TheBig3 |
04-22-2020 11:08 AM |
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Originally Posted by Frownland
(Post 2114045)
Ja that's pretty much my point, Joey is only supporting the coal industry because of the economic factor, which I view as prioritizing money over legitimate climate change measures.
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It would be if politics wasn't a factor. You can't enact things when you're not in office. This is the reason that, while I didn't vote for Biden, I happily will in the General. He makes taking the Senate a lot easier for the Dems. He makes the likelihood of a progressive cabinet a lot more possible.
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I hope you're right that oil, coal, and gas will fall out of favour as renewables become more common, but I just don't have that kind of faith after seeing the market seemingly act against its own long term interests time and time again.
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Can you say a bit more about this? I'm not sure what you mean.
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I'll need to see solar emissions better accounted for in the manufacturing process before I put my support behind that, otherwise it's just shifting the problem around instead of solving it and half measures are what brought us here. There's the land use issue, but we've already done that damage to achieve urban sprawl and strip malls, so it could easily be incorporated there.
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Are you saying that the manufacturing emissions net-net might out pace oil? If so, I'd be shocked to see it but I'll dig in.
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For now, a highly regulated nuclear industry seems like the climate change magic wand if we're not going to do anything on a behavioural level to lessen our climate impact.
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Nuclear has two or three major issues for the US (given that we're the 2nd biggest emitter).
1. Because we stopped making plants after 3-mile island, the US currently lacks the experience and knowledge to build them well. Easily fixed but a hurdle none-the-less
2. The upfront overhead capx costs are insane. You'd need to make a crazy push to get that passed, funded, and to provide MW at a cost comparable to renewables. Maybe this would work in deregulated markets, but admittedly I'm not an expert on this.
3. Nuclear has a ramping problem. It doesn't meet demand on demand. It's like turning a cruise ship around. That's not a disqualifier, but it does mean nuclear isn't a magical fix. Having said that, operating at a baseline level based on predictable forecasting, and filling the top 40% of demand with renewables or fossil fuels is a smart approach I do think the US needs to explore.
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