Thursday, June 14, 2018
What would Roosevelt do?
As always, the real question is not what WOULD but what DID. FDR faced the same problems we face now, and he handled them correctly. We do the opposite every fucking time.
Someone in the Trump admin pretended to do the right thing for a moment:
Last year, Energy Secretary Rick Perry proposed a plan for subsidizing coal and nuclear plants for providing base load generation—that is, round-the-clock power, but the plan was rejected by the utility regulators who said they will study the national grid’s resilience to supply interruptions. Many grid operators said they are already factoring in everything that has to do with their grid’s resilience to disruptions. Meanwhile, coal and nuclear plants are shutting down as they can no longer compete with cheap natural gas and can barely compete with subsidized renewables. Two months ago, utility FirstEnergy approached the Department of Energy directly with a request for what would have been a bailout package for its coal and nuclear subsidiaries, but just days after this, the parent announced the bankruptcy of the two units.FDR faced two similar problems. First, farmers were failing because of disorganized unregulated competition. His admin recognized (1) farmers are a crucial BASELOAD for the entire economy, (2) farming isn't an occupation you can jump into and hope to succeed. FDR subsidized good farmers and discouraged upstarts. Second, industry and commerce were unable to expand because of patchy electricity and water utilities. FDR built dams and power plants and water systems to enable further growth. Above all, FDR didn't let entrenched bureaucrats conspire with bankers to stop his efforts. He fired bureaucrats and closed banks. = = = = = Coal and nuclear are parallel to farms, but the parallel isn't really necessary. A nuke plant relies on a long trail of experience and engineering, and runs steadily with very little input. Nuke plants here in USA STRONG can no longer be built AT ALL because the government has ALLOWED envirodemons and lawyerdemons to block construction forever. In sane countries a nuke plant only takes about two years to build, as Russia is profitably proving in MANY sane countries. Natural gas is much easier to build, mainly because the regulators have decided to ALLOW it. A gas plant needs constant input via pipelines or tankers, which are much more susceptible to interruption and price variation. "Renewables" are a fraud. Nothing more, nothing less. As always, our dysgovernment SUBSIDIZES CRIME and SLAUGHTERS honest useful industries.
Labels: Carbon Cult, Fucking asked and fucking answered
¶ 12:25 AM
