Category

Energy policy

• 01.02.10
  The quest for a programmable thermostat
  Energy policy (0)

  We're having a new high-efficiency boiler installed in our house. An HVAC contractor is doing most of the work, but over the New Year's holiday I have been installing thermostat wires so we can be ready when the boiler is ready to go into action. After three days of studying thermostats on-line, I'm coming to the conclusion that the type of thermostat I had hoped for does not exist. Not even close. What I want is programmable thermostats with good override features. There are programmable thermostats, so-called, and there are override features, but they ...
  
  
• 11.28.09
  The Erie Carbon Hiker
  Energy policy (0)

  Mike Ingels, aka The Erie Hiker, makes an interesting point about the global warming controversies in an article titled, "Climate Bill/Talks are a Train Wreck". He points out that, according to polls, "there is a significant chunk of Americans who want a carbon cap, but DO NOT believe that there is solid evidence of global warming." So why would they want a carbon cap, then? Mike thinks it's because people see local evidence of the results of our carbon excesses. However, another possible reason that comes to mind is the the bad effects on ...
  
  
• 12.29.08
  Net-zero gas tax
  Energy policy, Netzero gas tax, Tax policy (0)

  For years -- maybe even decades -- I've been talking up the idea of a net-zero gas tax. Except I didn't know it should be called "net-zero" until I read Charles Krauthammer's article in the January 5 issue of The Weekly Standard. And it hasn't been until recently that I've decided in my own mind that the countervailing tax reduction should definitely be in the FICA tax. For most of these years it has been like talking to a brick wall. LeftLiberals don't like the idea, because for the most part they don't really ...
  
  
• 08.10.08
  An uncatastrophe in the making
  Energy policy, Russia (1)

  Vladimir Vladimirovich once said, "the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century." That's what I think of when I see the buildup to events like those now taking place between Georgia and Russia. James Poulos at The Postmodern Conservative instead thinks about Putin statements about wanting a stable international system of sovereign states. When I watch the news and other programs on RTR Planeta I don't get that at all, but then I don't understand very much Russian, so I'm using a lot of non-verbal cues. Here ...