Though not necessarily change you can believe in. That’s not the Mike Klonsky I knew.
Category Archives: Political Commentary
When The Power Went Out
…at Lileks’ place:
It happened when it usually happens, too – every gets home, flips on the air conditioner and turns on the TV, and the brittle infrastructure, held together at the moment with masking tape and some alligator clips, spazzes out completely. This will continue – there’s a controversy going on here about some new power lines and generating plants. A judge blocked the latter, because the utility hadn’t invested enough in wind power, as per the law. That’s the sort of sentence that makes your heart very heavy: a judge ruled that they can’t build the power plant. I’m all for trying everything – wind, solar, nuclear, geothermal, switchgrass, algae, hydrogen, steroidally enhanced gerbils running in cages attached to generators, steam, hydro, shale, and installing small pedals in movie theaters people can push to power the projector, but DO SOMETHING. NOW.
The world has gone nuts. People complain about high energy costs, and the Democrats’ response is to fight every sensible attempt to increase supply, and tell us that the price isn’t high enough. And so far, they seem to be paying no penalty at the polls for it. It would help, at least a little, if we didn’t have a faux Democrat (at least when it comes to economics) at the top of the Republican ticket.
Obama’s Ethanol
If ethanol is so great, why doesn’t he support its importation from Brazil? Surely it’s not because he’s in the pocket of ADM?
ADM is based in Illinois, the second-largest corn-producing state. Not long after arriving in the U.S. Senate, Obama flew twice on corporate jets owned by the nation’s largest ethanol producer. Imagine if McCain flew on the corporate jets of Exxon Mobil.
Corn-based ethanol gets a 51-cents-a-gallon tax subsidy that will cost taxpayers $4.5 billion this year. McCain opposes ethanol subsidies while Obama supports them. McCain opposed them even though Iowa is the first caucus state. Obama, touted by Caroline Kennedy as another JFK, was no profile in courage in Iowa.
…Last year, as President Bush was about to sign an energy cooperation agreement with Brazil, Obama said the move would hurt “our country’s drive toward energy independence.”
Really? The only thing it might hurt is Obama’s drive to the White House.
Must be that new politics. You know, “change”?
And it’s also amusing to note that the Democrats don’t want to wait for drilling to pay off, but they’re perfectly happy to wait for switch grass.
[Mid-morning update]
If it’s intended to cut the nation’s energy bill, Obama’s ethanol policy makes no sense, if it’s intended to secure the nation’s energy supplies, Obama’s ethanol policy makes no sense, if it’s designed to improve the nation’s relationship with a major Latin American trading partner, Obama’s ethanol policy makes no sense, but, if, on the other hand, it’s just another example of good old porkbarrel politics, Obama’s ethanol policy makes a great deal of sense.
Obama’s Ethanol
If ethanol is so great, why doesn’t he support its importation from Brazil? Surely it’s not because he’s in the pocket of ADM?
ADM is based in Illinois, the second-largest corn-producing state. Not long after arriving in the U.S. Senate, Obama flew twice on corporate jets owned by the nation’s largest ethanol producer. Imagine if McCain flew on the corporate jets of Exxon Mobil.
Corn-based ethanol gets a 51-cents-a-gallon tax subsidy that will cost taxpayers $4.5 billion this year. McCain opposes ethanol subsidies while Obama supports them. McCain opposed them even though Iowa is the first caucus state. Obama, touted by Caroline Kennedy as another JFK, was no profile in courage in Iowa.
…Last year, as President Bush was about to sign an energy cooperation agreement with Brazil, Obama said the move would hurt “our country’s drive toward energy independence.”
Really? The only thing it might hurt is Obama’s drive to the White House.
Must be that new politics. You know, “change”?
And it’s also amusing to note that the Democrats don’t want to wait for drilling to pay off, but they’re perfectly happy to wait for switch grass.
[Mid-morning update]
If it’s intended to cut the nation’s energy bill, Obama’s ethanol policy makes no sense, if it’s intended to secure the nation’s energy supplies, Obama’s ethanol policy makes no sense, if it’s designed to improve the nation’s relationship with a major Latin American trading partner, Obama’s ethanol policy makes no sense, but, if, on the other hand, it’s just another example of good old porkbarrel politics, Obama’s ethanol policy makes a great deal of sense.
Ouch
“Obama’s positions are like diapers: they are discovered to be full of carp, and then they are changed.”
Not clear whether the misspelling was deliberate or not, but we get the point.
The Return Of Tammany Hall
…and its senior senator, Chris Dodd. Luckily, he’s a Democrat, so it’s no big deal. They’re never corrupt, and never do anything without the best interests of the people in mind.
Blogtalking Space
Sorry I didn’t mention it yesterday so you could listen live, but hey, the ability to download and listen at your own convenience is one of the features of the Interweb. Last night I did a one-hour interview with Rick Moran on space stuff. Download it here.
Criminal Against Humanity, Part Two
More thoughts on James Hansen’s demand of an auto de fe by those in the pay of Big Oil (further cementing the notion that this isn’t science–it’s a religion). No one expects the WARM MONGER’S INQUISITION…
Read the comments.
I do wonder if this is a violation of the Hatch Act.
[Wednesday morning update]
“Not Silent”
As usual, Doug Cooke defends ESAS:
The “direct” variation fails to meet NASA’s needs on several grounds. It is vastly over-capacity and too costly to service the International Space Station, but worse, its lift capacity would not be enough for NASA to maintain a sustained presence on the moon.
Advocates for the “direct” variation are touting unrealistic development costs and schedules. A fundamental difference is that the Ares I and Orion probability of crew survival is at least two times better than all of the other concepts evaluated, including “direct”-like concepts.
Also as usual, he provides no evidence for his assertions. We are simply supposed to accept them because Doug Cooke says so. Have we ever seen the actual report that came out of the sixty-day study, with a description of methodology and assumptions? I haven’t.
I’m not necessarily a big fan of “Direct,” but his statement raises more issues than it answers. Why doesn’t the “lift capacity allow a sustained presence on the moon” in a way that ESAS does? Why should it be assumed that NASA’s new launch system will service space station? I thought that this was what COTS was for? What are the marginal costs of an additional Jupiter launch versus Ares 1?
Give us some numbers, and provide a basis for them, and we might take this seriously.
[Wednesday morning update]
More thoughts and comments at NASA Watch, and from Chair Force Engineer.
“Not Silent”
As usual, Doug Cooke defends ESAS:
The “direct” variation fails to meet NASA’s needs on several grounds. It is vastly over-capacity and too costly to service the International Space Station, but worse, its lift capacity would not be enough for NASA to maintain a sustained presence on the moon.
Advocates for the “direct” variation are touting unrealistic development costs and schedules. A fundamental difference is that the Ares I and Orion probability of crew survival is at least two times better than all of the other concepts evaluated, including “direct”-like concepts.
Also as usual, he provides no evidence for his assertions. We are simply supposed to accept them because Doug Cooke says so. Have we ever seen the actual report that came out of the sixty-day study, with a description of methodology and assumptions? I haven’t.
I’m not necessarily a big fan of “Direct,” but his statement raises more issues than it answers. Why doesn’t the “lift capacity allow a sustained presence on the moon” in a way that ESAS does? Why should it be assumed that NASA’s new launch system will service space station? I thought that this was what COTS was for? What are the marginal costs of an additional Jupiter launch versus Ares 1?
Give us some numbers, and provide a basis for them, and we might take this seriously.
[Wednesday morning update]
More thoughts and comments at NASA Watch, and from Chair Force Engineer.