Six on "our" Economy: The World Needs to Quit Coal. Why Is It So Hard?; Financial Transactions Tax Is an Amazingly Good Idea;
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philip panaritis
Dec 18, 2018, 1:29:04 PM12/18/18
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Six on "our" Economy: The World Needs to Quit Coal. Why Is It So Hard?; Financial Transactions Tax Is an Amazingly Good Idea; The Economy Killed Millennials; Flint Drinking Water To Governor’s Mansion For Incoming Democrat; As the Trumps Dodged Taxes, Their Tenants Paid a Price; key to understanding America's red-blue split is Economics;
The World Needs to Quit Coal. Why Is It So Hard?
"And yet, three years after the Paris agreement, when world leaders promised action, coal shows no sign of disappearing. While coal use looks certain to eventually wane worldwide, according to the latest assessment by the International Energy Agency, it is not on track to happen anywhere fast enough to avert the worst effects of climate change. Last year, in fact, global production and consumption increased after two years of decline.
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Cheap, plentiful and the most polluting of fossil fuels, coal remains the single largest source of energy to generate electricity worldwide. This, even as renewables like solar and wind power are rapidly becoming more affordable. Soon, coal could make no financial sense for its backers.
So, why is coal so hard to quit?
Because coal is a powerful incumbent. It’s there by the millions of tons under the ground. Powerful companies, backed by powerful governments, often in the form of subsidies, are in a rush to grow their markets before it is too late. Banks still profit from it. Big national electricity grids were designed for it. Coal plants can be a surefire way for politicians to deliver cheap electricity — and retain their own power. In some countries, it has been a glistening source of graft.
And even while renewables are spreading fast, they still have limits: Wind and solar power flow when the breeze blows and the sun shines, and that requires traditional electricity grids to be retooled.
“The main reason why coal sticks around is, we built it already,” said Rohit Chandra, who earned a doctoral degree in energy policy at Harvard, specializing in coal in India.
The battle over the future of coal is being waged in Asia"
Wow, a Financial Transactions Tax Is an Amazingly Good Idea
Millennials Didn’t Kill the Economy. The Economy Killed Millennials.
"The American system has thrown them into debt, depressed their wages, kept them from buying homes—and then blamed them for everything."
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As the Trumps Dodged Taxes, Their Tenants Paid a Price - The New York Times
The key to understanding America's red-blue split isn't ideology or culture. It's economics.
Michigan GOP Passes Legislation Rerouting Flint Drinking Water To Governor’s Mansion For Incoming Democrat
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