grahamsz

Also the argument we should be having in the US is whether we reach our climate goals through this kind of carbon-pricing model or the top-down regulatory model. In a sane world we’d probably expect republicans to be arguing for a carbon trading scheme and the democrats to be arguing for regulation.

They certainly should work at the power level. My utility is ~36% renewable in their power mix right now, but I pay for 100% and that extra money causes them to go out and buy extra renewables for the remaining 64% of my power. I’m not under any illusion that on a cold, still winter night that my power isn’t coming from coal base load - but I have high confidence that they really are buying that extra power, and that in turn creates more demand for solar generation.

My employer does something similar, we buy the RECs from something like a third of the output of a local solar farm (under contract) and then also buy dirty power from the utility. That should ultimately wash out.

Though what I can’t figure out is how that solar power is actually accounted for when it hits the grid. It’s been severed from the renewable energy credits (that we bought) so presumably it must not count as a non-carbon power source when it enters the grid, but I can’t find a category for “non-green solar power” on any of the utility reports. Anyone know where it goes?

It certainly opens a can of worms though, I can see the democrats pushing for 16 (Scotland’s done the same and it’s further pushed the conservatives out of power there).

It’ll also be far easier to fight the GOP proposal in court as there will be people who are actively disenfranchised by raising the age, but it’s not clear that existing voters could have standing to sue if we enfranchise younger people.

Yeah, especially when you imagine that they are accustomed to not having to seek out knowledge or even entertainment. When algorithms feed you everything and your attention becomes a commodity you don’t need to develop the skill to actually find it, or the wherewithal to even imagine that you need to go out and find it.

I believe those of us who were online in the 1995-2010 era remember what it was like to have an internet full of possibilities that you could explore and discover, but that was the exception.