3 ms·
You're forgetting about the cost on the environment that coal burning power plants create. No one ever takes the damage of our environment into consideration of
by eyeareque 9y ago
You're forgetting about the cost on the environment that coal burning power plants create. No one ever takes the damage of our environment into consideration of how much something really costs us.
Of course there is renewable power environment cost as well, batteries aren't very green to produce or dispose of. But over all, we are better off by not burning coal even if there are more upfront costs.
- coolguy4 9y agoLet people who care about the environment pay extra for their electricity. You do not have the moral high ground if you force people to pay extra for electricity through coercion.
- rodgerd 9y agoYou don't have the moral high ground forcing others to absorb the cost of your dirty coal. Poisoning people is, in general, a great deal less moral than charging them more money.
- coolguy4 9y agoThe problem is your statement is that CO2 is not poisonous. It is a natural gas that is produced by human breath. It is also not dirty. We're not talking about particles of carbon in the air, we're talking about CO2, an odorless, invisible gas.
- nindalf 9y agoYou missed his point. If a person is getting something for cheap (coal fired electricity) while allowing the rest of society to pick up the tab (dealing with climate change), perhaps they shouldn't be allowed to. Putting a dollar value on the damage being done through burning coal and adding that to the bill of the people who prefer to burn coal is the best way for them to take responsibility for their actions. Your arguments seem to be straight from the conservative playbook. No doubt then you would also object to people getting handouts from the govt. A situation where a person gets cheap electricity and allows someone else to pay for it sounds exactly like a handout.
- petecox 9y agoTo level the playing field, let's start by removing the reported $AU4Billion/annum subsidies in Australia to fossil fuels. That amounts to over $AU400 per household per year of taxpayer funds...
- redial 9y agoYou are paying extra, you are just not realizing it. The environment is subsidizing your "cheap electricity".
- calafrax 9y agoWhat about the environmental costs of these batteries? Have reserves been made for the cost of safe disposal? If you say that one technology is environmentally destructive and must be replaced but never bother to evaluate whether or not the replacement is actually better this just makes things worse.