US Politics

[Mark F]

29 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

you need X amount of cars on the road to justify investment in charging stations but no one wants to invest in stations if no one is using them.

The car culture was partly made possible in North America by the construction of the Highways built in the fifties, under a Republican plan, and paid for with government money.

"The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, popularly known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (Public Law 84-627), was enacted on June 29, 1956, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill into law. With an original authorization of US$25 billion for the construction of 41,000 miles (66,000 km) of the Interstate Highway System supposedly over a 10-year period, it was the largest public works project in American history through that time."

US currently has money budgeted for interstate highway charging stations. Don't know if Trump and Ryan will delete that.

Electrification in Canada was paid for by governments. Otherwise there'd be no electrical power in rural Canada.

That's part of how charging stations will get built.

Musk will probably build some as well.

 

 

Edited March 15, 2017 by Mark F

[Fatty Liver]

19 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Im the farthest thing from an expert in electric cars, but isnt part of the issue the chicken & egg thing - you need X amount of cars on the road to justify investment in charging stations but no one wants to invest in stations if no one is using them.

Also, has the technology advanced to where we can have an electric vehicle in Manitoba?

Charging stations are pretty invisible but they're now common in BC and AB.  The infrastructure is cheap, they're sometimes nothing more than an electrical box and a couple of outlets on the wall of a service station, located near the air pump.  I saw a Tesla charging station for the first time last week in Revelstoke and it was just a couple of stalls in the parking lot of a major hotel.

[The Unknown Poster]

6 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

Charging stations are pretty invisible but they're now common in BC and AB.  The infrastructure is cheap, they're sometimes nothing more than an electrical box and a couple of outlets on the wall of a service station, located near the air pump.  I saw a Tesla charging station for the first time last week in Revelstoke and it was just a couple of stalls in the parking lot of a major hotel.

And what's the payment method and cost versus gassing up?

[Fatty Liver]

1 hour ago, The Unknown Poster said:

And what's the payment method and cost versus gassing up?

I honestly have no idea but it does take some time to recharge the battery so this is not something you do without pre-planning.  Typically most recharging will occur at home overnight and the cost will be buried in your Hydro bill.

Edited March 15, 2017 by Throw Long Bannatyne

[yogi]

16 hours ago, Adrenaline_x said:

Man made climate change is very real and global warming is a fact of life.   There is 3% of scientists that disagree, which doesn't mean anything.   97% agree it's true.

Unless there's consensus I don't want to hear about it. I refuse to use toothpaste until 5 out of 5 dentists recommend it.

[Rich]

8 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

I honestly have no idea but it does take some time to recharge the battery so this is not something you do without some pre-planning.  Typically most recharging will occur at home overnight and the cost will be buried in your Hydro bill.

My understanding is that right now it is a value add.  Stay at our hotel, eat at our restaurant, charge for free.

If a large percentage of the cars out there switch to electric, they obviously can't keep doing that for everyone.  But for now it is a good way to get charging stations out there.

If a large percentage of people switch to electric cars, does this make the price of coal sky rocket?  Or is there still an energy savings in the amount of coal it would take to charge a car battery vs. gasoline to power it?

[Fatty Liver]

2 minutes ago, Rich said:

My understanding is that right now it is a value add.  Stay at our hotel, eat at our restaurant, charge for free.

If a large percentage of the cars out there switch to electric, they obviously can't keep doing that for everyone.  But for now it is a good way to get charging stations out there.

If a large percentage of people switch to electric cars, does this make the price of coal sky rocket?  Or is there still an energy savings in the amount of coal it would take to charge a car battery vs. gasoline to power it?

I think the only two provinces relying heavily on coal for electricity production are AB. and Sask. and AB. is now moving away from it.  The U.S. may be completely different.

[Rich]

7 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

I think the only two provinces relying heavily on coal for electricity production are AB. and Sask. and AB. is now moving away from it.  The U.S. may be completely different.

For sure.  I was thinking of the impact more in the states.

[Fatty Liver]

1 hour ago, johnzo said:

I'm sure you know that government interventions -- mileage requirements, subsidies, tax credits, emission regulations/targets -- are a major driver in electric vehicle development. The EPA is the agency that designs and enforces a lot of those interventions.

Also, George Soros is a Tesla investor, and the US government is helping to prop up Tesla right now, giving their buyers a $7500 tax credit. More tax money funneled into his pockets! Tho I don't know how Al Gore gets his cut.

Good point, I'm sure Trump will try to sabotage the subsidies to electric vehicles and redirect them back into the pockets of oil and auto execs. where they rightfully belong. 

[johnzo]

Wikipedia has a breakdown of recent generation trends in the USA:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_of_the_United_States#Electricity_generation

Coal and natural gas each account for about a third of our total generating capacity as of a couple years ago. Coal is trending downwards and gas is trending upwards. Coal is getting hammered from all sides: it has to compete with both cheap natural gas and politically sexy renewables. And it's ugly, when its burned it pollutes like crazy and mountains are literally destroyed to mine it. 

There's a lot of news down here about coal miners being a perfect Trump constituency: entire towns in the US coal belt are dependent on a failing industry that government has been eager to regulate.

[Fatty Liver]

5 minutes ago, johnzo said:

Wikipedia has a breakdown of recent generation trends in the USA:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_of_the_United_States#Electricity_generation

Coal and natural gas each account for about a third of our total generating capacity as of a couple years ago. Coal is trending downwards and gas is trending upwards. Coal is getting hammered from all sides: it has to compete with both cheap natural gas and politically sexy renewables. And it's ugly, when its burned it pollutes like crazy and mountains are literally destroyed to mine it. 

There's a lot of news down here about coal miners being a perfect Trump constituency: entire towns in the US coal belt are dependent on a failing industry that government has been eager to regulate.

"King Coal" is alive and well in many states like West Virginia and Kentucky.

Below is a good documentary on the destructive nature of strip mining coal and the effects it has on locals.  To summarize "reclamation" is bullshit.

 

 

[johnzo]

Speaking of EPA mileage regulations....

 

[The Unknown Poster]

Whats the purpose of relaxing regulation, just to create more demand for oil and make the oil peeps wealthier?  Seems like a wholly negative scenario to the general public who voted for Donald "Little Guy" Trump...

[johnzo]

The "general public" is kind of a nebulous concept.  Part of what makes the USA so chaotic is that the general public contains multitudes of people with values that aren't super compatible.

Example: the federal government owns scads and scads of western land in sparsely-populated states like Montana and Utah. Grazing rights on those lands are highly highly regulated.  Environmentalists, vegetarians, hikers and campers .. none of these folks want expanded grazing on federal lands.  Beef ranchers feel differently, and beef ranching is huge in the western US, economically and culturally. So who do we regulate in favor of?

[The Unknown Poster]

Well changes that cost drivers more and make oil companies richer is probably something most Americans can agree is a less than desirable policy. 

How can anyone take a government seriously when they employ this level of hyperbole and nonsense:

 

[The Unknown Poster]

Presidenting is hard

 

[SpeedFlex27]

21 hours ago, Adrenaline_x said:

Man made climate change is very real and global warming is a fact of life.   There is 3% of scientists that disagree, which doesn't mean anything.   97% agree it's true.

someone needs to make real changes to stop global warming and Obama lead the charge. Was it the most affective? Probably not, but you now have china moving to greener forms of hydro generation and will now be leading the charge.   This is a huge development over the past few years.

doing nothing is not an option anymore, and changes and having to adapt are going to be costly but green technology costs are falling and if the US funds and promotes green technologies they will be well positioned to profit from it.

 

 

#fakenews

[kelownabomberfan]

9 hours ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

No denying it KBF, you'd look pretty spiffy in a Tesla Roadster.  Charging stations are here, I hope to make the move in the next 4-5 years as prices come down for electric vehicles.  Technologically this should have happened 50 years ago.

if you are ever in Kelowna and need to find charging stations I can let you know of a few.  There's a charging station at Mission Hill winery on the West side and a charging station in the parking lot at Home Depot in Kelowna.

[tacklewasher]

9 hours ago, kelownabomberfan said:

 and a charging station in the parking lot at Home Depot in Kelowna.

Where? I'm in there weekly and have never seen it. Are they hiding it in the back?

ETA: Ahhh. Found it on google. More at the nearby hotel than Home Depot. No wonder I've not seen it.

Edited March 16, 2017 by tacklewasher

[Wideleft]

16 hours ago, johnzo said:

The "general public" is kind of a nebulous concept.  Part of what makes the USA so chaotic is that the general public contains multitudes of people with values that aren't super compatible.

Example: the federal government owns scads and scads of western land in sparsely-populated states like Montana and Utah. Grazing rights on those lands are highly highly regulated.  Environmentalists, vegetarians, hikers and campers .. none of these folks want expanded grazing on federal lands.  Beef ranchers feel differently, and beef ranching is huge in the western US, economically and culturally. So who do we regulate in favor of?

Actually, when ranchers and the Bureau of Land Management work together, they can usually come up with an arrangement that works pretty well for everyone.  There was lots of news coverage about this during the Malheur Refuge takeover in Oregon.  Ranchers like Cliven Bundy who seem to have the loudest voice and the most radical supporters unfortunately are the one's who get heard most.  There was a lot of reporting that described how Malheur was becoming a model for rancher/BLM cooperation, until the Bundys stuck there noses (and guns) where they didn't belong.

 

[Wideleft]

18 hours ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

I honestly have no idea but it does take some time to recharge the battery so this is not something you do without pre-planning.  Typically most recharging will occur at home overnight and the cost will be buried in your Hydro bill.

The now 94 year old inventor of the Lithium-Ion battery is now working on a glass-based battery which he estimates will hold a charge for 600 miles, recharges in minutes and is not as negatively effected by cold (until -20 C).  Punch John B. Goodenough into your google news machine for more info.

 

[The Unknown Poster]

Is this true?

 

[do or die]

59 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Is this true?

 

Hey, he is only Trump's top counter-terrorism adviser........not sure what the concern would be.

[SpeedFlex27]

On ‎3‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 9:38 PM, Adrenaline_x said:

Man made climate change is very real and global warming is a fact of life.   There is 3% of scientists that disagree, which doesn't mean anything.   97% agree it's true.

someone needs to make real changes to stop global warming and Obama lead the charge. Was it the most affective? Probably not, but you now have china moving to greener forms of hydro generation and will now be leading the charge.   This is a huge development over the past few years.

doing nothing is not an option anymore, and changes and having to adapt are going to be costly but green technology costs are falling and if the US funds and promotes green technologies they will be well positioned to profit from it.

 

 

This is not #fakenews. This is #realnews. We raise windows in Alberta.

 

 

[The Unknown Poster]

Nothing to see here. Move along