Letters to the Editor
djoelt1
Published Letters: 22 Editor's Choice: 8
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Cheaper Driving, Driving More
[Read the article: Hip, hip, CAFE!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The canard about lowering the cost of driving increasing the amount of driving doesn't hold water. Demand for gasoline is highly inelastic.
I think most people simply don't have more time to spend in their cars, even if driving were free. I certainly don't.
I think the feebate idea is much better than the CAFE standard; I would be quite pleased to drive a Honda Insight while getting thousands of dollars a year in transfer payments from Hummer owners.
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Productivity
[Read the article: Grape harvesters of illegal immigration wrath]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What?
Now we must avoid mechanizing industries that employ illegal aliens to prevent more illegal aliens from coming?
I work in an industry that is heavily reliant on illegal labor and, seriously, one of my motivators is to simply change the game on illegal immigration so it is simply not an issue. I will do this by automating tasks they now do. Quality will be higher; more Americans will be employed in regular work that can pay enough for them to participate in our society. As much as I feel for aliens and the conditions in their home country, my primary goal - and every American's - needs to be to reduce the number of people that can lay claim to portions of others' income under our current system of law. That is, people at certain levels of income can, through the government, lay claim to part of my income for their food stamps. Wouldn't they - and everyone here legally - be better off with more self-sustaining citizens? Isn't that how they can participate in democracy as equals, instead of as wards of the state? Doesn't this teach responsibility and increase self worth, which children of these former wards can see?
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Bigger Question
[Read the article: FEMA dragged its feet on toxicity in trailers]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The bigger question here is why are products being legally manufactured in the United States that place humans in such close, closed contact with toxic substances? Where is the Consumer Product Safety Commission? What about the people that buy these trailers for vacation purposes? Are they just not exposed long enough to care?
This issue certainly needs to be figured out and resolved, but let's not miss the forest plainly before us.
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Drain my pockets
[Read the article: Placating the GOP base or protecting the workplace?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This whole issue is a smokescreen.
I'm sick and tired of paying to keep my share of my prisoner in jail at $500/year. I'm sick of having crap stolen by corner guys who live in run down urban areas. There is so much human capital in the US legally being wasted that it is criminal. All the business geniuses who want to line their pockets with illegal labor need to solve a real problem and figure out how to get those prisoners and corner guys out of my pocket.
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Carbon Tax
[Read the article: Hot air]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Look, the taxes to run the country need to come from somewhere. They might as well come from a tax on CO2, rather than a tax on hundred of different transactions an individual might make over the course of a year. These transactions generate taxable events and result in much hair pulling before April 15th. By taxing C02, we harness the creativity of people trying to avoid taxes - just like now - and reduce the number of tax paying entities to a handful of energy companies.
Sounds like a big win all around. And it would reduce our C02 output quite quickly.
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The Analagous Heretic
[Read the article: Hot air]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It doesn't take long for the notion that heretics like Lomborg are shouted down and not recognized because they upset Known Belief. For example, Copernicus upset the notion that the sun revolved around the earth. He was the heretic that was shouted down by the public and church, but look - he was right!
But Lomborg isn't Copernicus in this situation. The gentleman that discovered global warming is the heretic herre. Lomborg and Exxon represent the public deniers, just offset in time from when the heretic made his pronouncement on global warming.
And, just as a suggestion, a consensus doesn't prove anything right. What is the case is that the facts fit the global warming theory best. And many scientists agree that this is the case. Yes, they agree, but global warming isn't happening because they agree, it is the best theory for the known facts.
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Fiat vs. Desire
[Read the article: Obama and Clinton plan to cool it]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]People will try much harder to accomplish things when they want the result than if they are forced to do something by government fiat or public pressure.
I don't need to know Obama's or Clinton's plan on global warming other than that they want to solve the problem; and I don't need to hear them extol the virtues of their plan at another debate. What I do need to hear is how they are going to motivate people to force the congress to take action and pass some legislation to start turning the ship. I submit the following question for use in the next Democratic nominating debate:
"This is a question for both candidates. You have made clear what policies you would prefer in addressing greenhouse gas emissions from the United States. As you know, people are not undertaking these types of activities voluntarily. There will also be no gain without some change in lifestyle or investment. Finally, the US might have to move before China and India do, as befits a global leader. How would you motivate Americans to WANT to change? To address this problem? To go first? You don't need to spend time describing your proposed policies since we can read those on your campaign websites."