goods) that often cost more and not made as well than American made and see how fast we can bring on the inevitable reset/greatest depression/revolution…!
You confuse energy and power.
Megawatt hour is a unit of energy not power. Kilowatt is a unit of power and reflects on the ability of an engine to utilize energy.
Energy can be sold, i.e. electricity or gasoline; however power can not be sold per se as it depends on the engine using the energy. Power is the rate of converting energy into work, and that depends on the engine size.
Tib…
You better rethink your definition of “megawatt” and “kilowatt” ~ One megawatt is equal to 1000 kilowatts.
I know you must be thinking of KWh which is a measure of energy consumed in one hour, whereas KW is a measure of potential energy. Energy is measured by how much fuel is contained within something that can be converted to power something, or used by something over a specific period of time. A gallon of gasoline contains so many kilowatt hours of potential energy. The EPA’s formula is, there are 33.7 kilowatt hours (121.32 megajoules) of electricity in one gallon of regular gasoline.
Here is how you can convert kilowatts to megawatts:
1MW = 1000kW or 1kW = 0.001MW
The power in megawatts P(MW) is equal to the power in kilowatts P(kW) divided by 1000 thusly: P(MW) = P(kW) / 1000
Here’s an example to convert 5kW to megawatts: P(MW) = 5kW / 1000 = 0.005MW
I hope this helps you understand the differences and that a kilowatt is simply a fraction of a megawatt.
Regarding the renewable energy vs. coal debate, I see two primary opposing forces: displaced workers and suddenly abundant non-renewable resources.
I’ve seen the former first hand here in Bolivia. The country and an entire sub-culture of mining workers has languished for several decades. Originally, it was gold and silver, discovered and vastly exploited by the Spaniards. Gold mining still continues but on a much smaller scale. Traditional panning and individual digging has now given place to large-scale strip mining; this creates erosion and ruins areas of terrain and riverbanks and adds quite a bit of chemicals through waste production material. We’ve also seen very tough times for organized unions of the increasingly irrelevant miners in the western high mountain regions. In modern times this trend began with the mass dumping of cheap surplus of tin on the world markets in 1986. Thousands of workers have been under or un-employed since. Only the advent of natural gas and its exportation has largely rescued the country’s economy. We’ve already seen the plight of displaced coal miners, families and high rates of lung disease in the US.
The latter factor of alternative abundant non-renewable resource of natural gas (like in Bolivia) is occurring inn the States as well. It seems to be presenting its own economic upheavals, too, via a disruptive balance in the supply-demand dynamic. May these interesting parallels guide our steps in wise stewardship – financially and physically – as individuals and as a nation.
Hi from the UK,
Did Obami mention – Poisoned water – Frak
or microwaves heating the planet
or the heat fed into the sea or atmosphere from all power plants – cold water fish have gone looking for cooler water
or the number of cases of cancer from all devices due to radioactive leaks or bombs
After millions of tons of dirt were made airborne during WWII we had very severe weather during 1946 onwards.
The governments of the world should take the blame for most of this – Where do we send our claim forms.
I could mention many others but I hope you get the idea
each drop of rain contains a seed for water to cling to.
that seed is usually a particle which could be radio active, or chemical as well
Lots more but no one appears to care.
Kind Regards
John B.
Most rain seeds come from very large thunderstorms and tornados that produce extremely high vertical velocities and carry dust particles into the upper atmosphere.
Add to that the hundreds of active volcanos which spew literally billions of cubic yards of micron size particles which also seed the atmosphere for rain.
In comparison, the volume of particles man creates is quite minuscule in comparison.
Mankind is very presumptuous to believe s/he has any effect on climate whatsoever.
I say buncome to so called climate change and global warming,who does Obama think he is,and the Australian government too for that matter.The mean global temperature over the last 500 years has dropped by 0.7%,and as for climate change when I went to school I was taught that plants took in carbon dioxide and gave off oxygen,I don’t see how this is supposed to be bad for us.Also 1 volcanic eruption can wipe out a decade of concerted attempts to lessen carbon emissions,There are approximately 200 volcaneos active in the world today so they can shove that in their pipes and smoke it.
It’s nice to see I have company in someone who actually can think and have knowledge about the planet he lives on.
The persons that extol the hyperbole, embellishment and outright lies and distortions for of climate change for monetary gain should be in Jail.
It’s true there is climate change… It’s really hot right now where I live. In a few months it will be darn cold, snowy and icy.
It’s nice to see I have company in someone who actually can think and have knowledge about the planet he lives on.
The persons that extol the hyperbole, embellishment and outright lies and distortions for of climate change for monetary gain should be in Jail.
I spent almost 15 years in the Air Pollution control business in the 70’s and 80’s. That industry worked hard at finding a way to make coal “clean”. Obviously coal is a cheap, plentiful resource that industry has relied on for many years. We developed FGD (flue gas desulfurization systems )that scrubbed the boiler gases to neutralize the sulphur gas streams at numerous utilities. These systems were costly but did attempt to stem the effluent pollution into our air. The cleanest fuel is nuclear energy. With breeder reactors the sustainability of this clean fuel makes it a no-brainer for long term, cost effective power generation. Yes, it scares everyone as to the safety issues nuclear power plants create.
Even if we converted 100% of our coal fired plants to a cleaner fuel, we cannot control the huge amount of pollution generated by China and other countries who have no pollution control systems in their forecast. We can clean up our act and not make a dent in the world of air pollution around the world. The EPA rules will cost jobs, raise our utility bills with NO IMPACT ON CLEANING THE AIR. We need change in Washington ASAP. This administration is incompetent…
You are preaching to the choir about climate change and the incompetence in Washing ton.
What exactly besides voting (the true definition of insanity) do you propose to solve your last statement…?
I guess we could wait a little longer and see how much of Florida or any other part of U.S sinks or floods. The new push to regulate dirty industry is the right thing to do and is about time, and changing policy in Washington is a good way to start a possible clean up action to lead other countries to do the same. Every time a policy is proposed or pushed to made into law the debate will lead to cost, jobs, higher rates or its not going to help if the rest of the world is not going along withe the same programs , maybe we need to lead the way like we do with all of our new auto, tech., and inventions we take so much pride in and claim to be the best at.
Ron ~
Since 90+ percent of the ice in the world is below sea level, it is physically impossible for the oceans to rise more than 0.2 of an INCH if it all melts. So if you have property close to an ocean, I wouldn’t count on it as an investment in waterfront property…!
Sorry, Dr. Don, most of the ice is located on land, in Antarctica, Greenland, and other arctic locations. If most of it melts, and runs into the seas, they will rise substantially. Also, those quadrillions of tons of mass have been holding down those lands, and the geological effect of their disappearance might well cause those lands to rise because of underlying pressures, with accompanying earthquakes and volcanic activity. That could result in additional displacement of water in the seas.
Globalization is stagnating US wages. We can’t compete with foreign workers making 50 cents an hour.
Let’s not forget the current “attack” on American STEM workers. It is scandalous how American companies like Disney and Qualcomm can lay off their currently skilled and experienced American STEM workers in record numbers, then turn right around and ask for foreign-born H1B STEM workers, claiming a “shortage of qualified/skilled/experienced STEM workers”. As far as I am concerned, this kind of shameless hypocrisy and deceit should be illegal and the laid-off and fired American STEM workers given their jobs back.
These proposed EPA regs really get me upset. This is a replay of ending coal mining and nuclear power in Germany. Those poor folks bought the governments’ baloney and their utiliiy costs have tripled. And it is already happening in America, One must ask why Obama is so hell bent on dividing and destroying America? We’re tired of his BS and lies! We all know the answer and should kick our politicians where it hurts!