Comments on: It’s hot as blazes. Save your energy.

By: Derek Glover

Derek Glover — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 04:58:32 +0000

Please give me an example of a short-sighted market? Most of what you call fickle behavior is normal but any major issues are fairly quickly corrected. The test of a good economy is one that can be easily predicted. We have that and any disruption (such as the slowdown we are in the midst of) can usually be attributed to over reaction by government.

My blind trust of the market is founded in history and fact…unlike the blind trust liberals have for government to produce benifical results.

I choose to conserve energy. But it’s not because it is a moral obligation or because my kids need me too. It’s not because politicians or journalists or liberals say we should. It’s because it makes sense to my pocket book…just as it should be.

This isn’t like lying or committing adultery. It’s economics, and the market can take care of our energy and environment…moral elitism cannot.

By: David M. Manes

David M. Manes — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:02:34 +0000

Your hands-over-your-eyes faith in the free market is just as cute as your identical faith that God would never let people permanently damage the planet. However, neither of those beliefs make any sense at all.

The market can do a lot of things, but it is not perfect, and only ideologues or the pathetically uninformed could have such blind faith in it. Free markets are notoriously short-sighted (hence bubbles and recessions) and fickle. The free market needs additional encouragement to move in the direction of renewable, sustainable energy that can help secure our needs for the future and to ignore that is sort of like how GWB ignored the looming terrorist threat until 9/11 hit him square in the face. We don’t have to be 100% reactionary with this one because we can see the end of oil in the future and we can see the beginnings of environmental depredation right now.

By: Derek Glover

Derek Glover — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:57:09 +0000

Again I feel the need to state that I reject the notion that energy use now is harmful to future generations. As time goes on the free market will lend itself to the creation of cleaner and more efficient types of energy. I’m all for research, conservation and the like. But I want the market to dictate that need and not arroant, elitist politicians. Extremist or not, what all of you are advocating seems to end at the same place. “People aren’t capable of making the right choice so we’ll let legislators make it for them”. I think people are smart enough to make markets work and we have to be smart enough to let them.

You think gas is high now? Pass cap and trad or a carbon tax and tell me what you think about the price. I want cleaner cheaper energy…but I want a free market too and the liberal idea have yet to combine both.

By: David M. Manes

David M. Manes — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:00:44 +0000

Have you had any beer there, yet, Kyle?

By: krjohns

krjohns — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:16:23 +0000

I hate to get back on this, but it’s hot in Croatia. I haven’t had a/c for 6 weeks. I want to be nice and cool when I get back to my room from the sweltering heat. I therefore turn up my a/c. Maybe I should be looking to the future and turn it up in the summer and down in the winter. And I do at home. I ran my heater 3 days last winter. (In Indianapolis, no less.) There was no need for it on the second floor of my building. I keep my a/c at a reasonable temp (70-74) but that’s when I have an American a/c that works. The bottom line for me is this: I don’t like to be hot. If I can avoid that through other means, so be it, but if a/c is all I’ve got, that’s what I use.

By: Stephanie O'Brian

Stephanie O'Brian — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:18:51 +0000

I wouldn’t step out to say that they are calling themselves “better Christians” Derek… but I would venture to say that they are certainly more considerate of their fellow man and future generations to come…

And that is their choice. You have obviously made yours.

By: jkkuwitzky

jkkuwitzky — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:40:05 +0000

Annnnnnd…… scene.

By: Derek Glover

Derek Glover — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:14:05 +0000

Are you a better Christian than me simply because you conserve energy? Does the conservation make a significant difference? You say you’re proud to keep the temp up at home…should I be ashamed cause I don’t?

I think the real disagreement here is because I reject the premise of man-made global warming. I believe that if conservation and alternative fuels are cost effective and profitable then we’ll get off of oil. Until then we must stop subsidising energy phantoms like wind solar and biofuel. We have got to stop confusing energy policy and environmental policy.

p.s. I’m glad you appreciate my humor at least somewhat David. I didn’t mean it like Colbert would but I was trying to demonstrate absurdity by being absurd.

By: jkkuwitzky

jkkuwitzky — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:13:15 +0000

In brief, I’m convinced that a direct carbon tax is simpler, less corruptible, more easily calculated, and cheaper/less bureaucratic than cap and trade. In the end, they are pretty much the same thing, except that one has the word tax in it (making it much scarier). Our eventual discussion of this seems destined to involve numbers and charts. That makes me sad.

By: David M. Manes

David M. Manes — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:58:31 +0000

I’ll have to brush up on the current stuff and find some articles to link, but last time I looked into it, I was convinced that the Cap and Trade system was better primarily because of its ability to be worked into international agreements better than a Carbon Tax.