"I've just heard that TVA is going to make some changes in it's generation of electricity. 'Down with coal' is the plan in place for closing the Memphis TN Allen coal fired power station."I don't think the TVA had a choice. I am pretty sure Washington DC mandated that they shutdown thier coal fired plants. What is worse, is not only are the shutting them down, they are dismantling them so they can never be restarted.
"Jack Spirko recently said that the greatest failure of leadership is on the personal level. "
Well, The American Public had a hand in electing these clowns.
"If you were living in the mid south, how would you respond to this move personally?"
Same a the other Poster, PV Solar Thermal, WoodGas, and Steam.
"IF CNG efforts fail, then we will surely run out of natural gas more quickly"
I think you meant LNG - Imported Liquidify NatGas. Yes, its a fantasy. Since we are approaching a worldwide shortage of NatGas. Europe is tapped out and needs to import just about all of its NatGas. Asia also has strong demand. The World is actually counting on the US to export NatGas!
We probably have some room with Frack NatGas, but the prices need to go up to about $12 to $16 per mbtu, instead of about $4. Of course $12/mbtu will make Electricity prices much higher. Burning NatGas for electricity is foolish since NatGas is the #1 fuel for domestic heating and hotwater.
From the Council on Foreign Relations:
Print Less But Transfer More: Why Central Banks Should Give Money Directly To The People
Thanks for that link Time2help. Reading the comments to that article clearly reveals the classic endless left versus right debate. I can't help but roll my eyes at how little we've progressed in our collective understanding of economics. Of course each side, left or right, has something worthwhile to say. But in the end they are all myopic, essentially "economic specialists" who do not account for all of the other factors affecting economies as discussed here and on similar sites. How can it be that a few people like us peons on internet websites who have attempted, and I'd say have succeeded, in merging economics with the "real world" as described by science and engineering, could have figured this all out while those actually managing our economies (and debating it in the CoFR comments section) are hopelessly lost? Could it really be so? It seems so.I've always had the opinion that the winner of any debate is the side that can completely understand an opponent's argument, reiterate it, and then point out its flaws. From this perspective, I have come across no one from the economics field who can refute or even address the issue of energy and resources and how they fit into the grander economic picture. I guess that's how all new social narratives and belief systems emerge – a few free thinkers think outside the box and gradually start to change peoples' ways of thinking.
Amen!
This site truly is my compass.
I thought this was funny and appropriate
Three thoughts on this excellent thread:
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borrowing from the future is the easy way out, hence its universal appeal. Once the debt starts hurting, lower interest rates to zero. The pain goes away and now we can borrow even more from the future. yea, win-win-win, etc.
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As long as freshly created central-bank credit/money still buys real-world stuff, issuing credit is the easiest way to maintain the status quo.
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We optimize for whatever metrics are in place, even if they're tragically flawed. The system makes no sense except as the optimization of flawed metrics: GDP, "growth," money as happiness, etc.
Thanks Bheither. I like your electric chain saw idea. I've got an old tractor (no tags 
) for cleaning up the woods. Do you have a well? How are you powering your well? They are usually power hungry.Cold water can go a long way in keeping cool in the summer.
Ag.
That Council on Foreign Relations article is astonishing.
Zero Hedge has the full text.
I've included two particularly egregious paragraphs below:
Those who don’t like the idea of cash giveaways, however, should imagine that poor households received an unanticipated inheritance or tax rebate. An inheritance is a wealth transfer that has not been earned by the recipient, and its timing and amount lie outside the beneficiary’s control. Although the gift may come from a family member, in financial terms, it’s the same as a direct money transfer from the government. Poor people, of course, rarely have rich relatives and so rarely get inheritances -- but under the plan being proposed here, they would, every time it looked as though their country was at risk of entering a recession.So to summarize:Unless one subscribes to the view that recessions are either therapeutic or deserved, there is no reason governments should not try to end them if they can, and cash transfers are a uniquely effective way of doing so. For one thing, they would quickly increase spending, and central banks could implement them instantaneously, unlike infrastructure spending or changes to the tax code, which typically require legislation. And in contrast to interest-rate cuts, cash transfers would affect demand directly, without the side effects of distorting financial markets and asset prices. They would also would help address inequality – without skinning the rich.
- Its not a giveaway, it's like everyone gets a dying rich uncle each time a recession looms!
- Business cycles need to be stamped out - and we can do it through handing out free money!
- There are no unintended consequences, nobody loses, and inequality gets fixed!
- Recessions are all about Too Much Saving and Not Enough Spending. Free money fixes this!
- And the best part is, it is SUPER EASY TO DO!
Looking at the labour angle from a different perspective; I recall reading, a long time ago, that automation was meant to assist the factory worker by reducing the amount of human labour necessary for production whilst retaining the labourer's wage. The theory went something like this - you currently work 40 hours a week, we get a robot to do half your shift, you still get paid the same because production output is the same. Now i will concede those events did not transpire directly. Human labour was outsourced east due to cost, workers in the west lost their jobs, the west automated to reduce/eliminate the cost of labour even further to remain competitive. The east is in the process of following. However, all of those jobs disappearing forced people onto welfare/social credit. Welfare is funded either by taxation or deficit spending (call it bond purchases, printing money, expanding balance sheets, QE, whatever - I don't care what the magic trick is called anymore). Now for my opinion - the only logical way out is to tax the productive companies even more to cover the cost of the interest on the loans. Therefore, machines are used to produce the goods whilst people sit at home and receive the money they require from government to purchase these goods and keep the whole thing rolling. Under this system of ultra low interest rates why can't deficit spending go on forever? Knowing full well that if it stops the unproductive members of society go without credit? Starving people not only get angry, they tend to break stuff and anyone who is around trying to stop them from breaking stuff.
Admittedly, more automation won't set the masses free but it will keep them alive. Not quite the worker's paradise of Soviet dreams…
more like…
but such is the cost of our little experiment. Then again, you get what you 'pay' for
Thanks Bheithir and Aggrivated for the wood gas links! I wasn't aware of this option before, and so appreciate learning about it, and getting a couple of good links to start with.
Thanks also, Aggrivated, for the introduction to Zeus Yiamouyiannis', PhD's, website, www.CitizenZeus.com. Any friend of Charles Smiths' automatically warrants a look as far as I'm concerned.:) The ideas he presents at the site, which are very consistent with our thinking here, have captivated my interest: the need for us to proactively taking responsibility for change at the grassroots level (leaning into the pointy stick) vs letting it "happen to you". I look forward to ordering his book, "Transforming Economy: From Corrupted Capitalism to Connected Communities" as soon as it comes out in hardcopy form.
Funniest video ever Mark-BC. Thanks!
Thanks for super informative Nomi Prins interview video KugsCheese. I had forgotten to check out " All the Presidents Bankers."