Remember, this is all about Science, not politics
Wait. Wasn't that scheduled to be next week's fearmongering talking point, after Ukraine-gate falls apart? You're getting ahead of the program, here. https://t.co/k01agjddzj
— Phineas Fahrquar (@irishspy) September 25, 2019
In a single graphic, this is everything you need to know about the science of today's groundbreaking new IPCC report.
What's not included, though, is perhaps the most important of all: Everything happening to the oceans is up to us. With transformative change, it's not too late. https://t.co/4rZgvFynRE
— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) September 25, 2019
Transformative change. Bold transformation of our political and economic systems. Huh. Science!
A green new home
A Green New Deal would touch our lives at every level, including at home
One of the key elements of the Green New Deal is a call to make our homes more energy efficient through weatherization. Homeowners and building owners would receive incentives from the federal government to weatherize buildings by replacing energy-inefficient windows, doors, insulation, and service systems such as electricity and plumbing. Not only would this boost homeowners’ equity, but it would also reduce the cost of utility bills and make our housing stock resilient against the weather changes a warming world brings. And speaking of energy, we’re also going to be installing solar panels, and a lot of them.
It’ll be great when they force you to do these things, costing you more money. Even better when they dramatically increase the cost of refurbing a home and building a home, making the cost of homes very expensive and unafordable for some.
Proposed changes in transportation are an underestimated element of the Green New Deal. All of the proposals see building robust, sustainable public transit systems and weaning us away from car reliance as keys to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As critics have noted, none of the proposed Green New Deal plans go far enough in this regard. But even these limited initiatives would have architectural effects: Imagine not having to waste so much square footage on a place to park your car. We could see a renaissance of the garage band, the garage workshop, and even the (properly weatherized) garage bedroom or apartment. Without car dependence, the aesthetics of new housing would be transformed by eliminating parking lots and decks on multifamily residential housing, and relegating the “snout house†(a house dominated by a front-facing garage) to the dustbin of history. Not only is this sustainable, it saves architects and homebuilders from the tricky task of trying to aesthetically integrate a massive garage.
So, wait, this looks like The Government is going to find ways, including the force of government, to take everyone’s private vehicles away.
Then there’s your lawn
The Sanders plan also references a home feature that most of us don’t think of as ecologically harmful: our lawns. Lawns account for 40 million acres in the United States, and not only do they limit biodiversity by creating a monoculture of turf grass, they are also responsible for pesticide use that is harmful to pollinators and greenhouse gas emissions by means of lawn-care machines and fertilizer production. The Sanders Green New Deal proposes a solution in the form of subsidized initiatives for Americans across the rural/suburban/urban divide to cultivate victory gardens—gardens for food production or reforestation. Combining victory gardens with the implementation of long-time landscape architecture practices like xeriscaping would save innumerable gallons of water, not to mention prevent greenhouse gases and ecologically harmful pesticides from being released into the environment.
Say goodbye to your nice lawn.
Appliances inside our homes matter, too. California has recently started exploring plans to phase out a number of appliances, such as gas-powered stoves and water heaters, aiming to replace them with induction cooktops and electric or geothermal heat. The elimination of gas-powered heating and appliances is a worthy goal, one that could be adopted by other states and in climate legislation writ large.
Dress it up as much as the Warmists want, this is still Big Government tyranny, taking away your freedom and choice. I would have loved to install a gas water heater when my electric one went belly up, a lot lower energy cost, but, I’m strangely set up for electric. Despite having gas heating and a gas fireplace.
A Green New Deal would provide us with new homes and improve the ones we have. We would save immense amounts of money everywhere: in omitting the garage when building a new house (or changing an existing garage into an income property), in lowering our energy bills (from renewable energy investment and weatherization), in altering our landscaping (no more sprinkler systems, pesticides, or fertilizer). Stemming the tide of climate change requires systemic action; it can’t be done just by omitting the straws at restaurants or carrying a tote bag. The result of that action isn’t just averting catastrophe, it’s building a better world—literally.
Except, we will be spending gobs and gobs of money to make this happen, including in our personal lives. Interestingly, climate cultists are not doing this in their own lives. And, don’t forget the multiple polls where at least 69% of U.S. citizens refuse to pay more than $10 a month to solve Hotcoldwetdry.
But, remember, this is all about Science, not government control of your life.
our esteemed host quoted:
This used to exist, but the tax credit has expired.
A worthy goal? Not for us, it wasn’t! We’re at the end of the line when it comes to sparktricity, and when there’s a major power outage due to a storm, we’re the last ones to have our electricity restored. The five days I spent without electricity, in a total electric home, in January of 2018, taught us the lesson: in our remodeling, we replaced our electric range with a propane one, and our electric water heater with a propane one as well. We added a propane fireplace. (I wanted wood, but we don’t have the chimney for it, and Elaine didn’t want the mess.) If we lose power for an extended period this winter, we’ll still be warm, able to take showers and cook.
Is your home on a slab? The only problem would have been running the gas line, and installing the chimney vent.
The people who want to run our lives all seem to be urbanites, who believe that people can just give up their cars. But if you live in a suburban area, the subway ain’t there and the bus lines might not be close to your home.
In the Philadelphia area, there are a lot of people who take the SEPTA trains into Center City to work, but most of them have to drive to the train station.
As for us rubes what live out in the sticks, there’s no public transportation, and putting in a system which would cover everywhere would both expensive and sparsely used, because we simply don’t have the population to sustain it.
And, of course, all of Our Betters who are advocating for electric cars don’t seem to have considered something: not everybody has a place to park his vehicles where he could charge them overnight, and even those with garages would have to install the charging systems. A charging unit costs nearly $500 at the low end, and can be much higher for those which have to be out in the weather. And installing a 50 amp 240 volt system is something which can cost a couple thousand dollars if you have to hire a sparktrician, which most people would have to do.
As it happens, I not only have the place for a charging system, but the tools, knowledge and skill to do the wiring myself. Thing is, if I installed it, and we bought an electric vehicle, we still get our power from a coal-burning power plant!
Cost of electrical hookups is small if you consider it like the added expense for floor mats and undercoating. It’s part of the cost of buying the car and a small added expense. Bonus: you get to feel smug about increasing your carbon footprint while pretending to decrease it.
Our honored host wrote:
That’s just it: the ‘urban elites’ pushing this s(tuff) don’t have nice lawns; they live in apartments, and a nice lawn, to them, means Central Park, or if they’re in the right place, nice, private, oh-so-upper crust Gramercy Park.
They’ve been pushing that stuff in the graphic about the oceans since 1970.
And a little something to consider about the little Swedish witchling.
It’s really hard for me to get excited about the temperature of the Earth in the year 2300. I’m pretty sure that the people alive after the year 2100 can take that one on. It’s not like we have them signed up for anything else… like paying for all our social security, free health care, roads, bridges, and comfortable retirements. Sorry future people. Sucks to be you.
We likely will all be dead secondary to the toxic effects of the batteries desired by the communist.
Touching every part of your lives is pretty much how communism works, by design.
The purpose though is to accumulate power for a new group of aristocrats by taking it from the current group of aristocrats. This has always been the case. Communism and socialism are always about theft.