Iraq unravels!

[whell]

Originally Posted by Fast_Eddie

So what?

It's more expensive to drive than to ride a bike. It's more expensive to jail drug addicts than treat them. It's more expensive to fly than to take a bus. It's more expensive to continue with health care that isn't single payer. It's more expensive to criminalize drugs. It's more expensive to treat sickness than it is to promote health. It's more expensive to subsidize oil companies than it is to drive electric cars. It's more expensive to inspect our food and make sure it's not contaminated. It's more expensive to drink wine than beer.

Not everything is decided by the bottom line. This is America, not Ethiopia. Let's go for the good stuff, not the cheapest thing on the menu.

And when you say "more expensive" what do you mean? At what cost? Over what time frame? Solar and wind have start up costs, but then they are damned cheap. Oil is just spending.

Smart people invest. Poor people spend.

Well, since wind projects are mostly subsidized federally, we're spending.

In Michigan, since we have cloud cover most of the winter, alternative energy means wind energy, not solar. Wind farms are sprouting up in the state - damned eyesores IMHO especially since they need to be close to lakefronts.

Wind power gets bloody complicated. Unlike a convention power plant that can produce a predictable power output, wind turbines can only produce when the wind is blowing. Since the wind doesn't blow all the time, wind turbines are at best a supplement to conventional plants. Also, since they serve a supplemental purpose - and since the energy they produce can't be stored - they only power the grid during Peak demand, not all the time. That's what drives up the cost.