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US strikes $1.2B deal to pay German firm to halt offshore wind projects

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Re: US strikes $1.2B deal to pay German firm to halt offshore wind projects

#401
post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. The US is the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world. We’re also a net energy exporter. We import some crude because our refineries are set up for it. That’s a long way from being “entirely reliant” on foreign fuel.

We are indeed the largest producer of oil and natural gas. In this case, "some" is like 70%. Maybe that's not "entirely reliant", but it's far from independence. If other countries stopped selling us oil, our car-centric society would be FUBAR for some time. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-produc... https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_d_nus_Z00_mbblp... https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_…

70% figure isn’t dependence on foreign oil for 70% of our consumption. The US both imports and exports huge amounts of petroleum.

And most US crude imports come from Canada, not the Middle East.

If the Middle East suddenly stopped it would cause a disruption but that’s very different than saying the US is reliant on the Middle East.

Re: US strikes $1.2B deal to pay German firm to halt offshore wind projects

#402

> Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement posted on X that Americans deserve an energy system built on common sense and not one dependent on "costly subsidies". I agree. This is why we are building offshore wind and not subsidizing fossil fuels, right?

Lying bullshitters all. These people are not interested in coherent policy. They say whatever they want to justify it, we know it, and they know we know it. It’s an intentional expression of domination. Just another thing to prosecute and rebuild.

At least they’ll be out of office or age out eventually, we’ll just collectively as US taxpayers with a federal income tax burden (top ~40% of income earners, bottom ~60% have no federal income tax liability) have to pay back hundreds of billions of dollars in excess debt incurred because of this governance failure mode we experienced (or default on the debt, which is also an option).

My hot take is: be ready to move fast when the winds shift and we can get back to building instead of harm reduction.

("Progress occurs one funeral at a time." -- Max Planck)

Re: US strikes $1.2B deal to pay German firm to halt offshore wind projects

#403
post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Older generation has lead poisoning from all the leaded gasoline burned

I hate this theory. It is extremely condescending, offers nothing, has no proof, but sounds plausible enough that many people believe it. It is much more likely that our economic system rewards hostile behavior and that money has outsized influence in politics and a criminal justice system which lets rich people get away with crimes. That money correlates more with hostile behavior then lead, Instead of blaming lead,…

It's spelled lead, and it has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to cause brain damage. There is no safe level of lead exposure, it causes neurological damage at any level of exposure and it stays in your body permanently.

You're wrong on every count and simply spreading disinformation. Please don't do that.

Re: US strikes $1.2B deal to pay German firm to halt offshore wind projects

#404
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All kinds of power generation are typically heavily subdized in some way. I do not think this "common sense" strategy exists.

There are too many interested parties involved in the energy sector. The only common sense I can think of is solar+storage at the single building level and interconnected through smart grids with neighbours. But that leaves out the government and all those interested parties so we're never ever getting that.

That’s not a good idea. Millions would be left without electricity.

Re: US strikes $1.2B deal to pay German firm to halt offshore wind projects

#406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, we're not expecting someone else to stop it. We voted for this. The evil is not imposed on us. It is us. Not everyone, but a majority. The minority is looking for ways to stop it, but it requires getting literally everyone else to work together. Which means any disagreement among them results in a loss, and more of the same evil.

Roughly 1/3 voted for the winner, 1/3 for the loser, and the rest didn’t vote. A majority did not choose this.

I even wonder how much of the 1/3 who voted for him now regret it.

Re: US strikes $1.2B deal to pay German firm to halt offshore wind projects

#407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That depends entirely on how you measure quality of life. Though I'd argue that if quality of life measures didn't noticeably increase after those products were released, then I'd say no.

I'd argue quality of life is down since the invention of smartphones > There must be a cap where quality of life is good enough though, right? Maybe in some hypothetical future, but even the fantastical world Star Trek TNG has improvements on quality of life that could be made. I think part of the problem of today lands on the post-cold war and certainly post-911 media landscape. There just aren't optimistic future.…

I'd argue that we have to find some level of "enough" when it comes to quality of life, likely a balance between incremental improvements vs the costs to get there.

Effectively all history of life was focused entirely on finding food, water, maybe shelter and safety, and breeding. Where do we draw the line and stop making new things just because we can?

I have nothing to base this on so its just a hunch, but I'd expect quality of life would increase for many people today by removing, rather than adding. Work a little less, buy a little less, have fewer distractions, etc.

Re: US strikes $1.2B deal to pay German firm to halt offshore wind projects

#408
post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We don't need to "think" if they are noisy. We can measure that. So how noisy are they?

They're silent. I don't know where Trump got the idea from. Perhaps he thinks they work like fans?

They're most certainly not silent! If you're standing right under one, you can hear it over car traffic and the breeze! (Well, unless the wind is blowing really hard: then the wind might be louder than either, considering the usual minimum distance between wind turbines and roads.) Whatever will you claim is silent next? Refrigerators? Lightbulbs?

Re: US strikes $1.2B deal to pay German firm to halt offshore wind projects

#409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A significant part of science is plucking the true bits from common sense. A fair chunk of what we call medicine is folk remedies that stood up to rigorous testing.

Yes, but the testing bit is what makes it a scientifically-proven method and not a folk remedy. There are also a lot of folk remedies that have been disproven as medicine. They too were ‘common sense.’

> There are also a lot of folk remedies that have been disproven as medicine. They too were ‘common sense.’

"You know what they call alternative medicine that works? Medicine." - Tim Minchin

Re: US strikes $1.2B deal to pay German firm to halt offshore wind projects

#410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Hmm does this "aesthetic" include shrinking national parks?

Birds get confused when they have to much greenery, you need more land strip-mined for coal to keep them safe while migrating.
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