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Corporate Capture in California

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Re: Corporate Capture in California

#11

Post by finite_depth »

opportune wrote: post #9

I’m sick of this dumb anti-SDC narrative that all the local news media is pushing. I get it, big tech bad, change scary, controversy good for clicks and ad impressions. I’ve used them like 10 times now and know several other people actively using them in SF, and I’ve coexisted with them for years as a pedestrian throughout the Bay Area, and have had nothing but positive experiences with them. Honestly fuck these jour…

"I’ve used them like 10 times now and know several other people actively using them in SF, and I’ve coexisted with them for years as a pedestrian throughout the Bay Area, and have had nothing but positive experiences with them."

I've had nothing but positive experiences with cars in thousands of encounters over many months, but tens of thousands of people still die in accidents every year. Not observing a rare event in a small number of encounters isn't much in the way of statistical evidence.

Re: Corporate Capture in California

#12

Post by m463 »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #6
johnea wrote: post #3

Corporate capture in California is WAY bigger than just the DMV. Just do some scroogling on CPUC (California Public Utility Commision) and their treatment of net metering and other utility reforms. California is a very rich state, and if you want to find corruption, just follow the money...

I'm curious with what you are referring to with respect to CPUC and their net metering decision. I googled it and saw that they recently went away from net metering. Austin, TX is one of the first locales (if not the first) that used a "Value of Solar" metric instead of net metering. I may hate this from a personal perspective as someone who wants to put up solar panels on my house, but I also acknowledge that net me…

PG&E is the culprit.

Take a look at each incremental change by the CPUC, and you'll see that they went too far the other way with "unfair" net metering. Concurrently, they have incrementally raised electricity rates and are charging some of the highest in the country. I routinely pay 50c/kwh for electricity, no matter what confusing "plan" I am on.

This has happened throughout my time in california. Even when I had a small apartment (years ago), the tiered electricity rates were horrendous because the baseline rate was based on someone with both gas and electricity, and the apartment did not have gas available.

Re: Corporate Capture in California

#13

Post by happytoexplain »

opportune wrote: post #9

I’m sick of this dumb anti-SDC narrative that all the local news media is pushing. I get it, big tech bad, change scary, controversy good for clicks and ad impressions. I’ve used them like 10 times now and know several other people actively using them in SF, and I’ve coexisted with them for years as a pedestrian throughout the Bay Area, and have had nothing but positive experiences with them. Honestly fuck these jour…

"Works for me" is a bizarre defense of self-driving cars. Regardless, it's not only journalists, though I know they are a favorite punching bags. Lots of normal people are justifiably angry and/or scared of autonomous vehicles.

Statistics is just one piece of the picture, and when statistics can support something in a divided topic, proponents of that thing tend to irrationally tunnel-vision the statistics angle. Bad software is already an unending nightmare that makes life difficult and engenders a lot of bitterness. We see companies prioritize the wrong things all the time. If a car killed my loved one because of software and lobbying and the blind supporters of these companies, I would be insane with fury directed at those responsible, just as I would be with a distracted driver if they caused the accident, if not more so.

People care a lot about agency, and the reason for a person's death matters a lot. To take an extreme example, if autonomous cars result in much fewer road deaths, but the deaths they do cause are due to a robot arm coming out of the dashboard and stabbing the driver to death, people aren't going to accept that, and it would be ridiculous to stubbornly point at the statistics and just insist that humans must not have human feelings.

Re: Corporate Capture in California

#14

Post by jtbayly »

opportune wrote: post #9

I’m sick of this dumb anti-SDC narrative that all the local news media is pushing. I get it, big tech bad, change scary, controversy good for clicks and ad impressions. I’ve used them like 10 times now and know several other people actively using them in SF, and I’ve coexisted with them for years as a pedestrian throughout the Bay Area, and have had nothing but positive experiences with them. Honestly fuck these jour…

Prove that it is life-saving instead of life destroying.

Oh, nevermind. You’d need the data that they sued to keep you from getting your hands on.

But yeah, I’m sure they have nothing to hide and this is just good technology with no problems.

Re: Corporate Capture in California

#15

Post by fragmede »

m463 wrote: post #12
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious with what you are referring to with respect to CPUC and their net metering decision. I googled it and saw that they recently went away from net metering. Austin, TX is one of the first locales (if not the first) that used a "Value of Solar" metric instead of net metering. I may hate this from a personal perspective as someone who wants to put up solar panels on my house, but I also acknowledge that net me…

PG&E is the culprit. Take a look at each incremental change by the CPUC, and you'll see that they went too far the other way with "unfair" net metering. Concurrently, they have incrementally raised electricity rates and are charging some of the highest in the country. I routinely pay 50c/kwh for electricity, no matter what confusing "plan" I am on. This has happened throughout my time in california. Even when I had a…

fwiw, there are two base rate plans. If you are on the electricity+gas plan, but don't have gas, you're overpaying. have pge put you on the electricity-only base rate plan.

Re: Corporate Capture in California

#16

Post by m463 »

fragmede wrote: post #15
m463 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PG&E is the culprit. Take a look at each incremental change by the CPUC, and you'll see that they went too far the other way with "unfair" net metering. Concurrently, they have incrementally raised electricity rates and are charging some of the highest in the country. I routinely pay 50c/kwh for electricity, no matter what confusing "plan" I am on. This has happened throughout my time in california. Even when I had a…

fwiw, there are two base rate plans. If you are on the electricity+gas plan, but don't have gas, you're overpaying. have pge put you on the electricity-only base rate plan.

I don't remember there being a electricity-only base rate plan years (and years) ago. maybe I just had higher than normal usage?

Re: Corporate Capture in California

#17

Post by cbsmith »

happytoexplain wrote: post #7
cbsmith wrote: post #4

"Despite recurring safety problems, these companies had no problems receiving these permits, which critics have condemned." So the expectation is that there be no safety problems, because taxis never have safety problems?

Your quote implies neither of those things.

It really does. The "safety problems" are trivial compared to the "safety problems" with conventional vehicles, but since we're used to 50,000 people dying each year, we're much more concerned about the possibility that a fraction of that number might die with some new technology.

Re: Corporate Capture in California

#18

Post by fragmede »

m463 wrote: post #16
fragmede wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

fwiw, there are two base rate plans. If you are on the electricity+gas plan, but don't have gas, you're overpaying. have pge put you on the electricity-only base rate plan.

I don't remember there being a electricity-only base rate plan years (and years) ago. maybe I just had higher than normal usage?

Point is, If PG&E's map is wrong, and they have you on a gas+electricity plan when you only have electricity, you have to call them up and tell them that you aren't.
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