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Like it or not, better for the climate or not, but solar and "other forms of energy independence" subsidies will not power a Caterpillar D9. The world still ne

Like it or not, better for the climate or not, but solar and "other forms of energy independence" subsidies will not power a Caterpillar D9. The world still needs diesel right now, and we're discussing inflation that is happening right now. When we've successfully build construction & transportation equipment that can use electrons, then we can discuss their utility. What we're bickering about is the timeline.

mindslight 4y ago
Solar/storage will certainly power a geothermal heat pump, replacing an oil burner that would otherwise burn ~diesel. Or a car that would otherwise burn gasoline (modulo the long timeline of capex). Yes, there are definitely fundamental engineering constraints when it comes to renewable energy sources. Which is exactly why it makes sense to encourage tackling all of the low hanging fruit we can, rather than continuing to waste limited dinosaur juice out of convenience or inertia. Politically, it's awfully hard to separate past government action and actions by mutually-acting companies, from current government policies. Biden got politically pinned with the price inflation that happened due to all the monetary inflation of the Trump administration. The brazen consumer price inflation that started happening a year+ ago seems to have been kicked off by a bunch of news articles announcing it, etc. The narrative about approving new drilling leases seems like it has nothing to do with current extraction rates, and everything to do with fossil fuel companies wanting to title up the public commons now, for use in the future.
- cplusplusfellow 4y ago
  > Solar/storage will certainly power a geothermal heat pump, replacing an oil burner that would otherwise burn ~diesel. Will. One day. Doesn’t today. Inflation is happening today.
  - mindslight 4y ago
    First, the heat pumps and wood stoves people have installed for this winter will most certainly cause less oil and gas to be used this winter. Second, what immediate energy sources are you referring to, specifically? The main thing I've heard about is not approving new drilling permits on public land, which also won't have much immediate effect.

mindslight 4y ago

Solar/storage will certainly power a geothermal heat pump, replacing an oil burner that would otherwise burn ~diesel. Or a car that would otherwise burn gasoline (modulo the long timeline of capex). Yes, there are definitely fundamental engineering constraints when it comes to renewable energy sources. Which is exactly why it makes sense to encourage tackling all of the low hanging fruit we can, rather than continuing to waste limited dinosaur juice out of convenience or inertia. Politically, it's awfully hard to separate past government action and actions by mutually-acting companies, from current government policies. Biden got politically pinned with the price inflation that happened due to all the monetary inflation of the Trump administration. The brazen consumer price inflation that started happening a year+ ago seems to have been kicked off by a bunch of news articles announcing it, etc. The narrative about approving new drilling leases seems like it has nothing to do with current extraction rates, and everything to do with fossil fuel companies wanting to title up the public commons now, for use in the future.

cplusplusfellow 4y ago
> Solar/storage will certainly power a geothermal heat pump, replacing an oil burner that would otherwise burn ~diesel. Will. One day. Doesn’t today. Inflation is happening today.
- mindslight 4y ago
  First, the heat pumps and wood stoves people have installed for this winter will most certainly cause less oil and gas to be used this winter. Second, what immediate energy sources are you referring to, specifically? The main thing I've heard about is not approving new drilling permits on public land, which also won't have much immediate effect.