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SCOTUS: Clean Air Act Trumps Emissions Lawsuits

schwit1 writes "The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a global warming lawsuit against five big power companies, its most important environmental ruling since 2007 and a victory for the utilities and the Obama administration. The justices unanimously overturned a ruling by a US appeals court that the lawsuit now involving six states can proceed in an effort to force the coal-burning plants to cut emissions of gases that contribute to climate change. In a defeat for environmentalists, the Supreme Court agreed with the companies that regulating greenhouse gases should be left to the Environmental Protection Agency under the clean air laws. The ruling stemmed from a 2004 lawsuit claiming the five electric utilities have created a public nuisance by contributing to climate change. The lawsuit wanted a federal judge to order them to cut their carbon dioxide emissions."

303 comments

  1. Chalk up another one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    For the Obamanator.

    1. Re:Chalk up another one... by what2123 · · Score: 1

      The most informative show for kids these days.

    2. Re:Chalk up another one... by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 1

      I thought it would be more along the lines of "Mr. Obama's Neighborhood".

      Can you say, "Hope and Change?" I thought you could! Bwahahah!

  2. Yes, the EPA by elrous0 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Supreme Court agreed with the companies that regulating greenhouse gases should be left to the Environmental Protection Agency

    Yes, and I'm sure they're going to start doing that any day now.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:Yes, the EPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No doubt. The EPA is a joke. I will see that when they start dealing with all the abnormalities (cancer, miscarriages, etc.) in Louisiana from the oil processing plants.

    2. Re:Yes, the EPA by HBI · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      The government is working as designed.

      Green types who want to cripple our lifestyle and economy in the name of reducing CO2 emissions will have to convincingly win an election with a clear mandate to do so.

      It isn't happening anytime soon.

      --
      HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
    3. Re:Yes, the EPA by jhoger · · Score: 5, Informative

      The complainants were smacked down unanimously simply because suing the power companies is the wrong target. They are free to sue EPA once it hands down regs, and SCOTUS made this clear. I'm not sure why they thought anything different would happen here.

    4. Re:Yes, the EPA by God'sDuck · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Green types who want to cripple our lifestyle and economy in the name of reducing CO2 emissions will have to convincingly win an election with a clear mandate to do so.

      Change != cripple.

    5. Re:Yes, the EPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      They should be winning elections if the people were smart.

      Most lifestyles won't be effected by high-tech green changes as much as when oil starts to become harder to find and more people around the world can afford it.

    6. Re:Yes, the EPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Considering that the greenhouse theory is inoperative, they won't be able to do so if people are rational. I'm not holding out any hope.

    7. Re:Yes, the EPA by jhoger · · Score: 0

      I think you're overreading this ruling. The EPA is quite likely to be the blunt instrument for regulating CO2, and they are required to under the Clean Air Act.

      Better would be a significant energy bill but Republicans and Conservadems have made a more intelligent approach impossible.

    8. Re:Yes, the EPA by RazzleFrog · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Right or wrong - the courts shouldn't be making laws - that's congress's job.

    9. Re:Yes, the EPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You wanna know what's going to cripple your lifestyle? Running out oil.

    10. Re:Yes, the EPA by ninetyninebottles · · Score: 2

      The complainants were smacked down unanimously simply because suing the power companies is the wrong target.

      Wait what? Suing the people polluting and causing the problem is the wrong target and they should be suing the government agency that has not had the power to do anything yet? How does that make any sense? Regardless of if it is illegal to use asbestos in buildings, citizens should still have the right to sue companies that sell it to builders and willfully ignore the scientific evidence of its harmful effects. Likewise citizen should still be able to sue power companies for poisoning them and causing damage to crops and businesses by contributing to global warming... if they can demonstrate scientifically that is what is happening.

    11. Re:Yes, the EPA by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Because, of course, nature is subservient to elections.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    12. Re:Yes, the EPA by RazzleFrog · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Releasing CO2 isn't illegal as long as it falls within current regulations. Suing the power companies is like me suing smokers (who are smoking in legal places).

    13. Re:Yes, the EPA by Artagel · · Score: 2

      The regulatory processes grind exceedingly slowly. If EPA rushes something, it opens itself to having its justifications found to lack substantial evidence. Also, if it proposes rules that are too strict, it could goose Congress into taking the matter off of EPA's plate. Also, if you are Obama, this is something for your second term. Doing something fast that turns out to be unpopular could be his undoing. So I expect the Notice to be released mid-November, 2012.

    14. Re:Yes, the EPA by cirby · · Score: 2

      Wait what? Suing the people polluting and causing the problem is the wrong target and they should be suing the government agency that has not had the power to do anything yet?

      Except that they have, since the 2007 case.

      The EPA issued a ruling in 2009 which says so explicitly, listing CO2 with several other gases which could be considered pollutants because of potential greenhouse effects.

    15. Re:Yes, the EPA by Rei · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Precisely. Anthropogenic global warming cannot exist if the average voter doesn't believe in it. ~97-98% of active, publishing climate scientists be damned; they're not a majority of the electorate.

      It's just like how God exists if you can't fathom the concept of living in a universe without a God.

      --
      Seen on a Japanese food processor: "Not to be used for the other use."
    16. Re:Yes, the EPA by ninetyninebottles · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Releasing CO2 isn't illegal as long as it falls within current regulations. Suing the power companies is like me suing smokers (who are smoking in legal places).

      Sure, that's a fine analogy. Say you're in one of the few counties that still allows smoking in jail cells. Say you have severe asthma and the guy in the next cell is smoking. You tell him about the condition and ask him to stop and he tells you to fuck off and that it's legal and he doesn't care if it harms you. Yeah, you should absofuckinglutely have the right to sue him. That's what lawsuits are for, resolving conflicts where a crime is not being committed, but where the rights of two people or corporations are in conflict. You'll note I made the analogy a bit more specific, since we are all pretty well trapped in the prison cell called Earth. In the same vein, if you grow up with your parents smoking, knowing the health problems, yeah you should be able to sue your parents for forcing you to be subject to second hand smoke and if you can demonstrate it is because of the smoking, you should win and they should pay your medical and compensate you for the pain and suffering and reduced lifespan. Just because it is legal does not mean you're free from responsibility for your actions when they hurt others.

    17. Re:Yes, the EPA by blair1q · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I haven't read the law that created the EPA, but,

      Either the plaintiffs didn't read that law and it clearly states that anyone is exempt from being sued as long as they follow EPA regs, or the Supreme Court inferred that anyone who follows EPA regs is indemnified but it doesn't actually say that in the law.

      With woo-woo plaintiffs and a classic Alice-in-Wonderland Supreme Court, I give it a 50-50 shot that it went either way.

      Except that this was a unanimous decision, and I know at least 3 of these justices know enough to read the law before voting on it.

    18. Re:Yes, the EPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The problem with this discussion is that it deals with a broad range of people.

      It's "green" to want us off coal burning plants if there are better options with minimal (or no) cost difference. I think most would say this is rational.

      Then there are those I've heard (on this very site) suggest that we should start the systematic sterilization of humans because we're damaging mother earth. I think most would say that's a sociopath.

      People are people and they're all different. Meanwhile, stupid labels are almost always stupid.

    19. Re:Yes, the EPA by RazzleFrog · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, if its legal to smoke in the jail cell you would lose.

    20. Re:Yes, the EPA by jellomizer · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Change = Cripple when you don't have a solid plan, or expect 300 million to change there ways very quickly.

      "Oh I am sorry you need to leave you house now because it is too far of a commute for you, we want you to move to a crowded, noisy and full of crime city. I don't care if you own the house, that makes it worse that means you are rich and therefore must give up more, I don't care how much harder you worked to get the money you must all live like us"

      If you want Green you will need to come up with ways that would not cause people to change their way of life that they worked hard to obtain.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    21. Re:Yes, the EPA by blair1q · · Score: 1

      If the coal industry doesn't follow the law, it doesn't matter who makes them.

      And the coal industry is notorious for ignoring the law in brazen and voluminous manner.

    22. Re:Yes, the EPA by gman003 · · Score: 2

      The problem with your logic is that it doesn't make sense to have the power companies regulate their own emissions, which is actually what you're arguing for (albeit in a roundabout way, by having them sued anytime they break some undefined limit). Think about it this way - if you argue that you can sue the power company for failing to not cause climate change, then you are implicitly stating that the power companies are responsible for regulating climate-change-causing things. It makes far more sense, legally, to sue the EPA for failing to perform its essential function, just as you can sue the FDA for failing to regulate food quality, or sue the FAA for failing to regulate air transport.

    23. Re:Yes, the EPA by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      hehe....I think that's what the Supremes said there. EPA is legislated by congress to manage the situation. Whether they do it or not.....

    24. Re:Yes, the EPA by RazzleFrog · · Score: 1

      Well in 2009 the EPA released a report saying - this stuff is really f-ing up the place so Congress you either create some legislation or we'll use the powers you granted to us under the Clean Air Act to regulate it ourselves.

      Now if the EPA regulates it themselves then there is a chance that somebody will contest whether the Clean Air Act actually gives them that authority and if they lose then the EPA is even more toothless than it is now. If on the other hand Congress passes a law it has a better show of not being overturned and it doesn't invalidate the Clean Air Act.

      Of course, Congress is heavily Republican right now and even the Democrats don't want to do something that will jeopardize commerce at this point. It's basically a political stalemate until the economy improves.

    25. Re:Yes, the EPA by Duradin · · Score: 2

      Some people thought the Great Leap Forward was a great idea.

    26. Re:Yes, the EPA by TheSpoom · · Score: 1

      In other words, you can punish someone, as long as it's ultimately yourself.

      --
      It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
      - E. Debs
    27. Re:Yes, the EPA by MobyDisk · · Score: 2

      Not so. Civil suits are not bound by whether or not the activity is legal. They are bound by the ability to prove damages. It is legal to throw rocks, but if you damage my car when doing so I can sue you for the damage.

    28. Re:Yes, the EPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A sues B for creating a public nuisance. Where exactly does legislation come into play?

    29. Re:Yes, the EPA by ninetyninebottles · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Unfortunately, if its legal to smoke in the jail cell you would lose.

      You're not very familiar with US law are you? Let me be real clear here. Legal != you'll win a lawsuit. It's not illegal to serve scalding hot coffee, but McDonalds lost. It's not illegal to own a trampoline or pool and have it in your backyard unattended, but a great many people have lost lawsuits over doing just that. It's not illegal to own animals, but if one of your animals escapes and hurts someone, you better believe you're going to lose a lawsuit. Maybe you need to look into the phrase "civil law".

    30. Re:Yes, the EPA by idontgno · · Score: 1

      Unless, of course, there's a standing federal law in place which proclaims that it has highest precedence (per the Supremacy Clause), and that smoking is not harmful for all purposes under the law... So, obviously, you can't sue for any damage, because under the controlling law, smoking is incapable of causing damage.

      Analogies suck. Nonetheless, in US environmental law, a substance widely held to be a pollutant is not, in legal fact, a pollutant until the EPA blesses it thus. So you can no more sue a utility for CO2 than you can sue them for water vapor or warm air, because in the eyes of the EPA's rules, they're all equally innocuous.

      And no, in this case, state case law will never be permitted to trump the Federal government's administrative rule-making ability.

      If you want CO2 emissions lowered by law, you have to start at the top: sue the EPA and force them to change their rules. Otherwise, utilities would have to work with a ridiculous and inconsistent mesh of local, county, state, and federal laws, rules, and courtroom findings.

      --
      Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
    31. Re:Yes, the EPA by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Also, if you are Obama, this is something for your second term. Doing something fast that turns out to be unpopular could be his undoing. So I expect the Notice to be released mid-November, 2012.

      So far, I haven't seen Obama do much to make himself popular. The righties all hate him just because he's not a Republican, and his own base isn't too happy with him because he turned into Bush-lite as soon as he got elected. The Dem voters seem to be split between those who are pissed at him because he lied to them about hope & change and then didn't change anything, and those who blindly support him and make up all kinds of crazy excuses for his lack of change that he promised.

      I'm hoping the Dems will nominate someone else in their primaries, but right now things aren't looking good because it looks like we'll have a race between Obama and Sarah Palin, and Palin just might win because of the Dem voters being fractured by Obama's terrible performance, or by the Dems not bothering to show up if Obama gets the nomination.

      Remember, back during the Bush years, I didn't have to worry much about my 6-year-old being molested at the airport. Now with Obama in charge, I do.

    32. Re:Yes, the EPA by ninetyninebottles · · Score: 1

      The problem with your logic is that it doesn't make sense to have the power companies regulate their own emissions, which is actually what you're arguing for (albeit in a roundabout way, by having them sued anytime they break some undefined limit).

      Except I'm not arguing for undefined limits and regulation. I'm arguing for the right of people to sue those who harm them and have the courts decide whether or not that harm can be proved to the satisfaction of the jury. Power companies can absolutely afford to hire people to research how much risk they are posing to the community and decide for themselves what is needed to prevent causing harm to others. And if they underestimate that risk, well I guess a jury of 12 should be deciding if they were being willfully harmful and if those harmed deserve recompense.

      Think about it this way - if you argue that you can sue the power company for failing to not cause climate change, then you are implicitly stating that the power companies are responsible for regulating climate-change-causing things.

      Wow! What convoluted language. "Failure to not cause climate change" must be similar to "failure to not train a dog as an attack animal and then leave it unattended in public". Don't you feel a little silly using such rhetorical nonsense?

      In any case, I'm not implicitly stating that they are responsible for regulating climate change causing things. They're just responsible for their own actions, the same as everyone else! If McDonalds serves coffee at temperatures that are undrinkable and cause serious burns, someone suing them isn't holding them responsible for regulating all things that might burn, just for burning things they are giving to others and using; their own actions.

      It makes far more sense, legally, to sue the EPA for failing to perform its essential function, just as you can sue the FDA for failing to regulate food quality, or sue the FAA for failing to regulate air transport.

      And yet people can and do sue airlines for ignoring safety and food and drug companies for willfully poisoning us for profit and people have the right to sue them over it. I'm not seeing the difference here.

    33. Re:Yes, the EPA by MyFirstNameIsPaul · · Score: 1

      Because starting wars, operating with zero transparency, hiring lobbyists, having administrations officials quit to become lobbyists, schmoozing with lobbyists, supporting all manner of civil rights abuses, reaffirming the PATRIOT act, and just generally doing exactly what the Bush administration did, isn't 'undoing' him.

      --

      I once took an excursion to Reddit, and later HN. Unlimited up/down voting sucks when dealing with a hive-mind.

    34. Re:Yes, the EPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right or wrong - the courts shouldn't be making laws - that's congress's job.

      Yes, the court shouldn't be making laws, but if I understand correctly, the very issue at hand was whether or not
      its Congress' job. If air pollution isn't confined to staying within a given state's airspace (sounds silly when I
      put it that way, huh?) then it's "Interstate Commerce" and within the purvue of the regulatory agencies set
      up by Congress. If it's not Interstate Commerce (which is a stretch nowdays, since growing weed for personal
      use, where the plant never leaves your property is also deemed to be Interstate Commerce), then
      the states would be allowed to regulate it themselves, so they could indeed sue the power companies for
      failing to follow state law.

      So anyway, this is just another nail in the coffin of states.

      In a way, it makes sense. I generally prefer for states to have their own way of handling things, but in the end, they all share one single atmosphere. It's ok for Florida and Alaska to have different education or driving laws, and maybe even different "solid waste" pollution laws. But different air pollution laws, when everyone's pollution is all squirted into the same blender? Even as a fed-hater I think the EPA (and Congress above them) is the right authority.

      Please, no one bring up any points about the atmosphere also flowing across national borders. Take your Kyoto agreement and stick it up your-- hey, BTW, just to completely change the topic, what's with all the hatin' on us Americans? ;-)

    35. Re:Yes, the EPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If Congress should be doing anything, it's clarifying existing laws or removing some from the books. The legalese in the country is complete fucking obfuscation!

    36. Re:Yes, the EPA by presidenteloco · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You know, I think when it comes down to it, I think the problem is we're not teaching people HOW to believe.

      I don't mean WHAT to believe.

      I mean HOW. As in, how to arrive at justified levels of belief in a rational and consistent manner.

      I've pretty much come to the conclusion that most people are not that good at believing properly, or
      anywhere arguably even close to properly. The wrong conclusions being in the majority most of the
      time are then something of a foregone conclusion, given that when you don't know how to believe
      rationally, you typically just believe whoever you think is trustworthy, and charismatic slime-ball
      manipulators (overly self-interested leaders) sure know how to fake trustworthiness when there's
      something in it for them.

      --

      Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
    37. Re:Yes, the EPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm hoping the Dems will nominate someone else in their primaries

      Does this sort of thing ever happen? I don't remember even hearing about a Republican convention in 2004, and Bush was more hated by conservatives then, than Obama is hated by liberals now.

      Both branches of the Republicrat party make a pretty big deal about how important it is to be "loyal" to incumbents.

    38. Re:Yes, the EPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep, wait until the economy improves THEN your guys can get back to work at destroying it... Brilliant.

    39. Re:Yes, the EPA by s73v3r · · Score: 0

      Hey, fuck you, by the way. Because of your desire for cheap gas and cheap roads, I, a city dweller, get to pay more. If you don't want green, then pay the real costs of your cheap roads and cheap gas. Otherwise STFU.

    40. Re:Yes, the EPA by s73v3r · · Score: 1

      The problem is, Congressional Republicans are trying to remove any authority for the EPA to do so. Or at the very least, remove any funding for any actions that would (which should be unconstitutional).

    41. Re:Yes, the EPA by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Yes, it's happened several times in history.

      From http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090827010233AAJCv3o

      It has happened more than once, from the time of Jackson to Lincoln, we had nothing but one term Presidents and the incumbents were not all renominated by their party.

      1844 - John Tyler was elected VP in 1840 to William Henry Harrison, when he died Tyler became President and ran a program favorable to the Democrats rather than the Whigs. The Whigs kicked him out of the party and in 1844 nominated Henry Clay. The Democrats didn't trust Tyler either, so they nominated James Polk.

      1848 - James Polk was not renominated by the Democratic Party, instead they nominated Lewis Cass, who lost to Zachary Taylor.

      1852 - Millard Fillmore became the President upon the death of Zachary Taylor and when he signed the Compromise of 1850 became so unpopular that he was not renominated in 1852 by the Whigs. Instead they went with Winfield Scott who lost to the Democrat Franklin Pierce.

      1856 - Franklin Pierce was not renominated by the Democrats in 1856, instead they chose Democratic party hack James Buchanan. He was such a non-entity that he was not renominated in 1860 on any of the parties that the Democrats had broken up into over slavery.

      1868 - Andrew Johnson was not renominated by the Republicans, he was passed over for US Grant.

      1880 - James Garfield won the nomination over the sitting President Rutherford B Hayes.

      1884 - Chester A Arthur became President after Garfield was killed and James Blaine was nominated in his place.

      1928 - Calvin Coolidge became President upon the death of Warren Harding and was replaced on the Republican ticket in 1928 by Herbert Hoover.

      1952 - Harry Truman was replaced on the Democratic Ticket by Adlai Stevenson who lost to Ike.

      1968 - Lyndon Johnson was replaced on the Democratic ticket of 1968 by Hubert Humphrey who lost to Richard Nixon.

      It happens more often then one might think, I heard a few days ago that Hillary may once again challenge B.O. for the nomination in 2012.

    42. Re:Yes, the EPA by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      Actually, they will start doing so in 2013, if Obama is re-elected, but not before. The Obama Administration is afraid that if they start sooner, the price of electricity will rise too high before next year's election.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    43. Re:Yes, the EPA by Anonymous+Cowpat · · Score: 1

      no, you absolutely should have the right to sue the department of corrections (or whoever else it who runs the prison) for imprisoning you in an adjacent cell to someone whose lawful activity is causing damage to your health.

      --
      FGD 135
    44. Re:Yes, the EPA by ShakaUVM · · Score: 1

      You have your history wrong. The EPA was sued by environmental group and lost, meaning that they were forced to begin regulating CO2 as a chemical hazardous to human life under the Clean Air Act. Which is a perversion of the law, as it was only intended to regulate emissions with more acute toxicologies - not the vague in-a-hundred years it will kinda-sorta indirectly be hazardous thing that CO2 is.

      But the Supreme Court ruled they had to regulate it, so the current case (environmental lawyers looking for a payday by being able to sue every power plant in the country) was rightfully tossed out.

    45. Re:Yes, the EPA by s73v3r · · Score: 1

      Not so. There is lots of legal activity which gets involved in lawsuits, because it harms one party.

    46. Re:Yes, the EPA by flooey · · Score: 1

      Either the plaintiffs didn't read that law and it clearly states that anyone is exempt from being sued as long as they follow EPA regs, or the Supreme Court inferred that anyone who follows EPA regs is indemnified but it doesn't actually say that in the law.

      It's a little more complicated than that. The suit was based in common law, which is basically laws that are created by judges to handle cases that clearly are wrong but there isn't a law about. In this case, the power companies were sued for "nuisance", which is pretty much just the act of screwing up someone else's property.

      One of the rules of the US legal system is that actual laws displace common law in that area, because common laws aren't written down and the Supreme Court doesn't really like to rely on them. In this case, they said that since the Clean Air Act exists and addresses the particular behavior in question (even if it ultimately allows the behavior), the unwritten common law no longer applies. The major question was whether or not the state of having the act (and the previous Supreme Court ruling that said that it applies to carbon dioxide) but not having any regulations was enough to displace the common law, and the Court ruled that it was.

    47. Re:Yes, the EPA by s73v3r · · Score: 1

      Hasn't Congress pretty much said that they will not give the EPA the funds to do anything regarding climate change?

    48. Re:Yes, the EPA by gman003 · · Score: 1

      Let me phrase it this way then - how do you define "those who are harmed"? That itself is a very basic question any lawsuit must define before a court would even accept the paperwork. With something like climate change, "those harmed" would be... everyone. And who, exactly, could be better suited for taking a legal action on behalf of "everyone" than the government?

      You are making the mistake of assuming small-scale lawsuit logic applies at this scale. A single McDonalds serving coffee at an unsafe temperature, or a single power plant worker being injured due to unsafe work conditions, is literally several orders of magnitude smaller than the entire collective power industry being held responsible for emissions by lawsuits.

      And, while I'm arguing with you, I'll point out that the system you propose, where companies are held in check purely by consumer lawsuits against them, is completely infeasible simply because there would be no standardization. In the current system, the companies know what the limits are. XX million tons of CO2. XX parts per million of sulfur. Whatever the actual limits are, they are known. You could, and probably will, argue that the limits are too low, or too high, or were written in the wrong font size, but the limits are known. Under the kind of system you propose, the companies would have no idea where the boundaries are. Can they emit X tons? Is Y safe? Z? Even if they got emissions to nearly undetectable levels, they could still face lawsuits from anyone, because they can't point to the regulations and say "we are following all the laws and regulations passed by the appropriate government bodies".

      Let me make an analogy. Let's assume that there's a judicial ruling that food producers are legally liable for any effects their food has, including obesity. Obviously, then, there would be a major reduction in the fat and sugar content of food. But people would still get fat, because that's what people do - some people will overeat so much that they'll get fat living on a diet of carrots and soy. So those obese people decide to file a lawsuit against the food companies (who, in this theoretical scenario, are liable), and of course they win, at least sometimes, because most juries will accept the logic that "I ate food X, and now I'm fat" is valid. This goes on for a while - food companies keep reducing fat until literally everything is fat-free, keep reducing everything until it's all calorie-free too. And then everyone starves because you can't live off zero calories.

      Obviously, such a theoretical scenario is implausible - something in that system would have to change before that ending. That change would be "make a government thing that tells companies how much of X, Y and Z they can put in food". That system generally works for everyone's benefit - the people get an actual guarantee that food will have only X of Y, the companies get a guarantee that if they only have X of Y, they won't be sued, and the government gets the happy feeling that it did something right for a change.

      And you know what happens when someone decides that limit X isn't good enough, that we need limit Y? They go through the fucking legislative branch, get a law passed saying "the new limit is limit Y", or they go to the fucking executive body in charge of that particular limit and get them to change the regulations, The judiciary does not, except under the most extreme conditions, make laws. They decide if laws apply in certain cases, and they decide if one law violates some other law (often the Constitution), but they don't make them. Anyone who's made it through elementary school knows that.

    49. Re:Yes, the EPA by pdabbadabba · · Score: 1

      Basically the answer is neither. In general, the federal courts do not have their own common law. What common law they have has developed to solve very narrow problems. The courts don't like recognizing federal common law, but sometimes they deem it necessary when congress hasn't legislated in an area but the courts still need some way to resolve legitimate disputes. Against this background, then, when congress does pass a law that purports to addresses the same issue as preexisting federal common law, the courts back off, scrap the federal common law, and rely on the new legislation, because Separation of Powers 101 says that congress gets to do the law-making. This is called "displacement." (Courts do something similar when federal law overlaps with state law; that's called "preemption.")

      In this case, there is a federal common law of nuisance that exists to allow states to sue out-of-state polluters who harm "public rights" within their borders. The relatively recent case of Massachusetts v. EPA held that carbon emissions were within the scope of the EPA's mandate under the Clean Air Act. So the question arose: even in the absence of actual EPA regulations regarding greenhouse gases, does the Clean Air Act displace the federal law of nuisance when it comes to harms caused by greenhouse gases? The answer, evidently, is yes.

      As others have pointed out, though, if the EPA never gets around to actually making rules to cover greenhouse gas emissions, the EPA itself could be sued.

    50. Re:Yes, the EPA by msoftsucks · · Score: 1

      I guess you haven't been following the rulings by SCOTUS. This has been the most atrocious court in our entire history. Let me sum it up for you on how they vote.

      Company vs people, company wins
      Government vs people, government wins
      Company vs government, company wins.

      Suing the EPA is just a useless exercise.

      --
      Quit playing Monopoly with Bill.
      Linux - of the people, by the people, and for the people.
    51. Re:Yes, the EPA by Oxford_Comma_Lover · · Score: 1

      > I, a city dweller, get to pay more. If you don't want green, then pay the real costs of your cheap roads and cheap gas. Otherwise STFU.

      You are paying more to live someplace more desirable. That place would rapidly become less desirable if the interstate system stopped working.

      --
      -- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
    52. Re:Yes, the EPA by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      They should be winning elections if the people were smart.

      Most lifestyles won't be effected by high-tech green changes as much as when oil starts to become harder to find and more people around the world can afford it.

      It's actually pretty easy to find these days. Most of it stays where it's found, though, because of all the people saying "You can't drill there" or "Too bad that area is off-limits to development or mining of resources."

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    53. Re:Yes, the EPA by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The problem is, Congressional Republicans are trying to remove any authority for the EPA to do so. Or at the very least, remove any funding for any actions that would (which should be unconstitutional).

      Yea that threat is pretty toothless, since the Obama administration and all of his bureaucracies routinely ignore the law and courts these days. All the nuclear power plants are required to spend the money for packing and shipment of their nuclear waste to Yucca Mt., congress voted on the rules and decided that's where it's going, and the courts have all upheld that decision. Nevertheless, the DOE has unilaterally decided not to maintain Yucca or accept any spent fuel there.

      The FCC has done the same thing, with congress telling them they did not authorize them to regulate any "neutrality" rules, and the courts telling them they didn't have that authority, but they went ahead with their rules anyway.

      Now congress has told Obama that he needs authorization for the use of force in Libya, and all he did was write them a letter that basically said "fuck you I'll do what I want. Besides, you told Bush he could respond to the World Trade Center attacks, so I'm just following that rule."

      So congress, the courts, all worthless. Might as well just crown Obama the King and be done with the charade.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    54. Re:Yes, the EPA by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      Sure, that's a fine analogy. Say you're in one of the few counties that still allows smoking in jail cells. Say you have severe asthma and the guy in the next cell is smoking. You tell him about the condition and ask him to stop and he tells you to fuck off and that it's legal and he doesn't care if it harms you.

      If I were you, I'd keep my mouth shut. That guy has been in here a while you have kind of a sweet-looking ass, you know what I mean?

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    55. Re:Yes, the EPA by QuantumLeaper · · Score: 1

      I guess its Green not to live in a garbage dump. Though Oscar would love it....

    56. Re:Yes, the EPA by budgenator · · Score: 1

      Actually the warmists should be rejoycing,

      The ruling stemmed from a 2004 lawsuit claiming the five electric utilities have created a public nuisance by contributing to climate change. The lawsuit wanted a federal judge to order them to cut their carbon dioxide emissions

      It's very likely that the utilities could challenge that CO2 emissions cause climate change, then the plaintiffs would have the burden of proof, a burden that they very likely couldn't meet in court. Now the EPA just assumes that AGW is a given.

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    57. Re:Yes, the EPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I laughed out loud at that summary. The EPA is in corporate pockets and if it's our only hope, we're fooked.

    58. Re:Yes, the EPA by AK+Marc · · Score: 2

      And the weak-fed neo-cons want to cripple the regulatory agencies, except where they are protecting the mega-corps.

    59. Re:Yes, the EPA by AK+Marc · · Score: 2
      All it would take is taxing gasoline at a rate necessary for paying for the support of gasoline vehicles. Most countries do so, and end up with fuel twice (or more) as expensive as the US, and that's enough for people to make adjustments to their lifestyle. When your commute is $50 a day rather than $25 a day, then that's $14k rather than $7k in fuel. Moving closer to save $7k a year would make sense to more people. Or taking alternate transport (or lobbying for it if it doesn't exist). It will double eventually. The question is when, and will we be ready when it does. Increasing the taxes on fuel consumption (they are at one of the lowest levels they've ever been right now, they should have been linked to sales prices or at least inflation back in the '80s) will shift the cost of transport back out of the general fund and put the cost more on the shoulders of those who use it.

      The only "problem" with that is that the US has abandoned railroads. It's cheaper to use railroads now than a lot of the trucking traffic, but the US is addicted to trucking and has neglected rail for almost 100 years. The rest of the world has kept the balance and has a better kept rail infrastructure.

      If you want Green you will need to come up with ways that would not cause people to change their way of life that they worked hard to obtain.

      It will change. The question is whether it changes now, slowly, and under control, or whether it changes later, more quickly, and with no control. That you select the second option and hope you are dead by then makes you a selfish person. I prefer to sacrifice a little now to gain a lot later. It's called "investment" and it works out really well in most cases.

    60. Re:Yes, the EPA by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Intellectual thought is counter-intuitive. Humans, though smart, are not thinking creatures. We may dream, but that isn't rational thinking. Give us bread and circuses and we are happy and won't "think" about other things much. Once we learn something, we stop thinking about it. It takes greater effort to unlearn something than learn it. So what we are taught young becomes hard wired into our brains before we are even able to understand it. Teaching us how to believe after the belief is set in stone will not cause us to reevaluate our pre-existing beliefs and even if we did, we'd be mostly unable to apply the rules that were taught to us after.

      The single best predictor of political affiliation (or religion, or so many other traits) is what your parents believe. Parents ingrain beliefs into you before you are even able to spell beliefs.

    61. Re:Yes, the EPA by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Releasing CO2 isn't illegal as long as it falls within current regulations.

      That's simply not true. There have been a number of automobile safety rulings that make it clear that a federal regulation that requires something does not absolve anyone of civil or criminal responsibilities if they follow it. This came about because of things like the feds requiring airbags which Ralph Nader designed in a manner he knew would kill babies and purposefully didn't warn anyone because that might make them seem unsafe. So, when the car makers put them in according to federal regulations, they killed babies as Ralph Nader expected. Then they were sued. And they were responsible. Just like the libertarian nutjobs get on and say "you had a choice, you could have not bought the product" the courts said "you had a choice, you could have not made the product." It doesn't matter that not making it would have bankrupted them, the courts are clear that if there is a federal regulation, you must follow it, but it doesn't protect you from litigation.

      But then, the government may have been bought out a little better since then.

    62. Re:Yes, the EPA by Duradin · · Score: 1

      So you think all your rooftop gardens can feed your city?

      I wonder how long it would take most cities to go cannibal.

    63. Re:Yes, the EPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Moving closer to save $7k a year would make sense to more people.

      Thus increasing demand near certain work locations, driving prices up since housing supply is very slow to respond - esp. when city councils are anti-growth and won't allow any new development. Nice way to force the poor to live far away in cheap housing while the rich live close to work. Forget about the fact that the poor can now no longer afford to get to work without....

      taking alternate transport (or lobbying for it if it doesn't exist)

      Which is a huge waste of productivity, costs money, looks ugly (if they use overhead electric lines, or surface tracks).

      So basically you are for forcing the poor into housing areas that are far away from good jobs, and reliant on public transportation. So much for helping the little guys out. Next thing you know, someone will reply to this proposing that we just tax the rich and use the money to pay for houses for the poor in the affluent areas (hint: it doesn't work because of externalities in the low-income housing).

    64. Re:Yes, the EPA by AK+Marc · · Score: 1
      You assume jobs are concentrated. Being from Dallas, some of the cheapest real estate in the city was adjacent to down town, where jobs are usually concentrated. A similar effect happens in many other places. Short of New York (irrelevant because there is decent public transport) and California (irrelevant because, well, it's CA), it seems to be similar elsewhere. The high prices are in clumps a reasonable distance from downtown.

      If anything, it will revitalize slums because the rich will choose to move there and the nice areas they are vacating will sell for less.

      Next thing you know, someone will reply to this proposing that we just tax the rich and use the money to pay for houses for the poor in the affluent areas (hint: it doesn't work because of externalities in the low-income housing).

      Hmm, I've read about the failures of segregating the poor, and the successes of integrated poor, so I'm unclear what "doesn't work" means to you and where the failures were and what externalities you are thinking of.

    65. Re:Yes, the EPA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You made a shitty choice driven by culture and paranoia. And you don't want to be called or inconvenienced by it?

    66. Re:Yes, the EPA by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      What you are saying depends entirely on the purpose.

      Suppose I created a new substance and released it into the air and you got lung cancer. You could sue me (and win) for what I did.
      Suppose I put an known substance in the air covered by a pollution act that specifies how much I legally am allowed to put into the air, and you got lung cancer. You could sue me, and you would most definitely lose.

      This was the case with the baby killing. The creator knew, the government did not. That is quite different from the creator knew, the government knew, and the government purposefully prescribed the conditions which allow the problem anyway.

    67. Re:Yes, the EPA by tbannist · · Score: 1

      "Oh I am sorry you need to leave you house now because it is too far of a commute for you, we want you to move to a crowded, noisy and full of crime city. I don't care if you own the house, that makes it worse that means you are rich and therefore must give up more, I don't care how much harder you worked to get the money you must all live like us"

      That is ignorant prattle from an uninformed loon, of course, that's the point of building strawmen. The reality is more like "there will be a price of CO2 emissions, get used to it". Once we get past the idea that, horror of horrors, the markets will actually have to consider some of their externalities, it'll be a simple but still painful and drawn out change. The price placed on carbon emissions will rise over time and the costs of so-called dirty energy sources will rise until they are no longer economically more viable than so-called clean energy sources.

      The plan you are making up above would be the plan of last resort, and could only occur if the more market friendly carbon tax or cap and trade systems are allowed to be indefinitely blocked. The friendly systems are designed to take years (maybe decades) to ramp up into effectiveness to minimize the pain of transition. If there's no time left, then the government may be forced to issue that kind of regulation and frankly very few people want that. What could force it? Most likely international regulation. If the United States ends up being the last country (or one of the last countries) to deal with the issue, it could find itself economically embargoed. It may end up a matter of whether the United States should tax it's own CO2 emissions or whether every other country should collect the taxes instead.

      --
      Fanatically anti-fanatical
    68. Re:Yes, the EPA by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      I believe that it has happened in the past, but a sitting president facing a primary challenger is extremely rare.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    69. Re:Yes, the EPA by iiiears · · Score: 1

      Your thoughtful and clearly written ideas ignore an obvious element of human nature. There will be no slow, well planned, incremental change.

      Crisis is the catalyst for change.

                Large groups are influenced by those with the most to gain in things remaining the same.
                Individuals cannot accurately know or investigate all costs they just aren't obvious.

      Consensus is formed only after something is thoroughly broken. Do not read the story of Easter Island before bedtime. - :-/

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
    70. Re:Yes, the EPA by iiiears · · Score: 1

      Senator tbannist Would you like to run for a second term?
      Who will you seek donations from for your campaign?

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
    71. Re:Yes, the EPA by iiiears · · Score: 1

      Profit is policy. There are no limits to what is possible while there is profit in it. Until fossil fuels run out there will be enough profit in it to sway legislators. Have you seen the fiery water video on youtube it's hilarious...

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
    72. Re:Yes, the EPA by iiiears · · Score: 1

      It is much more efficient for an energy company to contribute campaign money to legislators that can reduce funding for the EPA. If i understand the ruling correctly Duke energy etal. have avoided a direct award of damages and have been given time to promote lawmakers that will influence the effect of EPA regulations.

      It's up to you to both VOTE and pay more for more influence (campaign funds) than corporations.

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
    73. Re:Yes, the EPA by iiiears · · Score: 1

      @Curunir_wolf
      This is no time for convenient fatalism. You have power.
      Soo.. Get off your lazy &*^ - Just get busy okay?
      Vote, Organize, Write a check get your neighbor and his neighbor to write a check.

      When the your legislator doesn't share your ideas buy a new one.

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
    74. Re:Yes, the EPA by aujus3 · · Score: 1

      The courts have been making laws (via stare decisis, i.e. precedence) for many decades now.

      --
      There are approximately 6,775,235,700 different kinds of people in the world.
    75. Re:Yes, the EPA by iiiears · · Score: 1

      Would you quit trying to confuse us with the facts. Honestly..

      The justices might of made a ruling but it wouldn't of been popular and campaign commercials would of blared endlessly about an activist court.

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
    76. Re:Yes, the EPA by iiiears · · Score: 1

      It just isn't ever that clear cut. Everyone faced with the decision to put airbags in cars weighed their choice. and decided less harm in the mandate.

      You weighed the risk of cancer against the pleasure of a cup of coffee this morning didn't you?
      Can you tell anyone at work today you don't care about cancer?

          No one is EVER going to admit they knew airbags would kill babies unless it is in their interest societal norms just don't allow anyone to say what they really thought.

      Let's see, Car analogy.. CHECK
      Coffee analogy... CHECK
      Nazi analogy coming in 3..2..1

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
    77. Re:Yes, the EPA by s73v3r · · Score: 1

      I would say the exact same thing for someone in the country. If it wasn't for the cheap gas and cheap roads, the parent poster would NOT be able to live the way he does, commuting however many miles from the suburb/country to work. Bitching that he's going to have to subsidize a switch to "green" power is completely hypocritical, as I've been subsidizing his lifestyle for years.

    78. Re:Yes, the EPA by s73v3r · · Score: 1

      Care to point out where I said anything like that? I just pointed out that, if it wasn't for those in the city subsidizing his gas and his roads, he wouldn't be able to live in the country with the level of comfort he currently enjoys. Therefore, bitching about having to subsidize "green" power is hypocritical.

    79. Re:Yes, the EPA by Duradin · · Score: 1

      How does your food get to your city?

      Roads and gas. Make those more expensive and you make your food more expensive and you need cheap food to have cities.

    80. Re:Yes, the EPA by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Disclaimer: I am not a libertarian.

      Just like the libertarian nutjobs get on and say "you had a choice, you could have not bought the product" the courts said "you had a choice, you could have not made the product."

      Nice troll. Please keep your hatred to yourself.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    81. Re:Yes, the EPA by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Using an accurate descriptor doesn't indicate hate. The only "hate" I saw is yours in relation to me explicitly stating the common libertarian-nut chant every time people say things like "the iPhone doesn't give me choice."

    82. Re:Yes, the EPA by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Using an accurate descriptor doesn't indicate hate

      Agreed. And, if you had used one, we wouldn't be discussing it.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    83. Re:Yes, the EPA by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Not all libertarians are nutjobs, just the nutjobs are. That you think they all are indicates that you are the one filled with irrational hate.

  3. Re:Whelp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Where did you get that from the story? You think this is actually a step towards strengthening regulation?

  4. Re:Whelp by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    We'll trade you the Stanley Cup for a discount.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  5. Re:Whelp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The true cost, once you factor in the health problems associated with the pollution caused by burning coal, is a hell of a lot higher than 30 or even 40 cents per kwh. Enjoy your cheap energy now, but make sure to put aside at least a hundred thousand dollars to treat your inevitable cancer and/or lung disease.

  6. Don't pay for power anymore by h00manist · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It would be nice if technology evolves so you could generate your own power easily, perhaps with a few neighbors - and not pay or support any company at all.

    --
    Build your own energy sources from scratch. http://otherpower.com/
    1. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is why I'd like to see more R&D done for "bathtub reactors", and smaller nuclear energy generation solutions. This way, a neighborhood can have a mini plant that can do 20-500 MW and not just be independent of the grid, but actually help keep pollution out of the filter scrubbing piles and the air. Couple this with solar and wind to help with peak demand, and it will go far for true energy independence.

    2. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by PIBM · · Score: 1, Interesting

      The most commonly found here are:

      Wind power
      Hydro power
      Solar power

      Depending on where you live, scratch some off, pick one of the remaining.

    3. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by h00manist · · Score: 1

      I wonder how many kWH can people manage to produce at home with today's technologies.

      --
      Build your own energy sources from scratch. http://otherpower.com/
    4. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      I like that idea. I want a breeder reactor. Give me a few years and I'll teach those people down the road there to let their dog crap in my yard. I think a 2KT yield should do the trick.

    5. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by jklovanc · · Score: 1

      Security is a concern with many small reactors. It would take quite a few of them to generate sufficient energy and ever one would be a target for terrorism. All it would take is a small bomb to cripple the coolant and/or crack the containment and you have a major disaster.

      I am actually for nuclear energy but on a larger scale where the risk and security is more concentrated.

    6. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      Can't build more Dams, the greenies wont allow it. I like the idea of Solar, as soon as I come up with 30grand I'm off the grid.

    7. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by peragrin · · Score: 1

      about 1-2 KWH if your lucky depending on location of course.

      Solar can never be more than 50% efficient(sun shines for ever more than 12 hours in the majority of the USA

      Wind runs about 25% efficient over a year(wind blows only so much

      Hydro requires destroying thousand of acres of usually good land to create enough water pressure to function best.(Most of the natural ones are all ready being tapped )

      I have looked into it over and over again. without a decent home sized electrical storage system that doesn't need a complete replacing every 5 years(that' how long batteries last folks) Solar and wiind home generation won't amount to much.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    8. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by Rei · · Score: 1

      SWEGS seems far more likely than that. 1MW per unit (~800 homes). Renewable. Baseload. No proliferation, safety, or environmental risks. Use virtually anywhere in the world.

      --
      Seen on a Japanese food processor: "Not to be used for the other use."
    9. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by marnues · · Score: 1

      Hopefully the people whose land the dam would destroy don't want the hydroplant either. Reverse NIMBY is a common target for us "greenies".

    10. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by Grishnakh · · Score: 2

      Solar and wind may not be good total replacements for a connection to your local electric power utility, but they can be very good supplements if the price is right. For instance, if you live in the southern states and use a lot of A/C, you need much more power in the daytime than at night; not coincidentally, solar arrays provide all their power in the daytime. If your utility charges you different rates at different times of day, then this can be a great way of keeping your house cool in the daytime without spending a fortune in utility rates.

      Also, you can build more solar generation capacity than you need, and sell the excess to the utility in the daytime (when rates are high), and then buy it back in the nighttime (when rates are low). Of course, this assumes you don't live in some shitty place where the utilities don't pay you for power you put back into the grid.

    11. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 1

      Or you lease the system through SolarCity, and pay your same monthly electric bill that covers the cost of your installed system. Very little to no upfront investment. Google just kicked $280 million into SolarCity for financing this sort of arrangement.

    12. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by peragrin · · Score: 1

      except unless your in a very very new small house you won't cover 1/4 of your AC bill. It has to be new, as then it was built with better thermal design, and insulation. NOw to assist your AC as well you can due a geothermal circulation system on top of the Solar your power bill goes up slightly but it should be offset by the A/C not working quite as hard.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    13. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You make it sound like environmentalists are being overbearing and idiotic. Try telling that to anyone living near the 10th largest freshwater lake on earth, which is now quickly becoming a dead lake.

      http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/natureofthings/2011/savemylake/

      Long story short, Manitoba Hydro is killing Manitoba.

    14. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since I too would love to be "off the grid" with solar power someday I went ahead and did the figures, you say 30 grand for solar. My average electric bill is about $120 a month, so it would take 250 months for the solar to pay for itself, or approx 20.83 years. I'm sure I would still like to do things at night, so I imagine I would still have a small electric bill for night time use, so lets just stretch that 20.83 out to about 25 years.

      25 freakin years for solar to pay off is a loooooooong ass time.

    15. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (wind blows only so much

      It must have gotten married

    16. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I produced 2080 kWh in the past 12 months with my $3000 PV system.

    17. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In 20 years time your electric bill will be way more than $120 a month, so it would not take you that long to pay off your initial investment. It still is a long term prospect, even if we do quibble about the number of years.

    18. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by budgenator · · Score: 1

      Look into Nickel Iron batteries efficiency isn't real great, 65%-80%, but they last half a century and take tons of abuse in stride.

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    19. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, his bill will be up, but so will his earnings -- his estimate is probably very close, presuming his solar plant provided all the electricity he required and that he factored in battery replacement (or if ultracaps ever reach the performance levels of batters re charge storage)

      fyngyrz, posting anon due to ridiculous and cowardly slashdot moderation policies.

    20. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by AmberBlackCat · · Score: 1

      It would be nice if technology evolves so you could generate your own power easily, perhaps with a few neighbors - and not pay or support any company at all.

      The supreme court would probably shut you down for creating greenhouse gases.

    21. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by Falconhell · · Score: 1

      I see so my parents house averaging 4kw/h per day from its 2 KW solar system doesnt exist eh? And those electricity bills that read "credit" are just my imagination. Riiiiight!

    22. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can. Depending on your definition of easily. Or rather, it's a choice between cheap and easy. You can't unfortunately have both.

      Your best choices right now, depending on where you live, are PV, wind or CHP.

    23. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Depends on where you live. My sister-in-law has a big house in Arizona that would be ideal for a solar setup (sprawling one-story house, essentially no cloud cover ever, etc)... but the homeowners' association forbids it.

    24. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by iiiears · · Score: 1

      Yes it would.
      Until the HOA Co-op next to yours decided on nuclear. J/k

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
    25. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by iiiears · · Score: 1

      "bathtub reactors" Are you serious? Your neighbor can't be bothered to trim his lawn.
      Next time see him, remind him he has my ladder.

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
    26. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by iiiears · · Score: 1

      Could you do it while i am work?
        My wife says she hates the noise.

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
    27. Re:Don't pay for power anymore by iiiears · · Score: 1

      There is Moore to what you say than you think.

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
  7. Well well... by CCarrot · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...sometimes they actually get it right. Sort of.
    Go figure.

    Now if they could only figure out that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant, and therefore does not fall under the Clean Air Act either...

    --
    "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    1. Re:Well well... by matty619 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Now if they could only figure out that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant, and therefore does not fall under the Clean Air Act either...

      Well, anything is a pollutant in high enough quantities, but sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. The climate WILL change. If not from AWG, then from something else. Perhaps a meteor strike, or a massive volcano, or decreased/increased solar activity. Better to focus on creating an upwardly mobile society that can more easily adapt to these inevitable changes than to risk making society poorer and therefore less able to adapt. Within reason of course. Not to advocate for slash and burn in the name of economic expansion, but we're not ready to run our economies on windmills and horse manure yet.

    2. Re:Well well... by CCarrot · · Score: 1

      The climate WILL change... Better to focus on creating an upwardly mobile society that can more easily adapt to these inevitable changes than to risk making society poorer and therefore less able to adapt.

      It's nice to hear a voice of reason on these boards every so often ;)

      If only we could stop making our kids neurotic about how much carbon daddy's lawn mower is emitting, and get back to making them neurotic about how many starving kids that leftover meatloaf mommy just threw out could have fed...at least the starving kids is a real, tangible (and heartbreaking) issue.

      --
      "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    3. Re:Well well... by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Now if they could only figure out that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant, and therefore does not fall under the Clean Air Act either...

      Well, anything is a pollutant in high enough quantities, but sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. The climate WILL change. If not from AWG, then from something else. Perhaps a meteor strike, or a massive volcano, or decreased/increased solar activity. Better to focus on creating an upwardly mobile society that can more easily adapt to these inevitable changes than to risk making society poorer and therefore less able to adapt. Within reason of course. Not to advocate for slash and burn in the name of economic expansion, but we're not ready to run our economies on windmills and horse manure yet.

      Sure, and the human race could go completely batshit insane and commit mass suicide. Why don't you test this theory first on yourself?

    4. Re:Well well... by marnues · · Score: 1

      No, the crappy motor in the lawn mower is real and tangible. It's not heartbreaking though, the strawman is quite sad. Starving Ethiopians are not tangible.

    5. Re:Well well... by CCarrot · · Score: 1

      No, the crappy motor in the lawn mower is real and tangible. It's not heartbreaking though, the strawman is quite sad. Starving Ethiopians are not tangible.

      Actually, I bet they are very tangible*. They're just not sitting right beside you, so it's harder to get worked up about them and therefore harder to get the kids involved in fundraising for them. Whereas that lawn mower is breaking the planet, so mommy and daddy should absolutely go out and buy an eco-certified one right now. And by the way, kids, here's a handy list of eco-friendly lawn equipment suppliers to show your parents...

      *I do not think that word means what you think it means...

      --
      "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    6. Re:Well well... by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 1

      If only we could stop making our kids neurotic about how much carbon daddy's lawn mower is emitting, and get back to making them neurotic about how many starving kids that leftover meatloaf mommy just threw out could have fed...at least the starving kids is a real, tangible (and heartbreaking) issue.

      Well, except that the leftover meatloaf couldn't have fed too many starving kids, it being in the wrong location and all. Moving it to the correct location involves burning carbon ;)

    7. Re:Well well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The reason we aren't ready is because the companies that currently are in power desire to stay in power as long as possible, and will make sure anything that can compete with them is silenced. The other reason is, people are lazy. They want NOW NOW NOW and don't give a damn about the future. And believing a fairy tale land waiting for you after you die helps people not care too.

      I agree with this ruling for democracy reasons, but hate it for environmental reasons. Like Congress will actually DO anything - most of them are bought and paid by the companies already in power that don't want anything to change.

    8. Re:Well well... by Rei · · Score: 2

      How is that reasonable? Yes, we *could* get struck by a meteor. But the odds of that happening any time soon are extremely small. Meteors big enough to cause large local or global extinction events are on the order of once every several tens of millions of years. Equivalently devastating volcanic disasters are more common, but not *that* much more common. Stars are generally amazingly stable until they near their death (I'd be happy to dig up some papers for you on this if you'd like), with interdecadal variations in output typically being a fraction of a percent and larger variations occuring only over extremely long timescales. There are plenty of other sources of climate forcing as well, mind you -- a notable one you left out is Milankovitch cycles, based on the procession of the Earth, which is the initial driver of ice age cycles (although they're amplified significantly by atmospheric feedbacks). But we're talking about a bunch of effects that are either very slow or very unlikely, versus something that 97-98% of active publishing climate scientists say is happening now. So how exactly are those situations comparable?

      If starving kids is a tangible and heartbreaking issue for you, then why do you care not about amplifying the rates of both severe drought events and severe flooding events? Severe flooding events is an especially significant concern, and there's already a solid, peer-reviewed linkage to our current rate of flooding events (global atmospheric water vapor has increased in line with predictions, the rate of major rain events has increased in line with the increased water vapor ratio, and of course major rain events are the cause of the majority of flood events).

      BTW, the kids shouldn't be neurotic about daddy's lawnmower so much because it's emitting CO2, but because those things have almost no pollution controls and the exhaust they emit is horrible for the mower's health. Unless you like breathing carcinogens and neurotoxins...

      Ever used an electric lawnmower? I love mine, and even if bizarro world happened, all science was inverted, and gasoline was shown to nurture unicorns while electricity made baby Jesus cry, I'd have trouble giving it up. It's quieter, lighter, stops and starts almost instantly just by holding down a lever, doesn't coat my lawn in soot, doesn't make me breathe in exhaust, I never have to mess with oil, etc, and it cuts better than my old gas mower.

      --
      Seen on a Japanese food processor: "Not to be used for the other use."
    9. Re:Well well... by Intrinsic · · Score: 1

      Im sorry, i have to call this out. Thats a fucking stupid way to look at things. You call it tangable because its easier to see the damage of a starving child, but because you can see the damage of the climate it someone less tangible?

    10. Re:Well well... by jd.schmidt · · Score: 2

      Now if they could only figure out that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant, and therefore does not fall under the Clean Air Act either...

      Well, anything is a pollutant in high enough quantities, but sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. The climate WILL change. If not from AWG, then from something else. Perhaps a meteor strike, or a massive volcano, or decreased/increased solar activity. Better to focus on creating an upwardly mobile society that can more easily adapt to these inevitable changes than to risk making society poorer and therefore less able to adapt. Within reason of course. Not to advocate for slash and burn in the name of economic expansion, but we're not ready to run our economies on windmills and horse manure yet.

      Sigh, I don't know of many climate scientist who advocate ending all use of fossil fuels. In fact every proposal I see has to do with limiting growth of CO2 emission in the near term.

      The hardest thing to get so many to understand is that climate change, indeed all pollution, is a balancing act. Yes there is a cost from reducing use of fossil fuels, but there is also a cost from retooling for new weather and other more human costs. Moving a farm, or switching from wheat to sugar cane isn't as simple as everyone seems to think. Worse yet, if you happen to live in one of the many physically smaller countries, if the good climate zone for what you are doing shifts to another country you are SOL.

      And for additional fun, if you keep dumping massive amounts of CO2, you get these problems every year without end. Accelerating climate change is in no one’s best interest. Climate will change no matter what, but rate of change matters (FYI, climate change from metor strikes are kind of bad)! Plus our kids just might want us to save some of that fuel for them.

      Ultimately this is supposed to be a technical question, comparing the costs of each path open to us. We need to compare our best scientific and economic models and make the most reasonable choices we can. But when one side is saying all the models provided by the scientists about climate change and effect are wrong, yet don’t provide any counter models for similar peer review, what is a reasoned person to think? It isn’t like the oil companies don’t have enough money to sponsor all the counter research they want, if only it would be submitted to peer review.

      I just don’t buy that pollution is no problem so long as we make more money, and I think historical fact in on my side here. As near as I can tell, that is what you seem to be advocating.

    11. Re:Well well... by matty619 · · Score: 1

      How is that reasonable? 97-98% of active publishing climate scientists say is happening now. So how exactly are those situations comparable?

      I guess it seems reasonable to me because even if you made the burning of any fossil fuel in the United States illegal tomorrow, there's still 150 or so years worth of CO2 in the atmosphere, and the developing world is still going to be building coal fired plants for the next couple of decades at a pretty aggressive clip. It seems more reasonable to me to do everything you can to grow the economy, so there's more money to fund research into clean alternatives. At the same time, you'll have a society well funded enough to deal with any negative impacts a changing climate might bring. Whether that change is due to CO2, or a volcano, or sunspots.

      There's a lot of momentum behind this changing climate, it is my opinion that our fate (whatever that may be) is more or less sealed. While paying more for electricity and fuel might make some of us feel better, I don't believe doubling our energy costs and decreasing CO2 emissions by 1/4 will make a damned bit of a difference to the climate.

      What WILL make a difference, is funding the development of clean alternatives, and it's hard to have money left over for funding these incredibly expensive and worthwhile projects, when you drive up the costs of *everything* for *everyone*.

      Rich societies develop the next leap in PV solar efficiencies. Poor societies just build more coal fired plants. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it :)

    12. Re:Well well... by CCarrot · · Score: 1

      versus something that 97-98% of active publishing climate scientists say is happening now.

      That's great...so why can't they provide raw, unprocessed data that shows it to be so? Whenever I look at any raw temperature dataset, I just can't see the 'warming trend' they're claiming. And even if the warming is happening (okay, it probably is, whether it's because of humans or not...), I still think we, as a people, can be ever so much more effective by focusing on mitigation of potential side-effects, rather than trying to mess with a process that, frankly, we don't fully understand. Especially since all of the the projected side effects are things that have happened and hurt us often in the past, and will happen in the future, regardless of what we do...so why not focus on giving people the tools to deal with these side-effects, rather than trying to remove any mitigation capability at all in hopes that if we appease the climate gods enough, disasters (flood, drought, typhoons, etc, etc.) won't ever happen again?

      If starving kids is a tangible and heartbreaking issue for you, then why do you care not about amplifying the rates of both severe drought events and severe flooding events?

      I do...therefore we should not be crippling developing economies' access to energy resources, which will ultimately provide the populace with the capability to defend against or mitigate such disasters whether they are caused by AGW, Gaia or plain old bad luck.

      Ever used an electric lawnmower?

      Ever calculate the carbon offsets for creating, transporting and using the electricity to power that lawnmower? Unless you have dedicated solar and/or wind power solely for recharging the lawnmower battery (which, by the way, will need more carbon offset credits to recycle come end of life), you probably need to draw power from the grid to be able to mow your lawn twice a week (typical around here, grass grows so fast!)

      Of course, the absolute best method for dealing with grass? Get a goat. You can even milk it and sell the milk/cheese! (no, I'm not kidding, although city and town by-laws make this unnecessarily difficult...especially considering the size of dogs they let people keep in a 300 sqft apartment...poor pups)

      --
      "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    13. Re:Well well... by Rei · · Score: 1

      That's great...so why can't they provide raw, unprocessed data that shows it to be so?

      Please tell me what data you find yourself unable to get.

      Whenever I look at any raw temperature dataset, I just can't see the 'warming trend' they're claiming.

      Please tell me what data you're looking at.

      Especially since all of the the projected side effects are things that have happened and hurt us often in the past, and will happen in the future

      [[citation needed]]

      I still think we, as a people, can be ever so much more effective by focusing on mitigation of potential side-effects

      Okay. Mitigate ocean acidification. Mitigate the polar shift and increasing kinks to the jet stream (read: severe weather, especially during winter). Mitigate the loss of 1-2m vertical from *all* our coastline this century. Mitigate an additional 1-2m added to all storm surges. Mitigate the loss of 30% of Florida within a couple centuries. Mitigate overseas places with worse problems and a fraction as much GDP to deal with them. Mitigate seasonal loss of water in desert southwest areas that are already using more water than they can sustain.

      Mitigation is a far more difficult, if not impossible task, when you actually get down to it.

      Nobody is asking that mitigation capacity be removed, anyway. Seriously, how much money do you think is being talked about here? We're talking about things like a couple cents per kWh for feed-in tarrifs on a temporary basis until cost reductions -- which have been ongoing, and will likely continue for quite some time -- no longer call for them. We're calling for things like making coal plants actually pay for the health costs of their pollution. We're calling for tens of billions per year -- a tenth of a percent of our economy -- to be put into research. We're talking about a long term energy strategy. Things of that nature, all of which will have huge secondary benefits down the line ("status quo" does not create technology revolutions). But we're asking that they start *now* and *definitively*, because delay and uncertainty are killers in the market.

      Ever calculate the carbon offsets for creating, transporting and using the electricity to power that lawnmower?

      Why should I do it when the DOE already has (for cars; lawnmowers makes for an even more stark comparison, due to their lower gasoline efficiency)? Plus, our grid gets cleaner every year, while oil gets dirtier every year.

      (which, by the way, will need more carbon offset credits to recycle come end of life),

      1) I prefer corded lawnmowers (they make both). My view is, you wouldn't use a battery powered vacuum cleaner, would you? But to each their own.

      2) The whole battery issue is pure, unadulterated garbage. *Every* part of *every* device, whether gasoline or electric, has a cost associated with it. Anyone who just chooses the battery to obsess over is deliberately distorting the issue. Batteries are not magical devices which for some mystical reason have exponentially more carbon costs associated with their creation and usage.

      Let's look at different types of batteries. The three main types you'll see these days are lead-acid (they suck, but they're cheap) and li-ion. Lead-acid is a very simple ore to produce. It doesn't need to be smelted (smelting being the high-carbon process used to produce steel); it's simply sintered (heated in conjunction with various fluxing agents). Beyond that, lead acid batteries are *the* most widely recycled item on the planet. Almost every single lead-acid battery in this country is recycled, which further saves on energy costs. So the comparison of a lead-acid battery to an internal combustion engine, as far as *car

      --
      Seen on a Japanese food processor: "Not to be used for the other use."
    14. Re:Well well... by Rei · · Score: 2

      I guess it seems reasonable to me because even if you made the burning of any fossil fuel in the United States illegal tomorrow, there's still 150 or so years worth of CO2 in the atmosphere,

      I just heard the logic train whiz by.

      "Why should I quit smoking? I've already got 15 years of smoking under my belt!"
      "Why should I stop working with asbestos? I've already done it for 15 years."
      "Why should I stop huffing paint thinner? I've already done it 15 times."
      "Why should I put out the fire in my hair? It's already been on fire for 15 seconds."

      If you acknowledge that something is a problem, then you Stop Doing It. Whether you've already done it, and whether your previous actions have consequences, is absolutely no reason to keep doing it and making the consequences worse

      and the developing world is still going to be building coal fired plants for the next couple of decades at a pretty aggressive clip

      Which is why we need to stop being an *obstacle* in climate treaties, and negotiate something fair to everyone. Which is why we need to put forth the (proportionally tiny) amounts of money needed to nurture the technology to get the costs down so that they become the cheapest tech. Which is why we should support international trade agreements which factor into account the environmental consequences of product manufacture (which, BTW, would boost domestic industry).

      FYI: even these developing nations are taking pretty major stands against climate change. China is building the world's biggest wind farm, the world's biggest solar plant, building a huge electric train network, has started instituting bans in a number of major cities against gas guzzlers, and so on. This is everyone's problem. Even Saudi Arabia is going big on solar.

      It seems more reasonable to me to do everything you can to grow the economy

      We're talking about things like 2 cent feed-in tarrifs and having coal plants actually pay for the health consequences of their non-carbon emissions. It's absurd that you act like such things are going to bankrupt the global economy or that they're "doubling energy costs" Nobody is talking about doubling energy costs (at least nobody seriously involved in the debate here). I refer you to the IPCC AR4 analysis of the economic costs of proposed mitigation strategies.

      it is my opinion that our fate (whatever that may be) is more or less sealed

      What's been done is more or less sealed. What we haven't yet done is not. Most effects are closer to exponential than linear.

      --
      Seen on a Japanese food processor: "Not to be used for the other use."
    15. Re:Well well... by Rei · · Score: 1

      Meh, I shuold porff raed. *Lead* is the lower carbon process, not lead-acid. And it should be mentioned that there is some coke burned the refining of lead, but a fraction as much as with iron.

      --
      Seen on a Japanese food processor: "Not to be used for the other use."
    16. Re:Well well... by CCarrot · · Score: 2

      Im sorry, i have to call this out. Thats a fucking stupid way to look at things. You call it tangable because its easier to see the damage of a starving child, but because you can see the damage of the climate it someone less tangible?

      No, I call climate 'damage' intangible because we don't actually know or have any way of measuring what 'climate' is, much less determining what it should be.

      'Climate' is mutable, and means different things to different people, depending on what they want to argue about. To some people, it is average temperature alone, while to others it is average air temperature, average wind speed and direction, average precipitation, average cloud formation, average ocean temperatures, average sea level, etc. etc. There are so many chaotic inputs and inter-relationships in the whole system that I highly doubt we will ever be able to predict with any degree of certainty the absolute effects of any single factor on all the rest of the system.

      Perhaps after gathering a thousand years (or ten thousand years) of accurate, consistent and globally encompassing direct measurement data points we will be able to puzzle it out and confidently declare that we know exactly what input affects which system, but until then we're monkeys trying to predict how many bananas there will be in 100 years based on the pattern of leaf molt over the last hundred. Oh yeah, and older rulers often randomly changed lengths for years or even decades before being checked and corrected, and often two different rulers of the old style did not measure the same length even when side by side, and by the way they didn't measure the leaves across a certain part of the forest back in the day...good luck!

      All in all, climate is meant to change, and change often (geologically speaking), all we can practically do is mitigate the effects as they happen (or don't happen...) I do think it is incredible hubris on the part of mankind to think that we are capable of forcing the process, in either direction.

      --
      "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    17. Re:Well well... by scot4875 · · Score: 1

      That's great...so why can't they provide raw, unprocessed data that shows it to be so? Whenever I look at any raw temperature dataset, I just can't see the 'warming trend' they're claiming.

      You've convinced me, random Slashdot Dude! AGW is a hoax! All of the raw data, which you claim is unavailable, shows you that there is no "warming trend" when you look at it. So you claim that there's enough data for you to come to your own conclusion, but that you can't see other raw, unprocessed data that might support the claims of the 97% of climate scientists, so AGW is false! Please tell us, what confidence interval do you have that there is no warming trend, so that we can relay this important information to other AGW believers to help convince them? Can we see your statistical methods?

      But basically, you get to have it both ways, awesome! There is no data for other, real scientists to work on, but there is enough data for you to do your own armchair Slashdot analysis! Priceless!

      --Jeremy

      --
      Jesus was a liberal
    18. Re:Well well... by yacwroy · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Firstly, false dichotomy. We can prepare for problems caused by AGW and reduce CO2 at the same time.

      Secondly, nature has been shown to do a pretty darn good job of keeping the climate incredibly stable over many millennia before man for the majority of it's life (ice age transitions are short, relatively), and we even have the capabilities to help nature keep it stable even during external pressures if we take the necessary steps (say by using CO2 as a controlled feedback system).

      Thirdly, the non-AGW scenarios that cause significant shifts in climate (including the ones you list) are so incredibly rare in human time-scales that what you say becomes analogous to a doctor considering not treating a patient due to expenses because they might die in a car crash.
      The universe will eventually become unliveable (AFAWK) - should we give up all our cares due to this?

      Lastly, we're not ready to power everything via alternatives, but we're ready and able (if not willing) to power everything with nuclear, alternatives and only as much fossil as nature and us can re-absorb for as long as we need to till we get fusion (or something that beats it).

      --
      You agree with me.
    19. Re:Well well... by matty619 · · Score: 1

      I just heard the logic train whiz by.

      "Why should I quit smoking? I've already got 15 years of smoking under my belt!"

      For many people, they'll have a better success at quitting in stages and/or using a patch or nicotine gum whilst they wean their addiction rather than quit cold turkey.

      "Why should I stop working with asbestos? I've already done it for 15 years."

      Because maybe if you hang in there for just another few years, you'll retire with full pension and health benefits.

      "Why should I stop huffing paint thinner? I've already done it 15 times."

      Ok, this one is just silly lol.

      "Why should I put out the fire in my hair? It's already been on fire for 15 seconds."

      Because your balls are on fire too, and you want to put that fire out first.

      If you acknowledge that something is a problem, then you Stop Doing It. Whether you've already done it, and whether your previous actions have consequences, is absolutely no reason to keep doing it and making the consequences worse

      I know it's easier to ride your "logic train" in a vacuum, but in the real world, problems aren't solved in a vacuum. I know my responses to your hypotheticals are silly, but no more silly than your oversimplification of the issue. There are absolutely good reasons to keep making the problem worse for a bit longer. If you're a good sport, I'm sure you can think of a few.

      FYI: even these developing nations are taking pretty major stands against climate change. China is building the world's biggest wind farm, the world's biggest solar plant, building a huge electric train network, has started instituting bans in a number of major cities against gas guzzlers, and so on. This is everyone's problem. Even Saudi Arabia is going big on solar.

      And I'm all for it! I'm for generating as much clean energy as possible as soon as possible. But for every new megawatt of wind generation China builds, they probably build 10 times that in coal generation (just pulling that stat out of my ass, I have no idea what it really is, but new coal generation vastly outweighs new wind capacity). Similarly, even as Saudi Arabia invests in solar, they do so with the money they make from extracting oil from the ground.

      We're talking about things like 2 cent feed-in tarrifs and having coal plants actually pay for the health consequences of their non-carbon emissions. It's absurd that you act like such things are going to bankrupt the global economy or that they're "doubling energy costs" Nobody is talking about doubling energy costs (at least nobody seriously involved in the debate here). I refer you to the IPCC AR4 analysis of the economic costs of proposed mitigation strategies.

      It's absurd that you pretend other serious players *aren't* talking about doubling energy costs as a means of curbing CO2 emissions.

      The gist of my argument, is that the burning of hydrocarbons in the short term is necessary to build a clean future long term. A wise man puts out the fire on his balls before he turns his attention to the fire on his head. Ancient Chinese proverb ;)

    20. Re:Well well... by Rei · · Score: 2

      Who? Which serious players are you talking about doubling energy costs? That's absolutely *not* a recommendation of the IPCC. The analyses on various proposed solutions are all rather low cost.

      As for renewables in China: Link. China is pushing harder on them than we are. So pointing to the third world as a reason why we shouldn't do anything is a total cop out.

      That said, I think there's not as much distance between our views as it initially looked. I'll take it that you're for investment into clean technologies and don't mind small costs in order to clean up, and you can take it from me that I don't support (nor does any *serious* proposal) locking the doors on our nation's coal plants tomorrow, or anything of that nature. Quite to the contrast, as per Europe, I don't expect to see *any* coal plant "shutdowns" (apart from aging) any time soon. What I hope to see is the cessation of new coal plant construction, and existing plants slowly turn themselves from baseload into supplimental power (mainly running during daylight hours and summer), and then only being phased out at end of life.

      --
      Seen on a Japanese food processor: "Not to be used for the other use."
    21. Re:Well well... by matty619 · · Score: 1

      OMG....is this....consensus? On Slashdot? No way!

      Thanks for the debate ;)

    22. Re:Well well... by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Actually, I bet they are very tangible*.

      They are not tangible in that I can't touch an Ethiopian without great effort on my part. Once the effort required is high enough, they are no longer able to be touched.

    23. Re:Well well... by jimbolauski · · Score: 1

      Not to advocate for slash and burn in the name of economic expansion, but we're not ready to run our economies on windmills and horse manure yet.

      Currently are government is the only thing that runs on horse manure.

      --
      Knowledge = Power
      P= W/t
      t=Money
      Money = Work/Knowledge so the less you know the more you make
    24. Re:Well well... by iiiears · · Score: 1

      Choices, choices,
      If CO2==Unacceptable warming we lose if we do nothing.
      If CO2 != Unacceptable warming we saved money.

      If CO2 == Unacceptable warming and we choose
      If CO2!= to do research and invest we gain efficiency
                                    maybe a new source of energy. for a growing population
                                    and averted disaster.

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
    25. Re:Well well... by iiiears · · Score: 1

      If the price captured carbon input in a way that consumers can understand and a label detailed it..
      Cap and trade is going to be the next big game of influence in politics,
      I'm going to buy some popcorn and watch you are all welcome to join me.

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
    26. Re:Well well... by jwhitener · · Score: 1

      Better to focus on creating an upwardly mobile society that can more easily adapt to these inevitable changes than to risk making society poorer and therefore less able to adapt.

      Are the two goals (adaptable and renewable energy) mutually exclusive? When a power company puts up windmills, does that somehow lessen the pool of resources that could be used to drive adaptable design?

      It seems to me that the argument for focusing on handling climate change, over focusing on reducing climate change, often is used as the basis for doing nothing to move forward with smart grids, energy storage, and renewable energy sources.

    27. Re:Well well... by matty619 · · Score: 1

      It all depends on what tools government uses to "encourage" these windmills. If a private company can turn a profit running windmill/solar farms w/out government taking money from someone else to make it happen, then there's no debate. It's a free country, if you want to put up windmills, go go go man! But don't try to make wind/solar artificially cost effective my making coal/natural gas/nuclear more expensive by taxing it via "carbon credits" or some other half baked idea.

    28. Re:Well well... by CCarrot · · Score: 1

      I totally deserved that. I kinda got carried away on my last post, and since I don't have time to dig up and link references to all the articles/databases I have looked at over the last ten years, I shouldn't have opened my big mouth.

      Suffice it to say, from the reading I have done on the subject (in an idle, and I'll admit it probably biased manner, since I don't actively seek out the doom 'n gloom prophets' articles), I see enough legitimate concerns with the interpretation of the raw data to support my own doubts on the 'consensus' of AGW. Since when is scientific analysis subject to voting, anyways? Why does it need 'consensus'? Because the data ain't as clear-cut as some would have you believe, that's why.

      --
      "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    29. Re:Well well... by CCarrot · · Score: 1

      tl;dr ;)

      Seriously, sorry for getting you so riled up. I don't have time to dig out and link to backlogs of supporting articles / data, so I shouldn't have said anything in the first place.

      I do appreciate your detailed discussion on the matter, however, and I will be taking a closer look at some of your discussion points. (e.g., I hadn't really looked into the science of recycling batteries, I just know there's a lot more 'dangerous' stuff in them in comparison to an aluminum or iron core motor, so I just assumed the recycling process has to be more difficult, dangerous and require more energy than simply melting down the metal scraps and recasting...) Many of them do seem like alarmist statements that have been thoroughly debunked already, but I will refresh my current reading on the latest AGW topics.

      I must call bluff on your claim that AGW policies won't reduce the mitigation abilities in underdeveloped countries, however. In the name of cutting carbon, AGW supporters have actively tried (although thankfully not successfully) to block development of so-called 'dirty' energy sources in countries where having that energy available can literally mean life or death to the local populace.

      I say, if they have the capability to build it, let them build coal- and natural gas-fired generating stations. It will raise the standard of life for everyone in the area, provide jobs and potentially provide enough supplemental work-energy so that people then have the time and energy to tackle building dikes or irrigation systems to prepare the region for the next wet/dry season. I'm not saying have no emissions controls on the plants whatsoever, but be sane about it and limit the emissions controls requirements to those chemicals that have been proven to cause direct harm. Don't just block them in a knee-jerk reaction, simply because they'll emit more CO2. CO2 feeds us, remember, by feeding the plants that we need to live...

      --
      "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    30. Re:Well well... by jwhitener · · Score: 1

      But don't try to make wind/solar artificially cost effective my making coal/natural gas/nuclear more expensive by taxing it via "carbon credits" or some other half baked idea.

      Maybe we could start by ending the subsidizes that make oil and coal cheaper. http://www.window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/energy/subsidies/ check out Exhibit 28-5

    31. Re:Well well... by jelizondo · · Score: 1

      One doesn't have to be intelligent or even have a multi-celullar body to change the atmosphere entirely... One only needs time and large numbers.

      --
      Be very, very careful what you put into that head, because you will never, ever get it out. - Cardinal Wolsey
    32. Re:Well well... by CCarrot · · Score: 1

      One doesn't have to be intelligent or even have a multi-celullar body to change the atmosphere entirely... One only needs time and large numbers.

      Allrighty then. Call me when the first couple million years of humanity's influence on the atmosphere is finished, we'll take another look. Considering it took approximately 900 million years for those photosynthetic organisms to alter the composition of the atmosphere, we've got some time to get this figured out properly.

      --
      "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    33. Re:Well well... by CCarrot · · Score: 1

      approximately 900 million years

      Frig. I didn't notice it didn't take my link.

      --
      "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    34. Re:Well well... by CCarrot · · Score: 1

      approximately 900 million years

      Frig. I didn't notice it didn't take my link.

      Bah. Shouldn't be posting today, obvious case of PEBKAC. This is the link I meant to post.

      --
      "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
  8. It's Not Easy Being Green by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    With apologies to Kermit and the rest of the at risk biomass, I humbly submit, World's oceans in 'shocking' decline.

    1. Re:It's Not Easy Being Green by nomadic · · Score: 1

      The destruction of the biological health of the ocean is probably the most serious environmental issues facing our world right now, and a far more serious problem than global warming.

    2. Re:It's Not Easy Being Green by marnues · · Score: 1

      And all the anti-greenies are silent on this topic. Predictable?

    3. Re:It's Not Easy Being Green by harper357 · · Score: 1

      a far more serious problem than global warming.

      The third sentence in that article says that global warming is part of the reason for the current health of the oceans.

    4. Re:It's Not Easy Being Green by nomadic · · Score: 1

      Global warming plays some part I'm sure (as does acidification from CO2), but the biggest problems are severe overfishing and agricultural and urban runoff. It's frightening how much fishing stocks have decreased.

  9. Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by SirGarlon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is an interesting ruling to me in that it is more about the balance of power between the three branches of government than it is about the subject of the lawsuit, greenhouse gases in this case.

    It has become fairly common for activists to seek court orders to impose their pet issues rather than go through the incredibly slow sausage-making process of legislative reform. This ruling is a smackdown from the Supreme Court saying "no, you six states cannot get a judge to rewrite environmental policy for you. If you want a policy change, you have to do it the old-fashioned way, by getting Congress to tell the EPA what to do. That's why you states have representatives in Congress in the first place."

    Regardless of how one feels about CO2 emissions regulation, I think it is none the less a Good Thing that SCOTUS has blocked off this back channel to overriding the normal policy-making process. It's not a sweeping ruling but it is a precedent. Also interesting is that here we have a clear case of the judiciary ruling to limit the power of ... the judiciary. Kind of. How often do you see something like that?

    --
    [Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
    1. Re:Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I dont recall congress having the right to regulate the air being anywhere in the constitution....

    2. Re:Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by RazzleFrog · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well said. Some people may react strongly because it is something they believe in but we never want to let the court system override the legislative process because next time it might not be something that we all like so much.

    3. Re:Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by shentino · · Score: 1

      Interstate Commerce, as always.

      It could also be said that air quality falls under general welfare since we have to breathe the stuff.

    4. Re:Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Great, except that the courts were essentially the last place anyone who isn't a massive corporation could go to fight this kind of shit. What the SCOTUS continues to do with rulings like this is exactly what they were bought and paid for by big business to do (and probably what you are paid by big business to say here): eliminate every opportunity for individual citizens or non-corporate entities to affect public policy. The idea that environmentalists simply need to go through the legislative process is astonishingly naive, and assumes that there exists some kind of legislative process that anyone who isn't a multi-billion dollar corporation can actually participate in.

      This is just another decision favoring big business over individuals, and every politician, libertardian and business executive across the country is celebrating today because it means they will continue to enjoy many more years of socializing the external costs of their businesses, while privatizing the profits.

    5. Re:Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by DerekLyons · · Score: 1

      It's not a sweeping ruling but it is a precedent. Also interesting is that here we have a clear case of the judiciary ruling to limit the power of ... the judiciary. Kind of. How often do you see something like that?

      It's not a precedent, nor is it particularly new. The Supreme Court has been handing issues back to the Legislative Branch for decades. For just one example, that's why nobody has sued any of the major sports leagues for monopolistic practices since (IIRC) the 50's... It was tried multiple times, but the Court consistently ruled that was an issue of interstate commerce and that Congress was the place to seek remedies - not the Court.

    6. Re:Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by Xaedalus · · Score: 2

      Cool story, bro. After reading this, I feel like a koala just farted a rainbow in my brain.

      --
      Here's to hot beer, cold women, and Glaswegian kisses for all.
    7. Re:Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by RazzleFrog · · Score: 1

      If you don't like how the government is set up then you either need to move or try to start a revolution to get a new Constitution. The checks and balances exist for a very good reason.

      And these weren't individuals suing - they were states. To me this is probably more about states' rights than anything else. The states want to regulate the stuff themselves instead of relying on the EPA. Which sounds like a good idea until you get a nutty governor who decides that it is perfectly fine to drain every resource from their land.

    8. Re:Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      That old document? We just reinterpret it to mean what we wan...er....what the founders actually meant to say.

    9. Re:Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 0

      Please, for the good of America. Shoot yourself. Now.

    10. Re:Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by artor3 · · Score: 2

      Of course, this is the same court that brought us such wonderful decisions as Citizens United. They're quite happy to override the legislative system whenever it suits them.

    11. Re:Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by marnues · · Score: 2

      This is true, but I think the spin is incorrect. I'm part of an organization that has worked with this lawsuit in the past and the entire point was that Congress's answer has been "The EPA is responsible", and the EPA's retort is "we don't have the power". This lawsuit was a win-semi-win for us as we have removed one of the branches from the equation. I believe the next action _is_ suing the EPA with the precedent that this is their job firmly established.

    12. Re:Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by JesseMcDonald · · Score: 1

      This ruling is a smackdown from the Supreme Court saying "no, you six states cannot get a judge to rewrite environmental policy for you."

      It is well within the domain of the judiciary to award compensation for damages from any source, including pollution. That judicial authority is not something Congress can overrule, short of a Constitutional amendment. It does not equate to "legislating from the bench"; if anything, by claiming that following EPA regulations renders companies immune to civil suits regarding pollution, Congress is usurping the role which properly belongs to the courts.

      Of course, to win such a case the states would need to show that they have actually taken damage due to these particular utilities' contributions to climate change. Needless to say, that would be a very difficult thing to prove, even under the lower standards of civil proceedings—but if they can prove it, Congress and the EPA have no business interfering.

      --
      "The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else." - Bastiat
    13. Re:Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by wolfemi1 · · Score: 1

      Like corporations being able to give unlimited anonymous donations to political campaigns? While I don't like the outcome of this ruling personally, I admit that it seems to be in keeping with the law from what I understand. I don't, however, agree that this particular supreme court has any real deference for precedent.

    14. Re:Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by Qzukk · · Score: 1

      They're not suing for damages, they're suing for what is basically an injunction. The courts see "please don't let X hurt me" as fundamentally different from "X hurt me, please make him pay".

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    15. Re:Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      True, but what they're REALLY happy to do is rule in favor of corporations over people. Although I will reluctantly agree they got this one right, the outcome was entirely predictable and would have been the same even if the plaintiffs were correct.

    16. Re:Checks and balances, not greenhouse gases by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're quite happy to override the legislative system whenever it is unconstitutional.

      TFTFY.

  10. this is a rejection of the "state's rights" view by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Clearly, if CA and others could overrule the Fed. government and force additional regs on industry, then Texas and Louisiana could do the opposite.

  11. CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But would you be willing to breath an atmosphere that was 100% carbon dioxide? No?
    g=

    1. Re:CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Would you be willing to breath an atmosphere that was 100% Nitrogen?

    2. Re:CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by CCarrot · · Score: 2, Insightful

      But would you be willing to breath an atmosphere that was 100% carbon dioxide? No?
      g=

      Er, no, however one that was 100% oxygen (or pretty much any gas) would be just as toxic for you and me...should the Clean Air Act cover oxygen emissions as well?

      --
      "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    3. Re:CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by SydShamino · · Score: 2

      It does cover ozone.

      --
      It doesn't hurt to be nice.
    4. Re:CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by artor3 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If companies were dumping enough oxygen into the air for it to be a threat to our quality of life, then yes.

    5. Re:CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by CCarrot · · Score: 1

      It does cover ozone.

      Touche.

      Perhaps the EPA's real intent is to be able to control all the world's diamonds, then? After all, they're carbon too, just in a different arrangement...;)

      --
      "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    6. Re:CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by CCarrot · · Score: 2

      If companies were dumping enough oxygen into the air for it to be a threat to our quality of life, then yes.

      Afraid the trees and other assorted greenery have that covered...damn things are always trying to blow us up, consuming all that safe, inert CO2 and pumping out all that highly flammable and explosive O2...;)

      --
      "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    7. Re:CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Ozone isn't "oxygen". When discussing the atmosphere, the term "oxygen" (as in "atmospheric oxygen") refers to O2, not just any compound that happens to have oxygen atoms.

      It's just like how the term "hydrogen", in many contexts, is different from "deuterium" or "tritium".

    8. Re:CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      Er, no, however one that was 100% oxygen (or pretty much any gas) would be just as toxic for you and me...should the Clean Air Act cover oxygen emissions as well?

      If we were in danger of oxygen emissions reaching that level, then yes, the Clean Air Act should cover such emissions. Since such a thing has no chance of occurring, it's a moot question. The Clean Air Act after all should only affect those emissions that are actually a threat to our health.

    9. Re:CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by Duradin · · Score: 1

      The Earth used to have a primarily CO2 atmosphere. Then those polluting plants showed up and starting spewing waste oxygen. So it has happened.

    10. Re:CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by CCarrot · · Score: 1

      Er, no, however one that was 100% oxygen (or pretty much any gas) would be just as toxic for you and me...should the Clean Air Act cover oxygen emissions as well?

      If we were in danger of oxygen emissions reaching that level, then yes, the Clean Air Act should cover such emissions. Since such a thing has no chance of occurring, it's a moot question. The Clean Air Act after all should only affect those emissions that are actually a threat to our health.

      Actually, the chance of winding up with a 100% CO2 atmosphere is just as remote. The chance of even winding up with an atmosphere with enough CO2 in it to make it physically harmful is also nil.

      The only point on which alarmists can hang their "CO2 is a pollutant" hat on is the theorized warming effects on the atmosphere, and even those theories are wildly inconsistent regarding the absolute and potential environmental effects of the postulated atmospheric warming.

      So no, CO2 is not a pollutant. It is not a threat to our health. It is plant food.

      --
      "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    11. Re:CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by dakameleon · · Score: 1

      Carbon Dioxide is not Carbon.

      --
      Man who leaps off cliff jumps to conclusion.
    12. Re:CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by dakameleon · · Score: 2

      So no, CO2 is not a pollutant. It is not a threat to our health. It is plant food.

      Err... no, CO2 is a threat to human health, but that's not the only definition of a pollutant.

      Your argument is that we would never be raising concentrations of CO2 to sufficient levels to cause human breathing difficulties, and sure that situation could never occur. However, you could say similar things for other regulated pollutants - but we don't just consider the impact on human health when considering what pollutants to regulate.

      If you take the dictionary definition of pollution, that "Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem", then CO2 is definitely going to fall under that. Given legalese is all about defining terms and assessing them against other terms, unregulated CO2 emissions causing instability, disorder or discomfort to the ecosystem has been assessed by experts in the field as being a high likelihood. You're just quibbling over the impact.

      --
      Man who leaps off cliff jumps to conclusion.
    13. Re:CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      Er, no, however one that was 100% oxygen (or pretty much any gas) would be just as toxic for you and me

      IIRC 100% oxygen at normal atmospheric pressure is survivable at least for a while and 100% oxygen at low pressure is fine. 100% anything else is going to render you unconscious very quickly and dead reasonably quickly.

      But I agree with you there is no need to regulate oxygen or nitrogen emissions, they are large fractions of the air and we don't emit anywhere near enough of them to significantly impact those fractions.

      The question is where does CO2 fit in, it is found naturally in the air but afaict human activities are substantially increasing the proportion.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    14. Re:CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by Falconhell · · Score: 1

      "IIRC 100% oxygen at normal atmospheric pressure is survivable at least for a while"

      At high altitudes aviators use 100% oxygen so I doubt it is toxic.

    15. Re:CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by iiiears · · Score: 1

      Bildenberg conspiracy in 3..2..1..
      Uh, wait a sec Fox news is on.

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
    16. Re:CO2 is not a pollutant, no... by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      Oxygen is toxic if the partial pressure is too high, IIRC pure oxygen at normal (roughly sea level) atmospheric pressure pure oxygen is not good long term but isn't immediately hazardous to health (though I belive it is a major fire risk).

      As the overall pressure reduces (e.g. high altitude flying) you want to increase the fraction of oxygen, as the overall pressure increases (e.g. deep diving) you want to decrease the fraction of oxygen so the partial pressure remains about the same.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
  12. Re:Whelp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    The true cost, once you factor in the health problems associated with the pollution caused by burning coal, is a hell of a lot higher than 30 or even 40 cents per kwh. Enjoy your cheap energy now, but make sure to put aside at least a hundred thousand dollars to treat your inevitable cancer and/or lung disease.

    I love it when someone wants to track the total cost... and then proceeds to leave out factors.

    Why don't you include the health BENEFITS of having a reliable power grid and the advanced society that power grid facilitates? Oh I see, the power you use comes from little faeries that fly out your ass while you're shoving your head up it.

  13. Re:Whelp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    We'll trade you the Stanley Cup for a discount.

    Wow, the Boston Bruins have more Canadian players than any other team in the league (other than san jose). In fact, there are many more Americans playing for the Vancouver Canucks than there are on the Boston Bruins.

    So shut the fuck up.

  14. Re:Whelp by blair1q · · Score: 2

    We can get those benefits from nuclear power while causing 1/100,000 as many cancers. We need coal-burning energy production like we need injections of benzene.

  15. Re:Whelp by amiga3D · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Oh for crying out loud. While I'm sure that breathing crap is bad for you cancer and/or lung disease is not inevitable. Just like smokers that inhale 3 packs a day and live into their 80's and 90's and some die in their 40's it's all pretty much up to the physical ability of the individual's body to resist the poison. Meanwhile continuing to run the price of electricity out of sight affects everyone right now. I haven't read the actual figures on how much pollution we're talking about here but I know in the last 30 to 40 years that pollution in general where I live has pretty much been stable. Population has gone up but pollution controls have about kept pace with the growth. I'd like it to go lower, who wouldn't, but I'm not prepared to pay another 2 or 3 hundred dollars a month in electric bills to do it.

  16. This ruling limits rights, nothing to do with air by fortfive · · Score: 2

    The ruling states that the CAA "displaces" the plaintiff's rights to sue. Meaning that now, we all have fewer rights to sue under the common law, even if the emitters are unequivocally imposing on our rights, such as that to clean air. And this could be applied elsewhere, including, say, contaminated drugs, if SCOTUS were to find the federal law had "displaced" our common law rights.

    I find that limiting, not empowering.

  17. Re:Whelp by JDAustin · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...and I would love to see nuclear provide 75% of our power but the same environmentalists who hate coal also hate nuclear. To them, cheap energy (no matter the source) is the problem. Of course cheap energy has done more to lift civilization out of poverty then anything else.

  18. Get 'er done by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So SCOTUS has now ruled that private individuals cannot sue to get some thing done because a federal agency -- one that for decades has been utterly unable to fulfill its mission -- exists with a responsibility for that thing. Imagine if they had decided that school segregation was a matter best left to the appropriate agency.

  19. Re:Whelp by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 2

    We need coal-burning energy production like we need injections of benzene.

    But, I love benzene! It's so yummy and )*&^&^%*&^[NO CARRIER]

  20. Re:this is a rejection of the "state's rights" vie by amiga3D · · Score: 1

    I'm wondering about this anyway. Don't the States license these plants? I know the State legislature here went round and round about the last big power plant they built here. We've got something called the Public Services Commission that decides how much they can charge for power.

  21. States Rights? by acoustix · · Score: 1

    This is an odd ruling. Where does it state in the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Amendments, or any other federal documents that the federal government has sole authority over environmental protection? Surely this can't be considered interstate commerce since we're talking about individual states.

    I'm not a believer of man made global warming so I have mixed emotions on this. States should be able to set stricter laws and regulations on activities within their border as they see fit. It shouldn't matter if it is the environment or immigration. We already have this with road use regulations, health care, etc.

    The United States is not a country of the masses. It is an alliance of individual states. It is sad that most people (especially the federal government) forget this.

    --
    "A plan fiendishly clever in its intricacies"- Homer Simpson
    1. Re:States Rights? by artor3 · · Score: 1

      The United States is not a country of the masses.

      See what you did there? "The United States is". People used to write "These United States are". They haven't done so in a long time, because the US has been a de facto single entity for over a century. And that's a good thing. We need a central government with the strength to compete in an increasingly connected world. Even in the status quo, we are overwhelmed by the power of corporations. Our nation would be a 2nd world joke if we were to be dragged back to the 19th century way of doing things.

    2. Re:States Rights? by marnues · · Score: 2

      Pollution has been extensively documented to cross state lines. Of course this is an interstate commerce issue. I'm surprised this comment needs to be stated.

    3. Re:States Rights? by MyFirstNameIsPaul · · Score: 2

      Well, in the 19th century the price of oil dropped by 80% and the U.S. when from a bankrupt, third-world nation to the largest manufacturer on Earth. I would sure hate to live in a world like that.

      --

      I once took an excursion to Reddit, and later HN. Unlimited up/down voting sucks when dealing with a hive-mind.

    4. Re:States Rights? by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 1

      Section 8 of the US Constitution states that "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States".

      The problem with this case is that the six states involved are suing the power companies that produce the green house gases outside of their jurisdiction and therefore makes it a federal matter. The federal government gave the power of enforcing environmental laws to the EPA. SCOTUS ruling makes perfect sense in this case.

      --
      These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
    5. Re:States Rights? by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

      The issue is the EPA is run by energy company lobbiests who are not doing their job. New York state's water is so polluted with mecury that every body of water is considered hazzardous and exceeds the EPA's mercury limits. A single plant in Ohio did this damage and they are furious. So they tried to sue the company's themselves since the EPA refused to do their job under Bush. An oil company lobbiest headed the EPA in 2007.

      This is why the case was brought up and it is really sad and it shows how much corruption rots the federal government to the core.

    6. Re:States Rights? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      The ruling does not say that states cannot set stricter rules within their border. It says that they cannot sue in federal court to influence the actions of companies in other states.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    7. Re:States Rights? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The United States is not a country of the masses. It is an alliance of individual states. It is sad that most people (especially the federal government) forget this.

      That alliance of individual states has not existed since 1861. The idea was totally quashed in 1865. Since that time, the power of the federal government has overruled any power of individual states, and when the interstate commerce rules came out, the 10th Amendment became meaningless. We might as well accept facts, and forget about the individual states having ever had any sovereignty...

    8. Re:States Rights? by fortfive · · Score: 1

      ... the power of enforcing environmental laws to the EPA. SCOTUS ruling makes perfect sense in this case.

      The states were not trying to enforce environmental laws. The states were bringing a nuisance suit to protect their own rights. This ruling moves power from the individual states to the Federal government, and limits the rights of individuals to protect their rights individually.

    9. Re:States Rights? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. You would.

      Because if you were a woman, you wouldn't be able to vote, nor would you have the right to your own property except in the broadest legal terms. And if you were black, well... heavens help you.

      And even if you are a white cisgendered heterosexual guy -- and judging by the privilege oozing from your post, you are -- then you'd be lucky to be in the top ten percent of the economy. Otherwise, it pretty much sucks for everyone all the time.

      Take off the goddamn rose-tinted glasses and stop living in the past. Recognize that whatever measure you may try to measure life back then is more than balanced by how much it really did suck living back then.

    10. Re:States Rights? by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 1

      The states were not trying to enforce environmental laws. The states were bringing a nuisance suit to protect their own rights.

      What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would still be trying to enforce environmental laws outside that state's jurisdiction.

      --
      These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
  22. Re:Whelp by TehDuffman · · Score: 1, Funny

    We'll trade you the Stanley Cup for a discount.

    Wow, the Boston Bruins have more Canadian players than any other team in the league (other than san jose). In fact, there are many more Americans playing for the Vancouver Canucks than there are on the Boston Bruins.

    So shut the fuck up.

    1993! That was the last time Canada won the Cup. Who cares what nationality the players are the cup is in Boston now and Chicago last year!

    So why don't you shut the fuck up and go burn some cars or something.

  23. The law disallows by Quila · · Score: 1

    In very many places the law disallows suits over things. We don't need thousands of suits clogging up the courts over issues that have already been decided by law or already have an alternate legal venue prescribed by law.

    People who bring such suits need to be punished for abuse of the court system.

  24. Re:Whelp by Rei · · Score: 1

    Why don't you include the health BENEFITS of having a reliable power grid and the advanced society that power grid facilitates?

    Who is proposing that we not have a reliable power grid? Do you know what a peaking plant is?

    --
    Seen on a Japanese food processor: "Not to be used for the other use."
  25. Did the states pass additional regulations? by MobyDisk · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I am confused by the article. It could mean one of two very different things:

    1) The states passed laws requiring the corporations to cut their emissions even further than what the EPA required. The companies did not comply so the states sued. The Supreme Court ruled that the state laws do not trump the federal law, so they cannot be enforced.

    -- OR --

    2) The states sued the companies for damages, even though the companies complied with the federal law.

    The implications are very different. The first one would surprise me: it seems like a states rights issue. States often times impose local environmental restrictions that may be beyond the federal requirements. If it was the latter, then I am not surprised. This happens all the time with anything where there is any form of regulation or standard practice. If the entity is following the regulation or best practice, they are generally immune from suits. Ex: Suppose a boat captain requires everyone to wear a life jacket, properly maintains the boat according to all the rules, has coast guard inspections, training, certificates, etc.... the captain is probably not liable if the boat catches fire and kills someone . Often times the regulatory body gets sued instead. In the above example, the coast guard may be sued for having lax rules.

    1. Re:Did the states pass additional regulations? by canajin56 · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's number two. The states were suing companies over power plants operated OUTSIDE those states, even though those companies were complying with state and federal laws. The states were arguing that producing CO2 is a "public nuisance" and trying to get them to reduce emissions across the entire country, not just within their own borders. The supreme court ruled that that's the EPA's job, and that if they are not satisfied with the EPA's rules (not yet released) then there are legal channels in place to appeal those rules. They are just still under review and so cannot be appealed until they exist.

      --
      ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI
    2. Re:Did the states pass additional regulations? by bogjobber · · Score: 1

      Canajin56 is correct. The six states in the case can still pass laws requiring the power companies to cut their emissions further than federal regulation currently states, but it only applies to plants that operate within their borders. Any further reduction in emissions for power plants operating outside the states' borders must be addressed through the Congress and the EPA.

  26. Re:Whelp by SomeKDEUser · · Score: 2

    no, it's not. It is an essentially random process.

    The coal particle get lodged into your lung, causing a tiny lesion. Cell growth is activated around it and the particle get encapsulated. This extra growth spurt might, or might not cause some of the cells to mutate. The mutation might, or might not, lead to cancer.

    Some people are more susceptible, yes. But the development is random. Being healthy, or rich will not help you at all.

  27. A history of wisdom by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    The same court that upheld the freedom of speech instead of the freedom to censor?

    Not seeing an issue, other than they continue to make wise choices. And in the case of the decision mentioned in the article , the choice was unanimous...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  28. Re:Whelp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Where were you when I was trying to figure out Riemannian Geometry? You make everything seem so damned easy! You get to the black and white of a problem immediately- None of those pain-in-the-ass nuances for you. How's volunteering for the Palin campaign working out for you?

  29. SCOTUS to whiny states by Jawnn · · Score: 1

    The energy industry paid good money to neuter the Environmental Protection Agency. You can't just come in here and try to use the judicial system as a venue for the redress of grievances against the federal government. Oh..., wait.

  30. Re:Whelp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "Do you know what a peaking plant is?" Is that like a fern that you put inside your bathroom?

    Lets see...
    Nuclear --- Not peaking (back bone)
    Wind --- Not peaking (Supply driven)
    Solar --- Not peaking (Supply driven)
    Hydro --- Peaking (limited supply)
    Wave --- Not peaking (Supply driven)
    Coal --- Peaking (Demand driven)
    Oil -- Peaking (Demand driven)
    Natural Gas -- Peaking (Demand driven)

    Hmmmmmmmmm Seems like you need a hydrocarbon to handle the peaking load... Correct me if I'm wrong but don't all hydrocarbons release CO2 into the atmosphere when burned?

    Magic Fairies --- Must be peaking too.. but I wouldn't know because I'm not a wacko environmentalist... I live in the real world.

  31. I can tell you are a liberal by SuperKendall · · Score: 0

    Please, for the good of America. Shoot yourself. Now.

    Ahh, the classic liberal solution - instead of debate, silence or elimination of those ideologically opposed to you.

    Happily for the world, liberals are generally not fond of weapons so they cannot bring such dreams to fruition, whereas conservatives are better armed but more responsible and open minded.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:I can tell you are a liberal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "more responsible and open minded"

      That has GOT to be a troll.

    2. Re:I can tell you are a liberal by Intrinsic · · Score: 1

      Yeah, they are so open minded that they take in whatever lies the major news media spews out and regurgitates it as fact because they cant think for themselves. I guess you could call that open mindedness. If you are stupid enough to see it that way.

    3. Re:I can tell you are a liberal by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      And here I thought they were a conservative, for all the same reasons you listed with conservative and liberal swapped.

  32. Get your priorities straight by presidenteloco · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You can do anything you want as long as you don't fry the frickin' planet.

    Is that too much to ask? Apparently yes for many people.

    And don't give me "the science is wrong" crap. I heard it straight from the co-chair of working group 1 of the IPCC last week.
    The science is high-quality. The predictions are getting worse (for us) every time they are revised. The evidence that humans
    are a major cause is clear. As the CO2 is increasing, O2 is decreasing correspondingly, showing that the CO2 emissions
    are from combustion processes. "The science is wrong" is a desperate last-ditch appeal by the ignorant or malicious to
    the ignorant.

    --

    Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
    1. Re:Get your priorities straight by Oxford_Comma_Lover · · Score: 1

      We should be spending at least a few hundred million a year replanting non-peak forests. (I say "at least" because of real estate costs.)

      Related thought, how are yards as carbon sinks compared to forests?

      --
      -- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
    2. Re:Get your priorities straight by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The predictions are getting worse (for us) every time they are revised. The evidence that humans are a major cause is clear.

      And yet, the people screeching the loudest about it are also saying we can't build nuclear plants.

      Until that changes, further discussion is pointless.

    3. Re:Get your priorities straight by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      We don't even need the science to win this debate. Pollution sucks. Most people want clean air and fewer mountains of landfill. Less nuclear waste and proliferation, fewer coal mines, less drilling for and transporting oil. Even if you don't think the planet is getting any warmer these problems are hard to deny.

      I'd love to see what Iran would do if say Germany or China offered them a top notch solar plant that could replace the need for reactors. No point refining all that uranium any more, right?

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    4. Re:Get your priorities straight by iiiears · · Score: 1

      Yards/Lawns/Hedges. ADD CO2 (overall) - Think about it.

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
    5. Re:Get your priorities straight by iiiears · · Score: 1

      Nuclear is a stop gap. Until a better ways are found to use and importantly, store.

        solar/solar thermal (including wind, waves, etc)

            Geothermal is technologically even more challenging though there is enough heat through radioactive decay only a few dozen miles down to power whatever you want.

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
    6. Re:Get your priorities straight by iiiears · · Score: 1

      If war is declared tommorow anwhere against you name the country. How likely is it that a nuclear power plant will be one of the first targets? - No power no weapons manufacture, Confusion added from radioactive fires can only help the aggressor.

      --
      15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
    7. Re:Get your priorities straight by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Depends who is attacking and how one-sided the war is. If it was an invasion of Iran by the US/UK then I'd imagine they would hit the distribution network rather than the plants.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    8. Re:Get your priorities straight by Oxford_Comma_Lover · · Score: 1

      Do you mean they add CO2 emissions because of the power used to maintain them?

      --
      -- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
  33. Re:This ruling limits rights, nothing to do with a by MyFirstNameIsPaul · · Score: 1

    Well stated. If I hadn't already posted in this discussion, I would mod your comment up. Few people grasp the heart of these matters as they are cleverly obscured.

    --

    I once took an excursion to Reddit, and later HN. Unlimited up/down voting sucks when dealing with a hive-mind.

  34. Re:Whelp by Shark · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Of course cheap energy has done more to lift civilization out of poverty then anything else.

    Read 'Ecoscience' co-authored by John P. Holdren (science Czar) and you'll understand that you hit it right on the nail. It has nothing to do with the environment, cheap energy is a very serious problem to these guys. They started at the forefront of the eugenicist movement (Holdren is a self-proclaimed malthusian) and now they're at the forefront of the global warming hysteria. If one is to believe what's in that book, the solution is de-industrialization of the world so that we can no longer sustain as large a population as we have now. According to the book, a billion is the magic 'sustainable' figure.

    'Think of the environment' is the new 'think of the children'. Yes, there are very serious environmental issues but sadly, these issues are way too useful to our leadership as excuses to push an agenda to warrant implementation of any real solutions.

    --
    Mind the frickin' laser...
  35. I agree by RighteousRaven · · Score: 1

    I agree. I said the same thing when the Nazi's were taking over Europe. The world will have another war. If not from Hitler then from someone else. We're better off focusing on our economy so we're better able to adapt to our new Nazi overlords... within reason of course. I'm not an advocate of being a coward, but we're not ready to defend ourselves and our families from a clear and present danger.

  36. In a defeat for environmentalists by nurb432 · · Score: 1

    You mean ' defeat for consumers '

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    1. Re:In a defeat for environmentalists by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      How is preventing these people from forcing electric companies to raise the cost of electricity a "defeat for consumers"?

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    2. Re:In a defeat for environmentalists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh my gods, SHUT THE FUCK UP.

      Youre a goddamn right-wing authoritarian shill and I for one am sick of you assholes fucking up the entire goddamn world for the almghty Bottom Line. Jesus, if I could ship you all off to another planet, I'd do so in a heartbeat and let you fuck that one up and leave this one alone.

      Newsflash, Sparky: Those companies you're worshipping? They're going to gouge everyone for everything they can because that's 'rational behavior' for a corporation. Raise the cost of electricity? They'd put us into servitiude if they could get away with it. Here's another headline for you: You are not elite. You are not going to be invited to Galt's Gulch. You are not going to have the fancy house in the highlands when the waters rise. You are not going to have your own private stock of fuel when peak oil hits. And you are most definitely NOT going to have your own fucking air supply when we can't breathe the goddamn air anymore!

      You know what? Fukkit. Fuck it all. You assholes win. Do what the fuck you want to the planet. I just hope you're alive, or your children are alive, to see what you've done to screw it all up. Just keep that in mind: Your little kids or your nieces and nephews looking at the economic and environmental hellhole you've made for them, and having YOU to thank for it.

      Sod off, tool.

    3. Re:In a defeat for environmentalists by gearloos · · Score: 1

      Oh my gods, SHUT THE FUCK UP.

      Youre a goddamn right-wing authoritarian shill and I for one am sick of you assholes fucking up the entire goddamn world for the almghty Bottom Line. Jesus, if I could ship you all off to another planet, I'd do so in a heartbeat and let you fuck that one up and leave this one alone.

      Newsflash, Sparky: Those companies you're worshipping? They're going to gouge everyone for everything they can because that's 'rational behavior' for a corporation. Raise the cost of electricity? They'd put us into servitiude if they could get away with it. Here's another headline for you: You are not elite. You are not going to be invited to Galt's Gulch. You are not going to have the fancy house in the highlands when the waters rise. You are not going to have your own private stock of fuel when peak oil hits. And you are most definitely NOT going to have your own fucking air supply when we can't breathe the goddamn air anymore!

      You know what? Fukkit. Fuck it all. You assholes win. Do what the fuck you want to the planet. I just hope you're alive, or your children are alive, to see what you've done to screw it all up. Just keep that in mind: Your little kids or your nieces and nephews looking at the economic and environmental hellhole you've made for them, and having YOU to thank for it.

      Sod off, tool.

      Wow, speaking of tools.. As usual, environmentalist makes statement with zero facts or credibility. Just for your information Skippy, the Utilities have to go through a series of hearing that are very lengthy to prove to state officials they have justification for any rate increase. It's called the "General Rate Case". They don't just arbitrarily decide to raise the rates. And as for the rest of your statements, I don't hate environmentalists "per se" Just the asshats like you. You seriously should all just be rounded up, and thrown in a hole.

      --
      "Computers are a lot like Air Conditioners" "They both work great until you start opening Windows"
  37. Re:Whelp by s73v3r · · Score: 1

    Because those "benefits" don't rely on coal as the source of power.

  38. Re:Whelp by s73v3r · · Score: 0

    To them, cheap energy (no matter the source) is the problem.

    No, energy which isn't priced to include the external factors, like environmental impact is the problem.

  39. Re:Whelp by Rei · · Score: 3, Insightful

    1) What is wrong with hydrocarbon-driven peaking, where needed? The point is not ideological purity; the point is getting our carbon emissions down. And it that equals geographically-distributed wind + solar + NG where needed for peaking..... so? What matters is that the coal comes off the grid and most of the energy comes from low or no carbon sources.

    2) Conventional hydro is more than sufficient for peaking in the west, although in some places you need to uprate plants (but that's pretty cheap).

    3) Storage can also act as peaking. At present, the most cost effective method is pumped hydro, which only adds 1-2 cents per kilowatt hour. It's so cheap that it's already extensively used in China -- not to balance out supply variation, but to balance out *demand* variation. I would not be surprised at all to find direct electrochemical or electrostatic energy storage dominating in 2-3 decades.

    4) EGS/SWEGS can also act as peaking, or baseload.

    But I'll jot down a note that you'd much rather make fun of your ideological foes with straw men than sit down to a serious debate.

    --
    Seen on a Japanese food processor: "Not to be used for the other use."
  40. Re:Whelp by s73v3r · · Score: 2

    Just like smokers that inhale 3 packs a day and live into their 80's and 90's and some die in their 40's it's all pretty much up to the physical ability of the individual's body to resist the poison.

    And that makes it ok to spew this crap in the air?

  41. Corruption by Billly+Gates · · Score: 2

    The EPA is filled with energy company executies and lobbiests who hate the environment and favor polluters. This all started under Reagan and Bush even hired an oil company lobbiest from Chevron or Enron to head the EPA!

    This is why the suite was brought up and the bad guys one. The EPA will simply not enforce it unless people are falling dead in the streets as they work to help out the polluters. I have no idea what this is even legal to begin with, but we saw during deep water horizon just how corrupt the government's drilling and natural resource departments under the department of interior were. The heads of these departments have gifts from oil companies on their desks and the same inspectors also interview for jobs by the same companies by looking the other way and not doing their job.

  42. Re:Whelp by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 0

    Where do you propose to get that power from? It may be that someday in the future we will be able to get a significant portion of our electrical power from renewable energy sources, but that day is not near.

    --
    The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
  43. Re:this is a rejection of the "state's rights" vie by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

    Don't the States license these plants?

    The States are suing plants in nearby States.

    --

    "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  44. Re:Whelp by Mashiki · · Score: 2

    Yes. Since the obama administration believes itself to be above, and not required to follow the law. To the point where it uses lawyers to 'bypass' regulation.

    --
    Om, nomnomnom...
  45. good ruling bad policy by Lehk228 · · Score: 2

    enacting "laws" via states suing in federal court would be horrible public policy, it would create an (even more) unaccountable secondary legislature and signing committee made up of the states attorneys general and the SCOTUS

    this is not the way laws and rules are supposed to be made.

    I strongly agree with regulating CO2 emissions but it must be done in a constitutionally proper manner or the whole thing lacks legitimacy

    --
    Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    1. Re:good ruling bad policy by fortfive · · Score: 1

      Except that there is a long tradition of parties being able to sue in nuisance and and trespass in order to protect their individual property rights. This ruling individuals', as well as states', rights to protect their own interests. Which, incidentally, *is* (or at least was) a Constitutionally proper remedy.

    2. Re:good ruling bad policy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I strongly agree with regulating CO2 emissions but it must be done in a constitutionally proper manner or the whole thing lacks legitimacy

      I don't think you realize what a disaster that would be for all involved, including me and you. Everyone's life runs on CO2. There is only one technology that can replace it, and it's not wind, solar or hydrocarbon based. Do the math and look up the statistics. Green energy contributes a pathetic amount to our energy needs despite massive subsidies and investment. It doesn't currently work. It costs way too much and is too unreliable. I am not willing to sacrifice my standard of living. I've reached the point in climate debate where if you INSIST CO2 must be reduced, then I will support only nuclear as an alternative. I am willing to face the consequences of continued CO2 production over the green alternative. That is my democratic vote after careful analysis. Get this green crap out of here and build nuclear plants. Or keep building coal plants. Build green if you want to, but don't expect me to support it (financially or politically). It's crap. Keep researching (using government tax dollars) - it would be totally awesome to have an energy source that doesn't impact the environment and is economical. Once it reaches a competitive point, there will be no need to encourage it.

      In the meantime: nuclear, coal or gas. Sorry, that's my democratic vote.

    3. Re:good ruling bad policy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it must be done in a constitutionally proper manner or the whole thing lacks legitimacy

      Snort! You owe me a new keyboard. You do realise that the Constitution is just a piece of paper, don't you?

  46. Re:Whelp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why am I condescending? Final point...

    Name ONE energy source the environmentalists will approve!

    Wind, kills birds, it's ugly
    Solar, alters the desert echo system, the chemicals are too bad in the manufacture process
    Hydro, Destroys too much land creating the reservoir
    Coal, natural gas, oil, --- CO2
    Nuclear --- Radiation
    Geothermal, destroys the echo system...

    Oh I almost forgot... These wackos won't even let us build power lines between the power generation and the location the power is used...

    And On and On...

    No matter what the source is, those wackos find something to complain about.

    Bottom line, coal isn't that bad... The hype about CO2 is just that, hype... So you want to find an alternative to get rid of CO2. But while you have all of these great ideas of other sources, the environmentalists WILL NOT let you build them in sufficient quantities to actually meet the demand. So, this continued discussion is just a WASTE of time because there isn't an environmentally friendly solution. Therefore, the only environmentally friendly solution is for us to live in caves sucking slime off the walls for nourishment. WHEN the ENVIRONMENTALISTS come forward with an energy source that can meet the nations needs then we can discuss alternatives... You know when that will happen? NEVER!!!

  47. Not the "Obama administration" by Oxford_Comma_Lover · · Score: 2

    If the Republicans had been in power, the government would have taken the same position. This has nothing to do with the Obama administration.

    --
    -- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
    1. Re:Not the "Obama administration" by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      Really? When they were in power they got congressional approval, and followed the law.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    2. Re:Not the "Obama administration" by Oxford_Comma_Lover · · Score: 1

      Really? When they were in power they got congressional approval, and followed the law.

      What are you talking about?

      --
      -- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
    3. Re:Not the "Obama administration" by Mashiki · · Score: 0

      What are you talking about?

      Obviously something you don't understand. I'll wait for you to get and understand what I'm talking about.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    4. Re:Not the "Obama administration" by Falconhell · · Score: 2

      Oh I understand, you are happy to ignore the incredible abuses (Torture, wiretapping, extrajudicial kidnapping) perpertrated by the Bush administration because you are a Republican sycophant. Gotcha.

    5. Re:Not the "Obama administration" by Oxford_Comma_Lover · · Score: 1

      You said "When they were in power they got congressional approval, and followed the law."

      I assumed you were referring to republicans, but it's unclear to me what exactly you were talking about. Congressional approval for what? Following the law for what? And what about this lawsuit do you think the Obama administration is doing differently?

      The solicitor general's office responded for the TVA to a lawsuit from private parties and states seeking regulation of carbon emission caps through the federal courts, using the common law. The Government argued that the EPA had been given the power to regulate carbon emissions by a law enacted by Congress, which trumps the federal common law. None of this has to do with getting approval from Congress, it has to do with figuring out what the existing law is and whether private or state actors can legally seek carbon emissions caps without going through the regulatory process, which has its own politics.

      If you are talking about Libya, when you talk about getting approval from Congress, you should say that. Republicans don't have the cleanest bill there--they may have had better Congressional support for Iraq under the War Powers Resolution, but they clearly arranged for a security council resolution to legalize the war that let every other country sign off on it while claiming they hadn't signed off for it, and they also take the blame for talking up bad intelligence.

      --
      -- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
  48. Re:Whelp by FatSean · · Score: 1

    Exactly. The only people who hate cheap energy are the energy producers :)

    --
    Blar.
  49. Re:Whelp by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

    To them, cheap energy (no matter the source) is the problem.

    No, energy which isn't priced to include the external factors, like environmental impact is the problem.

    "Externalities" is the new "Divine Right of Kings"

    --
    "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
    --- Jerry Garcia
  50. Rulings and overrulings. by argStyopa · · Score: 1

    Considering that the Appellate Court is meant to essentially act as a gatekeeper to the next level of the legal system, I'm surprised that there's no mechanism to enforce SOME sense of intellectual rigor on appellate rulings. If the Supremes are consistently overruling a certain appellate court's findings (or any lower court, really) wouldn't that suggest that the lower court(s) are aren't doing their jobs, or in other words: that they don't correctly understand the law?

    --
    -Styopa
    1. Re:Rulings and overrulings. by Dan+Berlin · · Score: 1

      Consistently, you mean like in 1% of cases? Not to mention the supreme court is not last because they are right on the law, they are right on the law because they are last.

    2. Re:Rulings and overrulings. by Falconhell · · Score: 1

      More likely indicates that the SCOUTUS had been bought off by big energy companies.

  51. Proving Harm by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

    Frankly, I would love to see some group of lawyers stand in court trying to show "harm" (required for any tort) based on someone releasing CO2 into the atmosphere. I'm sure it would be really interesting.

    If it works, maybe those tornado victims in Alabama can find someone in Brazil that killed a butterfly for the damage to their homes and loss of life.

    --
    "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
    --- Jerry Garcia
  52. Re:Whelp by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

    Why don't you include the health BENEFITS of having a reliable power grid

    They are already included. Health benefits -> better quality of life -> more productive populace -> higher earnings.

  53. Re:Whelp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Name ONE energy source the environmentalists will approve! ... Bottom line, coal isn't that bad... The hype about CO2 is just that, hype

    There is the political problem nicely encapsulated. The sane and reasonably well informed section of the human population is trapped between a a right-wing lunatic fringe that won't even accept there is a problem and a left-wing lunatic fringe that will not accept any possible solution to the problem.

    Serious energy analysis shows that even if we deploy as much nuclear, hydro, solar, wind, biogas etc. as is practicable, as we must, (despite the recent mass hysteria about the zero deaths at Fukushima), we will still not be able to achieve a reduction down to 20% of current fossil fuel usage. We need the engineers working not only on the supply side, but on the demand side as well.

  54. Re:Whelp by Adrian+Lopez · · Score: 1

    To them, cheap energy (no matter the source) is the problem.

    What's your evidence for such an outlandish claim?

    --
    "In prison you just have to shut your eyes and take it. Here you have to shut your eyes and give it."
  55. Re:Whelp by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

    Coal isn't peaking (at least, not in the efficient plants). And all sources are peaking (including back bone ones like coal and nuclear) when you include storage. We need to get away from the idea of generating power only when we need it, and instead generate power when and where we can and transport/store it for when/where it's needed. There are plenty of places that have hydro pumped up in the night by the back bone power surplus and drained in the day for peak delivery.

    Just because you seem to ignore it doesn't mean it isn't the better way of doing it. Not to mention you did explicitly list hydro as peaking. And solar mostly is, because it's supply driven, but demand correlates well, at least in warm climes (the more sun you have, the more cooling you need).

  56. And if you say it this way? by Walt+Sellers · · Score: 1

    the Supreme Court agreed with the companies [that the law, the way congress wrote it, says] that regulating greenhouse gases should be left to the EPA...

    What then?

    Add "Congress said" to the front of Supreme Court decisions and see what it sounds like.

  57. Re:Whelp by Rei · · Score: 2

    I'm an environmentalist, and I'm big on solar, wind, and geothermal, like 95%+ of people who would tag themselves similarly.
    QED, you have been disproven.

    FYI, most of the people opposing big projects -- let's say, Cape Wind -- are not environmental groups, although they hide under that guise. Cape Wind was mainly opposed by wealthy landowners afraid it would lower their property values.

    --
    Seen on a Japanese food processor: "Not to be used for the other use."
  58. Re:Whelp by yourmommycalled · · Score: 1

    Holdren is NOT a self-proclaimed malthusian. Alex Jones, a well respected journalist who does his research is one of the sources of this bovine excrement. You might check the reliability of the source of your "facts"

  59. Re:Whelp by Whalou · · Score: 1

    So why don't you shut the fuck up and go burn some cars or something.

    It's a trick!

    You'll get sued for contributing to global warming!

    --
    English is not this .sig mother tongue...
  60. Re:GLOBAL WARMING IS A COMMUNIST TRICK by gearloos · · Score: 1

    Jesus told me so

    OMG I knew it- Al Gore is Jesus!

    --
    "Computers are a lot like Air Conditioners" "They both work great until you start opening Windows"
  61. Creating a public nuisance because... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    there is no law against destroying the planet for our children.

  62. Re:Whelp by iiiears · · Score: 1

    www.physorg.com/news/2011-05-nuclear-power-world-energy.html The 440 commercial nuclear reactors in use worldwide are currently helping to minimize our consumption of fossil fuels, but how much bigger can nuclear power get? In an analysis to be published in a future issue of the Proceedings of the IEEE, Derek Abbott, Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Adelaide in Australia, has concluded that nuclear power cannot be globally scaled to supply the world’s energy needs for numerous reasons. The results suggest that we’re likely better off investing in other energy solutions that are truly scalable. Fossil fuels or nuclear it makes no difference until solar/thermal energy is generated and stored economically.

    --
    15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
  63. Re:Whelp by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

    Justify your ass beating any way you can. No one gave Boston a chance going in, and they took the cup home. Oh, then Vancouver decided to pretend that they were Cleveland and trashed their own city.

    Well done, Canada. Well done.

    --
    Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
  64. Re:Whelp by iiiears · · Score: 1

    If you two can't play together without picking i fight i am going to have to separate you. AC - I want you to finish your tuna sandwich Unless that is you are concerned about mercury cadmuim and a dozen other pollutants then it's okay leave the sandwich where you found it.

    --
    15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
  65. Re:Whelp by iiiears · · Score: 1

    Efficiency in the short term. hey it's easy ABTU saved is a BTU earned. The need beyond generation and conservation is storage. Batteries/gasses/thermal reservoirs.

    --
    15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
  66. Re:Whelp by iiiears · · Score: 1

    Cancer causing 'Hot Particles' detected in Seattle" www.nuc.berkeley.edu/node/4503

    --
    15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
  67. Re:Whelp by iiiears · · Score: 1

    15 TW with nuclear only, The world would need about 15,000 nuclear reactors. Every nuclear power station needs to be decommissioned after 40-60 years of operation due to neutron embrittlement. it takes 6-12 years to build a nuclear station, and up to 20 years to decommission.
      To date, there have been 11 nuclear accidents at the level of a full or partial core-melt. these 11 accidents occurred during a cumulated total of 14,000 reactor-years.

    Scaling up to 15,000 reactors would mean we would have a major accident somewhere in the world every month.

    http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-05-nuclear-power-world-energy.html

    --
    15TW = 15,000 Nuclear Reactors. (Approx. one accident a month.)
  68. Re:Whelp by elrous0 · · Score: 1

    the Boston Bruins have more Canadian players than any other team in the league

    Even better, for a 50% discount, we'll trade you a Stanley Cup award-winning team for repatriation.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  69. See here you decide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2251248&cid=36509086 and falconhell? Some FYI for you, from Jesse Ventura of all people (former gov. of minnesota iirc & former WWF star + actor etc.):

    He, a former MAJOR politician, said they're ALL THE SAME!

    They ONLY ACT as if there was a "2 party system" Dems vs. Repubs etc. but he said it was like the WWF, where the fight is staged, & they trash talk one another etc. (but in reality it's all an act, & they go and laugh about it over drinks later).

    In fact?

    Check campaign contributions from ANY MAJOR CORPORATION TOO: They "hedge their bets" & FUND BOTH SIDES CAMPAIGNS

    (So - Don't let this 2 party b.s. get you man, it's an act largely by those in power (and they're not politicians - it's the wealthy pulling the puppet strings & using "divide & conquer" tactics - keep them fighting one another, they can't be strong enough to take us down etc. train of thought)).

    There's a lot of additional backing information at places online like topdocumentaryfilms.com too that back it, check there... that place will educate you on a lot of things we've all been fed as a complete line of horseshit (and it's better than watching say, "Dance with the Stars").

  70. Falconhell, see here, you decide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  71. Falconhell, see here, U decide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  72. Falconhell, see here, U decide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  73. Re:Whelp by s73v3r · · Score: 1

    No, externalities are those extra costs that don't actually show up in the price you pay. Such as the increased impact on the environment and the increased cost to people's health. Are you trying to say that these costs don't exist and shouldn't be paid by the power utility?

  74. Re:Whelp by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

    No, externalities are those extra costs that don't actually show up in the price you pay. Such as the increased impact on the environment and the increased cost to people's health. Are you trying to say that these costs don't exist and shouldn't be paid by the power utility?

    Which is it, me or the power utility? You used both. Oh, wait - corporations pass on all their costs to consumers, so of course it will be me that pays (or simply goes without). But the whole "externalities" meme is bullshit, anyway, because it's always implemented as a tax, which goes to the looters to help ... nobody but the looters. So they can pay for more weapons, boots, and cages.

    Even the "costs" will be determined by the looters themselves. And it all flows back to the King, and your name may be on the deed (so you can pay your "externalities" and taxes), but only the King will decide what you can do with it, and when, and how, and what cut the King gets when you do.

    So, yea, you're blind if you don't see the entire idea as just a way to restore the "Divine Right of Kings."

    --
    "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
    --- Jerry Garcia
  75. Re:Whelp by s73v3r · · Score: 1

    Maybe if that externality was actually priced it, it wouldn't need to be added in the form of a tax.

    The rest of your post is a bunch of anti-government, paranoid, pseudo libertarian bullshit.

  76. Re:Whelp by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

    The rest of your post is a bunch of anti-government, paranoid, pseudo libertarian bullshit.

    And your theories of "externalities costs" is completely based on a bunch of anti-free-market, speculative fear-mongering, pseudo socialistic bullshit. So I guess we're even.

    --
    "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
    --- Jerry Garcia
  77. Re:Whelp by s73v3r · · Score: 1

    Ahh, so now we get to the crux of your position: The environment is "anti-free market". Good to know.

  78. Re:Whelp by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

    Ahh, so now we get to the crux of your position: The environment is "anti-free market". Good to know.

    Ugliest straw man I've seen in a long time. I'm a real environmentalist. Take your socialist ideas wrapped in fake environmentalism and go away.

    --
    "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
    --- Jerry Garcia
  79. Re:Whelp by s73v3r · · Score: 1

    "Real" in that you want a company to be able to do whatever the fuck they want.

  80. Re:Whelp by Shark · · Score: 1

    Have you read the book?

            “We find ourselves firmly in the neo-Malthusian camp. We hold this view not because we believe the world to be running out of materials in an absolute sense, but rather because the barriers to continued material growth, in the form of problems of economics, logistics, management, and environmental impact, are so formidable.”

            - Paul Ehrlich, Anne Ehrlich, and John Holdren, Ecoscience: Population, Resources, and Environment (San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1977), p. 954.

    I'll grant you that I missed the 'neo' bit.

    --
    Mind the frickin' laser...