Would hurt the bottom 20% of Americans, reducing their after-tax income by 3.3%. [Another compassionate conservative -- where were they all the last seven years???]
It is very hard to engage in any activity that does not use energy.
This bill means people Must turn off air-conditioning in the summer — those are the choices
My home state of Arizona would lose 62,000 jobs by 2030.
Call this environmental pork. Take current farm programs and multiply them by 10.
It would give away allowance is valued at approximately 3 $.2 trillion.
The benefits are questionable at best — they don’t meet any cost-benefit analysis test.
All for meaningless greenhouse gas reductions.
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Language Intelligence: Lessons on persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga
We live in the UK.
We don’t have air conditioning.
We don’t need air conditioning.
No-one we know has air conditioning.
What is it with US citizens that they seem to think the A/C is a necessity? If it really is then … MOVE AND LIVE SOMEWHERE SENSIBLE WHERE YOU DON’T NEED IT.
Well, yes, but you have a cooler climate than most of the U.S.
But that’s the whole point. Many parts of the US would not be habitable if it wasn’t for A/C and heating. Its a large country relative to its population so why populate places like Las Vegas? The fact that you think A/C is part of the natural order of things is deeply disturbing and not a value shared by most of the rest of the world.
This is an interesting piece on it. It makes the point that A/C opened up the south of the US and allowed it to be competitive.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4697519.stm
All part of the same dangerous addiction to fossil fuels that allows long distance commuting by car and plane on a scale seen nowhere else on the planet.
Robert: I sort of agree with you but would suggest a different solution. I too live in the UK. First for comparison:
Most people in the UK have central heating.
What is it with UK citizens that they seem to think the CH is a necessity?
In both the case of US A/C and UK CH the problem is badly designed and built houses which take a large quantity of heating or cooling to keep comfortable. The solution is to build properly so little or no energy is needed. The advantage that the UK has is that the changes required for heating are fairly simple whereas building intrinsically comfortable houses in places like Louisiana (taking the example of one particular house [1][2]) requires a somewhat more radical design change.
The disadvantage that the UK and US share is a small-minded culture that’s unwilling to consider that there might be any problems with our current lifestyles but also assumes that any slight changes will necessarily result in a return to a dark ages economy.
As the PDF article referenced below points out, many houses in the south were quite comfortable before the introduction of air conditioning.
[1] http://www.lses.org/tonysys.html
[2] http://www.rebelwolf.com/essn/ESSN-Jul2005.pdf page 25
Robert,
In Las Vegas the air is so dry, people use misters to cool through evaporation.
Both the US and UK are in deep shit regarding fossil fuel use. Actually the whole world is, but the pain will be felt hardest in those countries that enjoy high levels of fossil-fueled affluence and low domestic reserves.
The US has been in a very vulnerable position since the 70s and now imports 13 mbopd. The UK “thinks” its OK because of North Sea oil but is really heading fown the pan even faster than the US because North Sea production is in double digit decline and will be history by 2020.
Oil is doubling in price every 18 months. I’m moving to Iceland (if they’ll have me!).
Ed – We stopped using our gas C/H 3 years ago and heat our house with a log burning stove. At the same time we installed 270mm of loft insulation and cavity wall insulation. With these changes the stove heats our 4-bed detached house with ease.
Live without an A/C?? My British parents came to visit from England in May. We had the A/C off. It was so hot they couldn’t sleep at night. Finally I put the A/C on it was a big relief to everyone. You think we shouldn’t live in a place that needs A/C. Perhaps you would you like us all to emigrate to the UK? Do you have room for all of us? Didn’t think so.