5 ms·
Why do the cities pay for them? Why aren't the coal-burning energy utility companies paying for them, out of pocket?
by ihsw 11y ago
Why do the cities pay for them? Why aren't the coal-burning energy utility companies paying for them, out of pocket?
- JadeNB 11y ago> Why aren't the coal-burning energy utility companies paying for them, out of pocket? Because no-one has the power to make them, I think. If it's easier (and probably cheaper) to take measures to address the problem yourself than it is to force compliance, then that's the sensible way to go.
- jsprogrammer 11y agoTheir customers stop sending them money? Would probably shut down most operations pretty quickly.
- mistercow 11y agoWhy would their customers do that?
- jsprogrammer 11y agoSo that less coal product is emitted into the atmosphere? I thought that was the premise.
- scott_karana 11y agoI think he wasn't being literal, and meant, "why wouldn't they want electricity?"
- jsprogrammer 11y agoWell, if the production of your electricity kills or otherwise significantly harms you, you may not wish to have that electricity.
- scott_karana 11y agoI agree, but it's not necessarily an obvious (or easy) choice to make for someone who's poor, for example... And that's even if they can correlate them properly.
- jimworm 11y agoIf nobody sends them money they could just print more. There is only one power company and it's owned by the state.
- awakeasleep 11y agoMuch of the coal smog comes from individuals burning coal in small fires to heat their residences.
- irishloop 11y agoThat is not really how communism works.
- analyst74 11y agoI don't know if this is a joke, but China is more like unregulated capitalism than communism, it's probably more capitalistic than most European countries.
- Retric 11y agoCorruption != capitalism. With the right connections you can get away with ridiculous crap, but rules as written are not that friendly. Which creates lots of problems for small companies.
- scott_karana 11y ago> Corruption != capitalism Wealth disparities are always going to allow for corruption, aren't they?
- peteretep 11y agoYou really really don't know what you're talking about. The State in China explicitly picks winners and losers from state companies (in particular banks), tightly controls currencies, tries to resist movement of labour, and attempts to hide moral hazard through censorship. All the while guaranteeing full employment.
- analyst74 11y agoThere are definitely still some communist elements there, like large state owned enterprises and a very controlling/authoritarian government. But some of the key definitions of capitalism is quite entrenched in the society: - means of production are privately owned - profit-motive - market-driven economy / competition - inequality - minimal government interference China definitely does not fit all the hard-core capitalism definitions, especially the minimal government interference part, but it's closer to a capitalist economy than a communist one. Lastly, no, the state does not guarantee employment, that has not been true for at least 30 years.