Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ed Markey to unveil 'Green New Deal' bill

[Sparko]

It is official, the Dems have gone mad...

I guess they think they can just magically make it happen because they write it down.

You know, if liberals weren't so against nuclear power they probably could have had the national grid off of fossil fuels decades ago. \

but you notice they use a lot of buzz words to make it sound like they are doing something when they are not.

"upgrading every residential and industrial building for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, comfort and safety"

What does that actually mean? Just a bunch of buzzwords strung together. The "state of the art" just means what we have right now. what does comfort and safety mean? Are our buildings not comfortable and safe now? Aren't they energy efficient?

[Mountain Man]

It is official, the Dems have gone mad...

Too bad "green energy" has proven to be anything but efficient.

[seer]

I guess they think they can just magically make it happen because they write it down.

You know, if liberals weren't so against nuclear power they probably could have had the national grid off of fossil fuels decades ago. \

but you notice they use a lot of buzz words to make it sound like they are doing something when they are not.

"upgrading every residential and industrial building for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, comfort and safety"

What does that actually mean? Just a bunch of buzzwords strung together. The "state of the art" just means what we have right now. what does comfort and safety mean? Are our buildings not comfortable and safe now? Aren't they energy efficient?

Thank God we still have the Senate and Presidency...

[seer]

We just don't learn...

German power prices have rocketed; blackouts and load shedding are the norm; and idyllic rural communities are now industrial wastelands (see above).

Hundreds of billions of euros have been squandered on subsidies to wind and solar, all in an effort to reduce carbon dioxide gas emissions. However, that objective has failed too: CO2 emissions continue to riseold coal-fired power plants are being refurbished; and dozens of new coal-fired plants are being built. On any sensible reckoning, the Energiewende has been a monumental failure.

https://stopthesethings.com/2018/08/...ical-failures/

[Sparko]

Thank God we still have the Senate and Presidency...

They will eventually get their turn again.

[seer]

They will eventually get their turn again.

I doubt if they will get both houses and the Presidency for a good long while - especially since their madness has been on full display of late... And by then global warming would have killed us all anyway...

[Sparko]

We just don't learn...

When I was over in Germany last summer I noticed a lot of solar roofs and solar farms. The problem is that it is nearly always rainy and cloudy in Germany most of the year, especially in winter when you would need the energy the most.

But I do have to say that they have very energy efficient homes. They always have. Most homes in Germany don't even have air conditioning. They stay fairly cool even in summer. And my sisters house (which is at least 80 years old) is heated in winter by a central wooden stove in a ceramic fireplace. and it is a two story 3 bedroom home.

[seer]

When I was over in Germany last summer I noticed a lot of solar roofs and solar farms. The problem is that it is nearly always rainy and cloudy in Germany most of the year, especially in winter when you would need the energy the most.

But I do have to say that they have very energy efficient homes. They always have. Most homes in Germany don't even have air conditioning. They stay fairly cool even in summer. And my sisters house (which is at least 80 years old) is heated in winter by a central wooden stove in a ceramic fireplace. and it is a two story 3 bedroom home.

Like Hitler's concrete bunker - very efficient...

[Starlight]

Nancy Pelosi is very politically astute. One does not simply fall into the Speaker role, and she's used her political career to make piles of cash.

I often don't agree with her on policy issues, political tactics, public statements, or money in politics, but I will say this for Nancy Pelosi: She is quite astute at her job and balancing competing factions and corralling her caucus to vote with a single voice on issues.

When compared to pre-Speaker Ryan Republicans who were all but tearing each others hair out as they shut the government down due to internal bickering with the Tea Party faction, and compared to Chuck Schumer who outgoing senator Claire McCaskill said has never once suggested that Dem senators should vote united as a caucus and instead had just always let them vote however they individually felt like on issues, Nancy Pelosi stands out as being able to get the job done in terms of mustering her caucus to vote for or against particular proposals. To achieve that, she must be a competent negotiator among the various factions behind the scenes and able to create compromises and deals successfully with the different members, which shows to me that she does actually have an impressive level of skill (or employ particularly gifted aides) whatever we might see from her in public.

[Starlight]

It is official, the Dems have gone mad...

They haven't gone mad and there's nothing official about your arbitrary personal declaration of a falsehood. Care to cease the crazy?

Also the draft you present is just that: A draft. All legislation gets subjected to lengthy review processes between first draft and final enactment. First drafts are commonly vague and get the details filled in and changed by the select committees in response to expert and public submissions.

[Starlight]

"upgrading every residential and industrial building for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, comfort and safety"

What does that actually mean? Just a bunch of buzzwords strung together. The "state of the art" just means what we have right now. what does comfort and safety mean? Are our buildings not comfortable and safe now? Aren't they energy efficient?

Part of working on the bill as it develops will to nail down exactly what that does or doesn't mean, assuming that this idea is retained in the final version.

But to give you some examples of what it might mean from my own country where the government has been quite busy on the subject over the past few years...

Government passes Healthy Homes bill, requiring all rentals to be warm and dry

...the new Government have passed a law requiring rentals to be warm, dry, and well ventilated.

The law will require landlords to guarantee that any new tenancy from July 1, 2019 must be either properly insulated or contain a heating source able to make the home warm and dry. All tenancies must meet the new standards by July 1, 2024.

The exact requirements are not in the bill, but will be set by the Government before 2019. Grants of up to $2000 will be available for eligible landlords to upgrade their stock.

A local university has produced the following checklist that they suggested is appropriate for houses to comply with in order to confirm they are warm, dry, safe etc, that they are suggesting the government should adopt:

KitchenLiving Areas
Wall, ceiling and floor linings intact
Surfaces clear of mould
Effective ventilation to the outside
+Opening window with secure latch
+ Window security stays (where required)
Working artificial lighting
Heating, fixed, effective and safe
Visibly safe power outlets and light switches
Curtains/blinds/double glazing present

etc. (see the link for other rooms of the house)

[Starlight]

Posters here may be interested in watching 5 minutes of AOC questioning experts yesterday about corruption in the US and (lack of) rules regulating it:

The general view on the internet seems to be that she did a good job here.

[Mountain Man]

Cortez thinks that government corruption needs to be reigned in? What do you know, another point on which she agrees with Trump.

[Starlight]

Cortez thinks that government corruption needs to be reigned in? What do you know, another point on which she agrees with Trump.

Unlike Trump she actually lives it - she took no PAC or big donor money for her campaign. Whereas Trump is probably the single most corrupt president with the single most corrupt cabinet in US history.

The right are such losers that they can only win elections by duping their gullible low-information base into believing they might actually implement left wing policies like anti-corruption laws.

[Bill the Cat]

"The president can't have a conflict of interest," Trump recently told The New York Times. "In theory, I can be president of the United States and run my business 100 percent."

And he's absolutely right. According to the 1978 Ethics in Government Act, all high-ranking federal officials are required to disclose their financial holdings and recuse themselves from any government business in which they, their families or close associates have a financial interest. All federal officials, that is, except the president, the vice president, members of Congress and federal judges.