Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/25 for details.
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/25 for details.
Options
Are automobiles a major cause of global warming?
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
I don't miss those old beaters much.
“ We have to live today by what truth we can get today and be ready tomorrow to call it falsehood. ”
— William James
Well, I refuse to live by today's "truths". And, moreover, though it's way past tomorrow already, that won't stop the, ahem, wingnuts from continuined shouting to the heavens you know what. :surprise:
Oh, BTW: Be sure and keep us up to date Steve on Ms. 5 kids answer/reaction when you get the chance to query her!!!!! I'm sure it'll be :sick:
Not to mention that when you live in an economically depressed area, you may not be able to afford to be as green as you might otherwise like. You have to drive for "bigger" shopping and if someone proposes a strip mine or clearcut, no one is going to oppose it too loudly (and expect not to get stoned, lol).
Not to get too far afield, but when you do resource extraction and don't add value (like shipping raw logs to Taiwan or crude oil to China via the proposed Keystone pipeline or Kentucky mountaintops to Korea), you're just delaying the pain for some short term wages. And when the mines play out and the mills close and the profits have gone back to Boston, well, it gets downright hard to make a living. Even the Greens have mostly figured that out.
As far as Keystone, My understanding is the crude will flow to the refineries in TX and refined products will be shipped from there increasing our exports. If Canada builds a pipeline to the Pacific then Crude will be shipped directly to China. There has been a LOT of misinformation on the whole Canadian Tar Sands oil business. I would rather increase oil imports from Canada and cut imports from countries like Venezuela, as long as they act like enemies.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/nuclear-power-entrepreneur- s-push-thorium-as-a-fuel/2011/12/15/gIQALTinPR_story.html
I think we just need more motivation.
Right now, fossil fuels seem like an "unlimited source of power" so the situation does not appear critical.
It will someday be.
And the sun is STILL providing a full compliment of solar power to the Earf every day. Winds blow. Tides roll on. The interior of the Earf is still hot.
All the alternatives are THERE, NOW. We just don't have the political will to start developing them as we should be doing.
I don't think we are any smarter than people were 500 years ago. We just have the benefit of 500 more years of accumulated knowledge than they did.
Hopefully, all the alternatives are not there yet because the ones we have now don't work given our current knowledge level. Maybe they will in 500 years.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
There are zero- and negative-footprint homes all over the world.
Like I said - we just need the POLITICAL WILL to step away from the oil cartels and "git 'er done."
Google it and ye shall find:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/30/AR2010043000043.- html
http://www.ecogeek.org/component/content/article/1868
http://www.off-grid.net/2012/03/26/net-zero-homes-do-the-math/
And no, the production of the building materials need not be considered, because that has to happen with ANY kind of home.
And YES, my electric bill is $16.51 per month for 7 months of the year. I do pay $41 per month for the solar panel lease, but my ELECTRICITY bill is only $16.51. The least I have paid TOTAL COST per month is $57.51 per month and the MOST is $125.82 since my solar panels have gone on my roof.
Compare that to the AVERAGE August electric bill for homes my size in Phoenix which is $225, and I'm paying only 55% of what I should be paying.
Solar works. Solar done completely correctly can provide more than 100% of a home's needs.
Someone is wasting natural resources if their electric bill at your rates is $225 in the hot months. My largest bill to date in my 3000 foot home all on one level with two complete AC systems was $180. I got rid of the hot tub we never used and it went down by $30 the next month. Our average last year with our horrible CA electric rates was $93 per month. Our neighbor with a smaller home has bills as high as $400. Waste not want not is my motto. Never use the AC below 80 degrees. That is usually late in the afternoon for about an hour.
Turning off the streetlights will also help the bureau comply with Gov. John H. Lynch’s executive order to have the state government cut fossil fuel use.
“Ultimately we’re driving to make smart decisions not only with budget cuts but also with energy consumption,” Boynton said.
http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/state-proposes-cutting-hundreds-of-regi- on-s-streetlights/article_c99b9b4e-2874-5d31-91c5-d65f4910226f.html
How much $ is the State going to save when they get sued, when some accidents occur at night in those areas?
Now if I could just get the neighbors to toss their solar yard lights. It's looks like O'Hare International in the side yards until the batteries dim around 3 am.
btw, did you get snow the last day or two?
Of note in that article though - is that lighting does use fossil fuels. So anyone using an EV is still burning fossil fuels, unless they are a Net Generator using solar. With so little solar energy available here in the NE year-round, we're going to rely on larsb and his neighbors, to cover the SW in solar panels. C'mon larsb, get those "solar ranches" about the size of the cattle ranches in TX!
(Reuters) - Solar Trust of America LLC, which holds the development rights for the world's largest solar power project, on Monday filed for bankruptcy protection after its majority owner began insolvency proceedings in Germany.
The Oakland-based company has held rights for the 1,000-megawatt Blythe Solar Power Project in the Southern California desert, which last April won $2.1 billion of conditional loan guarantees from the U.S. Department of Energy. It is unclear how the bankruptcy will affect that project.
Solar Trust said it ran short of liquidity after Solar Millennium AG (S2MG.DE), which holds a 70 percent stake, sought court protection in December.
Solar Millennium then tried to sell that stake to solarhybrid AG (SHLG.DE), but that transaction collapsed when solarhybrid also sought court protection in Germany.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/02/us-solartrust-bankruptcy-idUSBRE8310ZV- 20120402
Is anyone keeping an official list? By our count, so far we have seen the following ‘green energy’ companies go under: Solyndra, Abound Solar, Energy Conversion Devices, Bright Source, LSP Energy, Evergreen Solar, Ener1, SunPower, Beacon Power, Ecotality, A123, Uni-Solar, Azure Dynamics. And now, Solar Trust.
Hopefully Larsb solar keeps working and he does not become a victim of trying to go green like I did in the 1980s.
No, you misunderstood me, as you are wont to do..... :shades:
Of COURSE it's figured into the equation.
But a properly performed "green build" is (I would venture to guess) hardly any more polluting in manufacturing process than a normal "cookie cutter polluting" home, if the homes are of equal size.
And generally, "green homes" end up being smaller because they waste less space as a part of the efficiency equation.
And (as we know from our discussion of Hybrid vehicles) the END RESULT will ALWAYS be that the "total lifetime pollution" of the green home will ALWAYS BE LESS than the similar pollution of a like-sized home which pollutes normally.
And what we care about most is the FUTURE, not the PAST. What little pollution my house does NOW and into the future is much more critical than the pollution if left behind 10 years ago when the parts were being manufactured.
Why, you ask?
Because you can make the air cleaner in the FUTURE, but you cannot make the air cleaner in the PAST.
Remember that. Don't make me remind you later.
Forty percent of the 2,200 adults surveyed think installing solar requires $20,000 or more in upfront costs. Only three percent accurately understand that installing solar can cost less than $1,000 upfront, which is possible because companies like SunRun, SolarCity and Sungevity all offer solar financing that allows homeowners to lease the panels without putting any money down. SunRun’s solar power service, also known as third-party-owned solar, is structured similarly to its rivals. The company owns, insures, monitors and maintains solar panels on the homeowner’s roof. In return, the homeowner pays a monthly rate over a 20-year period.
Market share for third-party solar has grown, particularly in California where it reached 75 percent of the home solar market in February of this year. In Massachusetts, the share for third-party solar is more than 80 percent.
Full Story Click Here
I would pay an average of $91 a month. So, under that scenario, I’m actually spending about $500 more a year.
The ad I heard on the radio this morning for solar, stated if your electricity averages over $150 per month they will come out and give you an estimate for solar. I am still leery of longevity of solar panels. I got burnt good in Havasu. Too many companies going broke to be able to depend on the warranty. The lease I was offered was actually able to put a lien on your property if you quit paying for any reason. They state on the ad you posted maintenance. Does that mean they come and wash the dirt and dust off on a regular basis?
Because even if the company goes down, the LEASE will be taken over by another company. If it does NOT, then you would be free and clear. Because if no one is collecting your lease payments, then......
Even if the original company goes down, SOMEONE will take on that lease and keep collecting from you.
Their legal obligation will REMAIN IN PLACE regardless of who OWNS *THAT END* of the lease !!
The Leasing company is NOT on the hook for the warranty if SolarWorld goes broke.
2nd the lease payment goes up by 3% every year. My electricity rates have not gone up in the 5 years I have lived in this home.
Lastly my roofer friend said he has had to repair several roofs damaged by solar panel installations. Once you break through the tar paper seal it is difficult to keep the water out. Especially on concrete tile roofs like mine. His advice to me was put them along side the home.
Plus, I live in PHX - not much rain here to worry about !!
And yes, it goes up every year. But it started SO LOW, that it won't be that much of a bump every year. In addition, my kids will be out of the house in "not long" and then my usage will drop a LOT.
But now Evergreen is a Chinese/German company.
Researchers at the State University of New York at Albany analysed the satellite data of areas around large wind farms in Texas, where four of the world's largest farms are located, over the period 2003 to 2011.
The results, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, showed a warming trend of up to 0.72 degrees Celsius per decade in areas over the farms, compared with nearby regions without the farms.
"We attribute this warming primarily to wind farms," the study said. The temperature change could be due to the effects of the energy expelled by farms and the movement and turbulence generated by turbine rotors, it said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/29/us-wind-farms-climate-idUSBRE83S0BG201- 20429
Swardenski told CBS 5 the disposal process is going smoothly in Fremont, but what about nearby Milpitas? Solyndra leased a building on California Circle for the final assembly of its solar panels. But the cleanup at the leased building in Milpitas is in limbo, because Solyndra doesn’t want to pay.
CBS 5 found the building locked up, with no one around. At the back, a hazardous storage area was found. There were discarded buckets half filled with liquids and barrels labeled “hazardous waste.”
The building’s owner, a company called iStar, claimed in court documents, “there may be serious environmental, health and safety issues” at the premises. According to the documents, they include, “numerous containers of solvents and chemicals and processing equipment contaminated with lead.”
“Essentially it looks like they left a pretty big mess behind,” San Jose State Assistant Professor Dustin Mulvaney told CBS 5. Mulvaney has written a white paper (.pdf) on solar industry waste for the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition.
Looking at CBS 5’s video, Mulvaney said it’s hard to tell how much hazardous waste is at the Milpitas facility. But he said one thing is for sure.
“Materials labeled hazardous waste require a lot more protocol, so its actually a lot more expensive to clean,” Mulvaney said. “It’s very sad looking at this facility taken apart like this, because a lot of money went into building this.”
So how much is Obama's Green agenda really going to cost the tax payers?
Wasteful spending is nothing new in our government, or any government. Yet, 300 new cars are rather hard to misplace. Miami-Dade county officials didn’t remember the 293 undriven Toyota Prius models until a Spanish-language television station stumbled across the cars, languishing in a county-owned garage. They did what any responsible fourth estate did and filed an investigation on it that aired in October. And once county officials found out that there was a treasure trove of brand-new vehicles, already bought and paid for, just waiting to be driven around for vague municipal purposes, they leaped into action, pressing about 135 of the Priuses into county service.
Who knows what those Priuses have been used for—comically low-speed car chases, for example, or bribing County Comptrollers for a night on the town at the local Outback Steakhouse in order to get rid of a pesky department audit. But that still leaves 158 Priuses languishing in some backlot somewhere—and they’re the previous generation, too, as even Toyota has moved on. Fortunately, the drivetrain of the Prius has an 8-year, 80,000 mile warranty, and seeing as many of those Priuses don’t have a single daily driven mile on them, the warranty still stands for the former.
Just as well, too, because a hybrid battery pack just sitting there isn’t exactly fresh out of the package. Did we mention it can get pretty humid in Florida? And hot?
Perhaps there’s a bit of justice in the epilogue of this story. In 2006, Carlos Alvarez was the mayor of Miami-Dade County. Voters removed him from office in March 2011 in a rare recall election. Why? Because—and there’s no way I could make up this bit of poetic justice—he was accused of misappropriating taxpayer funds.
Going Green, going too far
Spurred by Toyota, Hybrid Sales Soar in April
Ford Taps First Dealers To Sell 2012 Focus Electric
IL Exclusive: EV Buyers Eligible for More Than $150 Million in Tax Credits in 2011
In other news, Study: Texas Wind Farms Not Causing Global Warming. (Yahoo)
It wasn't wasteful AT ALL had the cars been put into service immediately as they should have been. Think about all the gas savings they lost out on !!
My guess is that a kickback of some sort was behind this whole thing, since we know that mayor was a dirty dealer.
We have a lot bigger problems in the World than Global Warming.
How does it help us if we "force" companies to manufacture goods in the "Good Ole' You Ess AYY" and the goods become too expensive and company profits fall?
Let's see the fallout from that:
1. Lower sales due to higher prices and thus lowered demands for those goods.
2. Lower sales lead to cutbacks and layoffs.
3. Lower sales lead to lower corporate taxes paid, putting additional revenue burden on the government agencies.
4. Fewer employees mean more people unemployed, underemployed, or PHDs working at McDonalds, and leading also to more tax revenue required to pay unemployment benefits to larger numbers of people.
5. Fewer imported goods leads to lower tariff receipts.
6. EPA pollution controls forbid certain items from being manufactured here, so certain products will go away or become VERY scarce, rising the prices.
Where is the benefit? So we can "feel good" about saying "Made In The USA?"
I'm looking directly at the Big Picture right now. Point out where on the picture any of this is a good idea.
The best ski goggles I own came from Hong Kong. ~$40. And they're prescription.
I have a US made KitchenAid blender. Got clutch spares since it's delicate and you'll break the clutch fins if you overtax it or don't put it on the stand just so.
The worst watch I ever had was Swiss.
Everyone complains about Chinese made drywall but tests show plenty of the US stuff outgasses sulfur as bad or worse.
But we digress. Unless you want to talk about the problems of shipping this stuff around the world instead of manufacturing locally.
Enabling and allowing those who do not play by our rules to compete on a level playing field on our turf, that's the real problem.
Gary and you are talking about two different groups, looks like to me....
Gary is blaming it on the "Green Agenda" while you are blaming "Neocon one worlders" and those two are definitely opposite ends of the spectrum.
If we can't agree even on WHO to blame, how can we fix it?
I have proposed a solution. At least 30% tariffs on all manufactured imports. Make manufacturing in the USA competitive with higher tariffed goods. I think what Fintail is saying is gutting our manufacturing base is part of the globalist plan, along with pushing the AGW agenda to siphon money from the USA into countries around the World.
The Green Agenda is intertwined as a noble cause to make people believe what they are doing is Good for the environment. While it may have positive benefits such as cleaner air and water, it is currently shifting the dirty mining & manufacturing to other countries. Corporations are getting obscenely wealthy while the US middle class is headed to the toilet.
5. Fewer imported goods leads to lower tariff receipts.
For most of our existence tariffs supported the Federal Government. Only since the 1930s have tariffs dropped and individual income tax picked up the slack. Today our tariffs are not worth mentioning. Less than 2% or our Federal receipts.
6. EPA pollution controls forbid certain items from being manufactured here, so certain products will go away or become VERY scarce, rising the prices.
And that is as it should be. If it cannot be mined or manufactured under EPA regulations it should NOT be allowed into the USA. PERIOD. It is polluting somewhere to satisfy our consumerism, and that is flat wrong.
The number of in-orbit and planned Earth observation missions by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is projected to drop "precipitously" from 23 this year to only six by 2020, the report found.
That means the number of instruments monitoring Earth's activity is expected to decline from a peak of about 110 last year to fewer than 30 by the end of the decade.
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/story/2012-05-02/weather-satellites-forecas- t-storms/54708804/1
The Great Dying of Thermometers
It’s like watching the lights go out over the West. Sinan Unur has mapped the surface stations into a beautiful animation. His is 4 minutes long and spans from 1701-2010. I’ve taken some of his snapshots and strung them into a 10 second animation.
You can see as development spreads across the world that more and more places are reporting temperatures. It’s obvious how well documented temperatures were (once) in the US. The decay of the system in the last 20 years is stark.
http://joannenova.com.au/2010/05/the-great-dying-of-thermometers/
It's happened with just about every product we ever developed. This is not a new phenomenom.