The future of the green technologies rests on consumers!

In other words: VOTE WITH YOUR DOLLARS

If you want renewable energy to play a bigger part in our future then contact your utility company and change your power plan to one that includes renewables. (I get 100% of my electricity from wind power).

If you want all the other green stuff to thrive (dominate?) -- quit buying the fossil fuel crap and the other "bad" stuff and only buy the good stuff. Or at least do so as much as your budget will allow. With all of us trying each day to make choices that will push these companies in the direction we want them to go they will have no choice but to go even faster towards green energy, conservation, efficiency, clean tech, etc.

We --the consumer-- control the agenda. Never forget the power that your dollar gives to these companies. Choose wisely.

But here's a problem I've been wondering about re electric cars: What about people in condos or apartments - they don't have a garage where they can plug in.

In Florence, Italy I saw a public charging site, a grouping of chargers on one of the major piazzas - is the U.S. planning something like that?

...will install them before long. Thanks!

http://projectgetready.com/

and...

...across the piazza from a palace that's several hundred years old!

This is just the beginning. I'm so excited to finally see the end of fossil fuels becoming a possibility.

...because I thought the right people in office would move things along - MUCH quicker than it actually happened.

We're way behind other countries because of corporate whore politicians, but the more consumers vote with their purchases the better off we'll be!

There is a strong systemic bias against renewable energy sources that is embedded in the regulatory and policy structure of this nation and the 50 individual states. Before the consumers are told to either cut their own economic throats or take the blame for noncompetitive renewable technologies, those policies and regulations have to be changed.

You seem to think that we must all wait till the road is paved with rose petals and golden butterflies before we can take the first steps to get off of fossil fuels.

I disagree! But then again, I didn't find it surprising that you don't actually want consumers to buy green instead of fossil fuels.

There is no bigger waste of green dollars than rooftop wind, and there is no better way to disillusion people trying to do the right thing than by pushing them to buy something that doesn't work. If you knew anything about the nature of what you pontificate on, you would understand that.

Apparently.

Government oversight of the small wind turbine industry needs to be strengthened, I agree. Too many of the wind turbine manufacturers and sellers make inflated claims of their effectiveness and energy output. But that is a consumer protection issue, not a subsidies issue.

Why?

Because there is a hell of a lot of tax revenue from coal and oil.

How in the hell are they gonna tax the wind and the sun? Huh?

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Now back to the message: How is the sun and wind going to produce the same tax revenue for the government that coal and oil produce?

There are some ideas floating about on how to tax mileage on electric cars.
But how do you tax a solar panel on someone's roof?

When the government can find a replacement for the present day revenues, they will then begin to support alternative energy sources with full backing.

Until then we are on our own.

What is wrong with the mods? Are they fact-averse?

A post that makes false statements should be the one that is deleted, not the one that merely brings truth and sanity to the discussion.

How can you say that a power plant cannot be taxed?!? Don't they file a tax return? Don't they have to document their revenue? Doesn't the government tax you on your revenues? Isn't that exactly the same way that the government would tax a natural gas power plant? Isn't that the same way that the government would tax a coal power plant?

What is wrong with this picture?

there is instability in one of the major oil producing regions of the world.

That's because they know that they will be forced to buy stuff from the guys with best lobbyists, rather than the guys with the best stuff.

Never let anyone convince you otherwise. When you give your money (by making a purchase) then you are enabling the people behind that company and you are directly enabling their actions.

Consumer dollars can force big corporations to clean up their act. Spend wisely. Nobody can force you to buy a product or service from someone who is doing bad things for the planet or bad things for Democracy. Your dollar is your vote. Vote wisely.

Are you familiar with the new health care legislation?

More to the point—take the example of CF light bulbs. Now, I actually use these types of bulbs for most applications. But I really do not like the color of the light and they can give me headaches; thus, I prefer incadescent bulbs in some areas. Moreover, the dimming features of CF bulbs are pathetic. They flicker, they buzz and they do all sorts of strange things. As a result, I prefer incadescent bulbs for dimming applications.

But, in its infinite wisdom the fedgov has decided to ban incadescent bulbs, thereby denying me the right to buy the types of light bulbs that I prefer. As it turns out, GE, one of the largest producers of CF bulbs in the world, lobbied heavily for the passage of this legislation.

Another example it the Volt. Clearly, the Prius is a better vehicle and better value, but the fedgov is subsidizing the Volt, thereby, utilizing my tax dollars to push an inferior product.

There are many, many examples of this, but I think you get the point.

The health care legislation is only flawed in that it does not go far enough. 66% of Americans want the government to do MORE in the field of health care, not less. I agree that about being forced to buy health care with the current system (without the protections and limits imposed by HCR).

CFL bulbs, I agree with you about those. They contain mercury, toxic, but the truth is that it would take 100 CFL bulbs to equal the amount of mercury in one thermometer. The think I don't like about the CFLs is that they take up to 2 minutes to come up to full brightness once they are switched on. I don't like that CFLs that claim to be a replacement for the standard 60 watt bulb does not put out the same amount of light as a 60 watt bulb! I don't like that they "flicker" in some of my ceiling cans, and in my bathroom light bar fixture. That is why I have stopped buying CFL bulbs.

I am now buying LED light bulbs when one of my other bulbs burn out. They are expensive but in another post I showed the math that proves they save you money over their lifetime, even with the current high cost. And by 2012 all the major light bulb manufacturers will be mass producing LED light bulbs -- their cost will begin to go down after that. They cost between $40 and $60 apiece now (and are still profitable for you over their lifetime) but the rumor is that they will be around $10 by 2015.
... refer to The math is easy. LED light bulbs save you money in the long run.

As far as the idea of incandescent bulbs go I don't think it's a bad thing to end their use. You get what you pay for: incandescents waste 80% of their energy as heat, wasting electricity that you pay for. You honestly don't want to flush 80% of your money down the toilet (and get no benefit from such loss). You also can't yell, "FIRE!" in a crowded movie theater. You can't shoot people, even those you really dislike. You have to drive the speed limit and if you go too far above that limit the police will put you in jail over it; same thing if you drive on the wrong side of the road. The point is, the government takes away some of your freedoms for the common good. That is what governments do. That is what they SHOULD do.

The Chevy Volt is not my ideal plug-in car either but plug-in cars should be what we're all driving. I won't go through the math of how and why plug-in vehicles are cheaper to own and cheaper to drive. That is all over the interwebs and you have google. I have a paid-for reservation on a Nissan Leaf; that is my personal choice. I have made a promise to myself that I will never buy a fossil fuel powered car again in my life. Our current vehicle gets 26 MPG, is 7 years old (all paid for!) and when it dies we will buy an electric car to replace it. The math is clear: driving electric cars is far cheaper and the emissions are far less than even driving a Prius (which is also a great car, don't get me wrong). It's all about choices. Some people want to have that gasoline engine sitting there, unused, for those rare times when they might need it. The Leaf has a much bigger battery and will enable me to drive farther than I ever have to so it works for me. Some people honestly need to drive farther than the 100 miles that the Leaf can take them (Nissan has said that the 2nd generation Leaf will go 200 miles).

And by the way, the government will also be giving away tax breaks to people who buy the new Prius plug-in that they're coming out with soon.