Wednesday Open Thread

15 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Thread”

1. Speaking of instruction and mistakes, as the quote of the day does, it seems relevant that the upcoming legislative session will need to consider the budget for education.

   Colorado Sun: After hopes of progress, some Colorado school districts fear deep cuts under Gov. Polis’ proposed budget

   In a letter addressed to members of the Joint Budget Committee on Monday, a band of education groups detailed why they strongly oppose Polis’ proposal, writing, “the impact would be nothing short of catastrophic in many communities.”

   The letter is signed by leaders of the Colorado Education Association, the Colorado Association of School Boards, the Colorado Rural Schools Alliance and the Colorado Association of School Executives.

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2. I found this Paul Krugman column interesting, as the economist argued and offered evidence that the health insurance industry doesn't really offer value to society. Titled "Health Insurance Is A Racket," he adds that folks with Medicare Advantage plans might be exposing themselves to the same "deny and delay" private insurer tactics that have generated some recent, um, "reactions."

   So we really have a system in which taxpayers foot the bill for around 80 percent of health insurance. Yet much of that money flows through private insurance companies. In fact, a majority of Medicare recipients now have Medicare Advantage plans, which means that even Medicare passes through the private insurance industry.

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   1. Unleashed! Paul Krugman is on a roll. 

      Do subscribe to his letter!

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3. I always follow the numbers because even if I don't like what they portend, facts win in the end. So I dove into the cost/benefits of wind energy, expecting that it would show a compelling agrument for wind.

   And I found that wind energy makes no sense. I'm hoping someone can point out where my calculations and/or assumptions are off. So if I got something wrong, please let me know.

   thanks – dave

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   1. Interesting analysis. One area that I see missing is the cost of extraction for natural gas. You could argue that is included in the cost of gas, but that ignores the carbon footprint associated with constructing wells, compressors, pipelines, etc. Assuming ongoing use of the gas there will need to be additional carbon footprint associated with maintenance and replacement, additional exploration, etc.

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      1. Good point that I didn't include the CO2 footprint of gas extraction. However, for a wind generator running 30% of the time, which is common, both gas plants use the same amount of gas. So at 30% everything for gas extration is a push.

         The giant difference is the type of gas plant. That drives this.

         Also, this is by far the most read post on my blog since the interviews I did of the gubernatorial candidates 15+ years ago.

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   2. Perhaps in the United States at the moment, but for some reason The Netherlands (where I spent the last five years) seems to not only make it worthwhile but soon the dominant source of energy: 
       

      As of May 2024, wind power in the Netherlands has an installed capacity of 11,611 MW, 40.9% of which is based offshore. In 2022, the wind turbines provided the country with 18.37% of its electricity demand during the year. Windmills have historically played a major part in the Netherlands by providing an alternative to water driven mills.

      In March 2022, the Dutch government announced that by 2030 offshore wind was to become the Netherlands' biggest power source, aiming at 21 GW of installed capacity.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_Netherlands

      Perhaps the main difference is a commitment by the Federal gov't, coupled with the fact the that damp, cold, wind never stops blowing! 

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      1. Forgot – wind power is so efficient and plentyful in the Netherlands that the entire train network runs on wind power. 

         https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/10/dutch-trains-100-percent-wind-powered-ns

          

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         1. No time for a lot of reading right now, but I came across a paragraph saying there have been recent earthquakes associated with natural gas extraction in (or near?) the Netherlands. I'd probably recommend analyzing externalities as part of any long-term economic analysis.

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            1. Yes in the Northeast province of Groningen there's been earthquakes associated with fracking for decades. It became a issue that the govt couldn't ignore starting in 1991, which forced the Right-wing govt  to start shutting down production in 2014….but like all things involving big corporations and money, it wasn't completelty shut down until 2023 (thanks to the National Ombusdman's Office.) 

               https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61901033

               The gov't had to establish a compensation fund for all the damage done by the fracking earthquates, but now it's devolved into a obsfucation process to separate govt responsibility from the actual process of getting people's houses fixed. The Center for Safe Housing (Centrum Veilig Wonen CVW) was supposed to hand claims in a neutral manner, but the latest Far-Right govt has done it's job in pretty much killing it. 

               And yes, windmill power is pretty popular there. 

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   3. There obviously are a wide variety of factors to be included in "the cost" of various sorts of energy. The National Public Utilities Council developed "Ranked: America’s Cheapest Sources of Electricity in 2024"  The graph there shows a range for each source's Levelized Cost of Electricity.

      Another summary, relying on the US government's data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration EIA Annual Energy Outlook reports for 2014, 2020, and 2022., can be found in Environmental Geology, an interactive introductory text designed to serve students who are taking Environmental Geology at Normandale Community College. Section 6.5 Levelized Cost of Electricity

      The transition to clean energy sources requires that these sources are cheaper, have lower LCOEs, than fossil fuels. Until recently, electricity from coal and natural gas was far cheaper than from any other sources and as a result there was little incentive, from an economic standpoint anyway, to explore and develop renewable energy. Over the last decade, LCOEs of renewable energies, particularly solar and wind, have fallen faster than fossil fuels to the point where they are now comparable to natural gas or cheaper (Figure 3C.6.5). These LCOEs reflect the costs for building and maintaining new energy plants, not including any renewable tax credits.

       

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4. "Total Dumpster Fire?" LET IT BURN!

   Today's news cycle is splitting headlines with Pedo Matt's ethics report being dropped later this week with….yet another Continuing Resolution to fund the Federal Gov't thru the holidays. And the various members of the Orange Clown Posse are suitably outraged:

   Missouri Republican Rep. Eric Burlison called the speaker's funding plan presented at the conference meeting a "total dumpster fire.”

   “I think it's garbage,” Burlison said, adding that he has conveyed his frustrations to Johnson, who is seeking to retain the speaker’s gavel in the new year.

   South Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman said he is frustrated with the funding plan as well. “I’m not voting for the CR [continuing resolution],” he said.

   Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy, a frequent critic of the leadership’s spending bills, said, “This is not the way to do business right. We’re just fundamentally unserious about spending. And as long as you got a blank check, you can’t shrink the government. If you can’t shrink the government, you can’t live free,” Roy said.

   https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/total-dumpster-fire-republicans-fume-speakers-spending-plan/story?id=116870360

    

   The only reason a CR is passing is because the Dems are bailing out Speaker Johnson – and personally, they should stop. If the MAGA crowd are doing their usual hooting and shrieking to their obedient news outlets about how "LIBERTY!" and "FREEDOM!" are endangered by Vets getting their VA medications by mail and the SBA being unable to give loans to businesses in disaster areas…..LET THEM OWN THIS DUMPSTER FIRE. 

   Apparently, some political folks on the Right agree:

   For the last two years, Democrats have thought they were acting in the country’s best interests by helping Republicans govern. They have not been. They meant well, but they have actually been protecting voters from the consequences of Republican dysfunction and enabling bad Republican behavior. 

   Republican politicians are now addicted to drama, outrage and "owning the libs." When you shield addicts from the consequences of their actions, you’re not doing them any favors. All you are doing is enabling their addiction. 

   The country won’t be on the road to recovery until it is allowed to experience those consequences. If that means giving free rein to the collection of clowns with flamethrowers that now passes for the Republican Party, so be it. Democrats should resist the urge to intervene when the inevitable happens and they set themselves on fire. 

   (Author – Chris Truax is an appellate attorney who served as Southern California chair for John McCain’s primary campaign in 2008.)

   https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5037307-republicans-consequences-trump/

   Burn, baby, BURN!
    

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5. Ups to Jerry Nadler for taking himself out of the running for ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, as the House Dem Caucus remains a gerontocracy.

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6. Oh Elon! From Josh Marshall at TPM:

   Trump has brought Musk into the central circle of power. He’s not only de facto Vice President. When was the last time you saw JD Vance? He’s practically co-president. Musk is erratic, volatile, impulsive, mercurial. He introduces a huge source of unpredictability and chaos into the presidency that for once Trump doesn’t control. See it clearly: Musk did this. Trump thrives on chaos, but his chaos. Not someone else’s chaos.

   Trump is following. He’s trying to pretend otherwise but he’s following. And unlike all of Trump’s other bad hires or hires he gets tired of he can’t just shitcan Musk like all the rest. Musk is worth hundreds of billions of dollars. He’s got a bigger megaphone. And he’s got his own brand. I’m pretty sure there will eventually be a really big and really ugly falling out between the two of them. But it will take a while to get there and the costs are potentially quite large for both of them.

   Trump has sewn himself into a sack with Elon Musk, a few billion dollars, a cat and a snake and had the sack tossed into the Tiber. That’s the story here. And it will go on for a while.

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7. Going to be interesting to see what happens.  "Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has become the first person in history to reach a net worth over $400 billion, as reported by Bloomberg. Following a recent sale of insider SpaceX shares, Musk's personal net worth skyrocketed to $429.2 billion as of Dec. 12, 2024."

   That wealth, in comparison to the calculated wealth of nations, would put Musk somewhere between #55 and #60, similar to Qatar or Argentina. 

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