Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Support for Green Power Slipping

NYTimes poll finds support for green power slipping, in some cases falling sharply.

Got an email accusing me (!), and "people like me"(!!) for causing this.  Ma'am, I doubt that.

Nod to Anonyman.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its amazing its taken this long for people to decide they would rather pay 10 cents versus 50 cents per kwh.

Pelsmin said...

Save the Dinosaurs! Use renewable energy!

Mike said...

Mike - I saw you run for Governor in 2008 (you visited my employer) and I was impressed by you. I am though disappointed that you are "pleased" that support for green energy is falling. Economics aside wouldn`t you prefer that a lot of the energy we use comes from renewable resources like solar, wind etc?

Pelsmin said...

I studied under Mike, and let me try to give an answer while he is south of the equator.
The phrase "economics aside" is an oxymoron. Apart from the math, economics is just about how you create the most "utility" or happiness, as measured by the value people ascribe to things. If two parties willingly engage in a transaction, you've created value and made people (on aggregate) happier. If you force parties to engage in a transaction (say, taxing them under threat of jail, and giving their money to a solar panel company) you may be creating value, the same way you may win at poker if you never look at your cards and bet based on the weather. In general, you'll destroy value, which makes people less well off and less happy. Why would you want to set that aside in deciding whether to subsidize solar power?