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One small voice in the proud tradition of FreeBlogging*Monday, August 16, 2004posted by gbarto at 12:52 AM:Just read this interesting bit at Instapundit on the damage done by burning coal.Question: Which is worse? Coal? or gasoline? Here in California, there's a lot of chatter about electric cars. But we have an outmoded, overburdened power system. If you plug in your car, doesn't that just mean you're burning coal instead of gasoline? So, drive an electric car to... burn more coal, further stretch the power grid, and waste all the energy lost in transmission a) over power lines and b) converting voltage from power lines to charge the batteries on your energy car. If your car is energy efficient, wouldn't gasoline be better? I'll leave the question for the scientists; I'm not sure where it balances out. But I have a hunch that electric cars just relocate smog, not prevent it. Anyway, in news of the asinine... According to a letter to the editor in the LG Daily News, they're considering a new tax f0r road maintenance in Cali. It would be by the mile, not a tax on gas. The writer noted this could simultaneously increase transportation tax costs for drivers of the small, energy-efficient vehicles favored by the not so well to do and decrease them for drivers of road damaging heavy trucks... This being the Bay Area, the writer smelled an evil conspiracy to do in the poor. I smell stupidity coupled with some crafty lobbying by the parties - small haulers, small businesses that deliver heavy goods to customers - with the most to gain. No idea if the idea will make it from chatter to law; am doubtful that our legislature could at the moment agree on whether it's 3:00 or 3:01 as midafternoon set in. But worth watching. Also worth watching: What happens to the logging/clearing/fire-protection bill. It looked like duck soup to pass a bill that would allow private landowners to cut their own damn trees to reduce risk of fires spreading across their land. But since people with small stands of trees were most likely to let real loggers do the work, as opposed to getting out their ax, wagon and lawn tractor, you know the enviro-left couldn't let that stand. Sure enough, a Palo-Alto legislator, representing all those great landowners who attend Stanford, pushed and succeeded in getting his own anti-logging bill with ridiculous restrictions on clear-cutting merged with a sensible bill to protect California homes and homeowners. So if your house burns down while you're waiting for permission to clear your own lands (a process that can take months and cost thousands of dollars), be sure to send your thank you note to Sen. Byron Sher, D-Palo Alto. * * *
French Elections, 1st round
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