Charles asks…
Could taxing carbon emissions actually reduce the overall cost of energy?
“Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., one of three chief sponsors of the bill, disputed both assertions, saying the bill would provide tens of billions of dollars a year in tax breaks for people facing high energy costs and for other measures to ease the transition from oil, coal and other fossil fuels, which are the cause of impending changing climate.
She argued that people actually may end up paying less to fuel their cars because a price on carbon emissions would accelerate the push for more fuel efficient vehicles and alternative fuels.”
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-climate-politics,0,1881509,full.story
It’s too bad many republicans were shortsighted concerning this critical issue which goes far beyond our pocketbooks to our very survival as a species.
It’s too bad we have to convince people first this is in their economic interests. Indeed “Money is the root of all kinds of evil.”
The Expert answers:
It won’t reduce the financial cost of energy, but it will accomplish some other things:
1) Reveal the true cost of fossil fuel-based energy by adding the environmental cost to the monetary cost.
2) Fund alternative energies which will allow them to become cost-competetive with fossil fuels.
3) Create new green tech jobs.
4) Encourage people to become more energy efficient which will save them money in the long run.
Claims that a carbon tax or cap will harm our economy are extremely short-sighted.
Joseph asks…
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070527/4turkey.htm-Read Article in this link can they coexist why?
ISTANBUL—Walk down the pedestrian-jammed Istiklal Street in Istanbul’s fashionable Beyoglu neighborhood day or night, and you sense the tremendous energy that has been unleashed in Turkey during the past decade. Founded by Italian merchants in Byzantine times, this vibrant district, rising above the northern shore of the Golden Horn, was until recently one of the city’s shabbier quarters. But since its conversion into a mostly car-free zone in the late 1990s—one of the many shrewd calls made by the city’s then Islamist government—Beyoglu has taken off. The maze of narrow streets branching off the boutique-lined Istiklal buzz with trendy cafes, clubs, and restaurants, while apartments that sell faster than they can be refurbished appreciate at the clip of about 25 percent a year.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul before a giant photo of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
IHLAS NEWS AGENCY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
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If he were alive today, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic, would embrace this booming, cosmopolitan neighborhood as the fulfillment of his modernizing dream. And Beyoglu is only contemporary Turkey writ small, a dramatically compressed version of what is happening throughout the rest of the country.
Averaging around a 7 percent GDP growth rate for the past five years, Turkey is flooding the world with exports produced by its “Anatolian Tigers,” as the heartland-born (and often religiously conservative) members of the new industrial and commercial elite are called. With inflation and taxes down, and with continuing prosperity expected, what’s to complain about?
As it turns out, quite a lot. Grumbling, partisan sniping, and even large public demonstrations have become the order of day ever since Turkey’s Supreme Court—nudged by threats of a military coup and a large pro-secularist rally in Istanbul—annulled a parliamentary vote that made the candidate from the religiously tinged Justice and Development Party (AKP) the likely successor to the presidency. Events surrounding the court’s May 1 decision have brought to a head tensions that some analysts say had been building for at least a year—tensions that are bound up with modern Turkey’s perennial debate over religion, democracy, and secularism.
Mosque and state. At issue, says an assortment of secularly oriented Turks, including the staunchly Kemalist Republican People’s Party (CHP), are the efforts of the governing AKP to bring religion into the center of the nation’s political and civic life. If unchecked, the critics charge, the AKP would effectively dismantle the mosque-state barriers that Ataturk erected after creating a republic in 1923.
Not surprisingly, AKP leaders object. They deny that they are Islamists or have any designs on creating a religiously governed state. They claim only to be building a clean, open, and vigorously free-market society. If the AKP has an agenda, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly says, it is to prepare Turkey for membership in the European Union—and to do so despite recent rebuffs from Germany and France.
This is one domestic squabble that the whole world is watching, and not only because of the large question mark hovering over Turkey’s bid to join the EU. The second-largest provider of troops to NATO after the United States, Turkey offers a much needed alternative to Russia as a passageway for pipelines bringing oil and gas from the Middle East and Central Asia to Europe.
The Expert answers:
Interesting article.
I guess the only real answer lies in knowing what the different factions’ true objectives are.
It’s quite obvious that Sharia law and a “free and independent” state cannot co-exist.
The fact that certain decisions by the Supreme Court were influenced dramatically by the threat of a military coup is not very encouraging when the objective is alleged to be “a clean, open and vigorously free market society.”
Thomas asks…
Will the BP Gulf oil spill have positive effects?
Along the lines of –
what people think about our oil needs, how much we use and where we get it from
and
funding and researching alternative sources
I think this will only be good news for people around the world who are pushing green energy. currently no countries really spend enough R&D on green energy and any breakthroughs in the area are ages away.
The Expert answers:
In the way of “lessons learned” there should be a lot of good that comes out of this. But i dont see where this is going to push green usage any further or speed up the transfer process.as far as other countries go, they aren’t feeling the effect or seeing like we are so they prob wont give too much thought about it unless the oil starts washing up on their shores, they say Iraq pollutes more than what they use as far as oil drilling and consumption (whether or not its actually true idk) but if it is true it hasn’t caused them to consider green energy anymore than anyone else.There is so much money that goes into oil and the economy that it will take over 100yrs to completely transfer to green usage without collapsing anyones economy….Economically speaking, there are going to be unfortold downfalls of gas prices being hiked through the roof…not because of the spill in general but the cost that BP is going to have to offset for the clean up and restitution for the people living in the gulf. Theres a lot of talk about BP going bankrupt but i dont see where they would go bankrupt before they attempt to hike the price of homegrown oil. And then the obvious “Eco System disaster” the effects are going to topple like dominoes before they actually get this issue fixed.. Jobs, Food, the local economy in the gulf (which is already being felt) plus the seafood industry in general. Im not exactly sure on how much of our seafood comes from the gulf but i think its a safe bet to say that its over 25%. Think about that the next time you have shrimp for dinner. Look at what the katrina disaster did for the cost of lumber during that time…it nearly doubled…given the pollution and the amount of time for the ecosystem to balance back out properly the cost of seafood may go up permanently. Not to mention they say that the gulf gains a football field of marshland every 40 min. What effect will that have on the people living there(and thats not oil related) but obama seems to think that investing money will actually “restore” the gulf…I voted for him but i dont see that happening no matter how much money you put into it.
Betty asks…
Will the BP Gulf oil spill have positive effects?
Along the lines of –
what people think about our oil needs, how much we use and where we get it from
and
funding and researching alternative sources
I think this will only be good news for people around the world who are pushing green energy. currently no countries really spend enough R&D on green energy and any breakthroughs in the area are ages away.
The Expert answers:
It’ll help us get the oversight and regulations we need to drill in exotic/unique locations. We’ve been drilling on land and in shallow water for so long that we’ve taken oil extraction for granted. It’s time we admitted that some drilling has a whole lot more risks and needs more oversight.
Unfortunately, I don’t think it’ll get America going on alternatives. After the gas crises of the 1970’s everyone was with Carter and his plan. Then gas became plentiful again and everyone lost interest. Same thing happened after the Exxon Valdez. Americans don’t have the will to carry through with the programs unless they’re inconvenienced. In the mean time, both India and China are taking the lead in lowering their carbon footprint (20% by 2020) and in developing alternatives. The US doesn’t seem to think it needs to be a world leader in this area.
Susan asks…
Why is it that between friday and sunday this appointment has changed twice?
On whose recommendation are the appointments made and what was wrong with the original replacement?
There has been a lot of activity in the past few days in the insurance sector. Is it prudent to make this appointment at this time to this person? Considering this man’s trade union expertise and experience at the electricity board he seems better qualified to hold a different post.
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_09/February22161212RA.html
He is by all indicators in the wrong department.Perhaps the vacancy should remain so until the proper candidate is vetted for the post.
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/080601/FinancialTimes/ft326.html
Mr Kariyawasam said alternative energy solutions such as solar, wave, wind, mini hydro, biomass and tidal are extremely costly. The investment cost for 1 MW of installed capacity of solar power is US$10 million. Wave power costs US$4 million per 1 MW, biomass US$3 million, wind US$3 million, mini hydro US$1.5 million and tidal US$4 million. In comparison, diesel and natural gas in internal combustion engines cost US$0.9 million per 1 MW while central generation using fossil fuel costs US$1 million per MW.
I am well aware that the interchangeable Minister Murkherjee is in Colombo this week as I am well aware of the Sampath project which remains unapproved, I am also well aware of Namaste as I am well aware that Murkhejee is not Prime Minister. I understand the world view is skewed at 4’6″ but small mindedness and short perception do not have to operate in conjunction with dimunitive stature. I am also well aware of the recruitment of ex-cons into the US alternative energy sector as it was on the news today, Mr. Murkherjee- the US was so looking forward to having its young, non-criminal proponents of alternative energy working on these federally mandated projects, much more so than building mafias.It is also wise for an external minister of one country to stay out of the internal affairs of its neighbor especially when there are verfiable links of cross border terrorism that span 30 years. In Sri Lanka we have experienced the devolution of “former terrorists” to mafia elements that still carry on terrorist acts. To that end Mr. Murkherjee I pose the question – What is your involvement with Namaste and was your participation and/or “expertise” requested? For your “expertise”,per your designation, in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs, foreign policy and national security are not requisite or a pre-requisite to our sovreignity. Senator McCain, please have a conversation with Vice-president Biden regarding this matter. I had also asked him to pass along information regarding certain Arizona residents that were at 8/27 to your attention.
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=12160614&ch=4226713&src=news
The Expert answers:
I agree with you and it must stop..I think we should boycott Arizona.
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