Friday, December 31, 2010

Tomorrow May Be The Worst Day of Your Life

Tomorrow, an unelected EPA begins regulating (alleged) Greenhouse Gas (while there are many, the chief bogeyman is Carbon Dioxide, CO2).  Currently, the only requirement is reporting the amount generated. Don't worry, you don't have to report what you exhale.  That may not come for years.

But this is not about (alleged) AGW.  I have come to the conclusion that in the religion of Environmentalism, fossil fuels are the Devil.  And don't kid yourselves, it is a religion.  Anything that requires changing the landscape ("scarring Gaia") or emitting really anything ("poisoning Gaia") must be stopped, then destroyed.  The "Angels" in this religion are solar and wind power.  Never mind that the materials required to make them are very direct-energy intensive.  That is, they require massive amounts of heat, generally from coal or a coal product to make.  Steel and glass are particularly energy-intensive.  The processes to manufacture semi-conductors required for control of solar and wind generation generate large amounts of toxic waste.  Plastics are toxic, ceramics require large scale energy. But the Eco-Priests and their flocks either don't know or don't care.  The Devil  must be destroyed.

Nor do the adherents care about jobs as the comments on the linked article make quite clear.  Their fealty to their religion is quite remarkable.  Christians should be such strong adherents. The cost of reporting (alleged) GHG - let's be honest here and call it CO2; no other (alleged) GHG is reported - is quite expensive.  Having seen it first-hand, the recordkeeping is quite onerous.  While my employer has a large staff to which this task has been assigned (in addition to their regular duties), many lack that luxury.  The proposed tax in CO2 emissions ranges from $20/ton to $80/ton.  Energy prices will "necessarily skyrocket".  Energy may remain plentiful, but unaffordable.  Americans average about 30 tons of CO2 per capita annually.  So you can expect your energy costs to increase by $600-$2400 per year.  But this is only the beginning.  The idea is to have you reduce your CO2 emissions to around 2 tons per year.  Good luck with that.  There will be the inevitable corruption and exemptions and your mileage may vary.

Rest assured that the Al Gores of this world will continue to have their huge estates, limos and private jets while you and I "freeze in the dark".

1 comment:

Dad29 said...

Nicely summarized case for the 'religion' of Gaia.