Mark P. Mills: The Political Cost of the Energy Transition: ‘Elected leaders will pay a price for green policies that hit citizens in the pocketbook’
https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-political-cost-of-the-energy-transition For physicists, energy is about the laws of nature; for engineers, it’s about manufacturing prowess. For citizens, however, energy is generally about money. Energy purchases are unavoidable—whether directly, by paying our electric bills or for gas in our cars, or indirectly, by paying for the energy costs embedded in food, vacations, and everything else. […]
Spiked Online: ‘The elitism of electric cars’: ‘EVs are still only viable for the well-off, urban-dwelling, laptop class’ – This is hardly a ‘movement… powered by people’
Hugo Griffiths: No invention has done more to liberate society than the mass-produced car. It has become as democratized as such a complex piece of machinery can be. … Electric cars upend much of this, bringing greater expense and requiring a host of well-documented sacrifices from drivers. Unsurprisingly, most are unwilling to make the switch. This issue has become so pronounced that manufacturers are now restricting sales of petrol and diesel models to avoid the gargantuan government fines (£15,000 per car over quota) that will be imposed on brands if they don’t shift enough EVs. Such threats wouldn’t be needed if the product were in demand. …
All this pro-EV legislation has been drawn up by people who tend to be isolated from the population at large. … EV advocates often blame poor sales of electric cars on ‘misinformation’.
Charging is so stacked against the poor as to be an ideal subject for fans of class analysis. If your home has a driveway (a feature that makes a house more valuable), then an EV can make a great deal of sense. Each morning, you come down to a car conveniently filled with cheap overnight electricity, priced at as little as seven pence per unit and taxed at a liberal five per cent VAT.
Not so the individual who has to park on the street. He must not only pay a commercial rate of perhaps 85 pence per unit of electricity, but is also hit with 20 per cent VAT. This means that while filling an EV at home can be as cheap as £3.50, the same amount of electricity going into the same car can easily cost £42.50 on the open road.
Our ideal EV driver has, therefore, a nice job, can work from his phone and has a house with a driveway. This is hardly a ‘movement… powered by people’, as one pro-EV publication was bold enough to call it.
The truth is this: electric cars and their policies favor the fortunate.
Wash Post: ‘When your opponent calls you ‘communist,’ maybe don’t propose price controls?
It’s hard to exaggerate how bad Kamala Harris’s price-gouging proposal is’
https://archive.is/2024.08.16-013337/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/08/15/kamala-harris-price-gouging-groceries/ By Catherine Rampell “Price gouging” is the focus of Vice President Kamala Harris’s economic agenda, her presidential campaign says. She’ll crack down on “excessive prices” and “excessive corporate profits,” particularly for groceries. So what level counts as “excessive,” you might ask? TBD, but Harris will ban it.That’s the thing about price gouging: As has […]
Common Dreams mag: ‘Forget Wealth Tax. We Should Abolish Extreme Wealth Altogether’
Raising Taxes on the Rich Will Reduce Climate Change You laugh. But this is a serious theory recently articulated by leftist groups including Common Dreams and Oxfam – which gets U.S. tax dollars: Inequality contributes to climate change. The richest 1 percent is responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 66 percent, according to […]
‘Picking Winners’ has been a costly failure in race to achieve Net Zero, new study warns
https://mailchi.mp/835e9663492c/picking-winners-has-been-a-costly-failure-new-study-warns-201723?e=0b1369f9f8 London, 29 July: As Europe’s EV industry is on the brink of economic crisis, a new study published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation documents the poor track record of governments who cherry-pick technologies in the hope of achieving a policy goal. It warns that the UK is in the process of repeating costly […]
Watch: Harley-Davidson CEO seeking to transform into a climate activist company by saying he doesn’t want to say ‘follow the science’ because ‘some people don’t like science’
Harley-Davidson CEO Jochen Zeitz is asked why people should trust that @harleydavidson’s “transformation” to left wing values “is for real” and “not just a PR stunt”? He begins his argument for making Harley a climate activist company by saying he doesn’t want to say “follow the… pic.twitter.com/lTYJdFM3a6 — Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) July 26, 2024 […]
‘Net zero’ and Keynesian ‘stimulus’ are making us poorer
https://mises.org/mises-wire/net-zero-and-keynesian-stimulus-are-making-us-poorer Mises Wire•Daniel Lacalle If you read the latest OECD publication, “Employment Outlook 2024: The Net Zero Transition and the Labour Market,” you would imagine that the world has not gone through the largest monetary and fiscal stimulus in decades. The results are so poor, they are embarrassing. Furthermore, the report illustrates the impoverishment of […]
Watch: Likely Dem Prez Nominee Kamala Harris says she would force millions of workers in the energy sector to ‘transition’ to new jobs — such as ‘installation of wind turbines and solar paneling’
FLASHBACK: Kamala says she would force millions of workers in the energy sector to "transition" to new jobs — such as "installation of wind turbines and solar paneling" pic.twitter.com/JbpE5xRgVi — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 21, 2024
Degrowthers Are the New Barbarians: ‘Degrowth movement fails to appreciate human ingenuity & technological innovation’
Degrowthers Are the New Barbarians By MARIAN L. TUPY Summary: Like Rome’s ancient grandeur, today’s economy is supported by human ingenuity. Rome’s technological marvels such as the aqueducts were threatened by barbarians who sought destruction and ultimately achieved it. Modern sources of flourishing are likewise under fire. Today, the “degrowth” movement advocates for radical reductions […]
Wash Post Editorial Board denounces ‘de-growth communism’ – ‘Ending growth won’t save the planet’
WaPo/Amazon owner Jeff Bezos has ‘de-growth communism’ denounced by editorial board. Degrowth’s prophets offer little more than hand-waving in response to the most elementary questions about their prescription. Degrowth evangelist Kohei Saito suggests “degrowth communism,”… pic.twitter.com/r133g9Y8Dm — Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) June 23, 2024 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/06/21/degrowth-climate/ # Related: The Atlantic Justified ‘Degrowth Communism’ to Fight Climate […]