Flooded oil refinery storage area @ Texas City (Houston metro area), August 30, 2017
This posting will be for the "Global War'n'ing", "Anthropogenic Climate Change", & "Mo of Yo Money" series of this journal/ blog. For one, this is a "global" warning of concern, not just on climate change, but the future of the economy. Second, this is about the consequences of man made/ anthropogenic climate change, a result of choices, planning, and decisions, that contributed to extreme weather and environmental damage ... these industries suspected this could happen from their own research for decades, and science proved it. Third, it's about where our money is spent, and how much our ill actions can cost to come, if we dont make sensible spending and investment incentive reforms. This posting was inspired by some recent newsread I picked up a couple weeks ago, below from CBS News ... and this is something that I been pointing out in this series, looking at not just the impact of global warming on the environment, but the needed new infrastructure planning, not only for people and environment, but for business and the economy. The effect on the economy can/ will have crushing repercussions, and can/ will cost us more than we are saving in the short term, down the road. I also included a 2016 link from Forbes below, in fairness, to take a look at what the industry had to shell out as well (kind of, because there is some more breaks in the back pages of legislation too). Bottom line though, is these industries caused this, and because they had a sort of a monopoly for decades, as many industries, the people/ consumer are just using what they are offered, we are all regulated through their economic structures. These industries can easily pay to protect these places, their profits and dominance of the industry is enormous, but refuse to, and actually dont want to pay much of anything. When we do subsidize and tax fund these industry protections, such as they are asking, get out there and hustle, make a deal/ contract, to make them invest much more in renewables than they are. That way you are not asking for money, but asking them to "make more investment" ... and lock it in, as part of the deal, this creates incentive.
Energy/ fuel plays the biggest role in economic development, it creates much wealth and development ... the existing energy and infrastructure been in place for long, and been working as far as those needs. It's difficult to motivate mass smaller investments, in something that has to take off from scratch, that will take years to develop. Yet, investments into renewables has been stronger than ever, and prices have become competitive. The technologies are moving ahead so fast also, that investment is unsure, if we build too much, that it will not be for the long term, because of advancements in technology, and it will become obsolete quickly. Some are concerned, that we are on the way to eco- disaster, and only looking for the short term profit, to secure their own future and safety. And some may be unsure, of how long this economics model of current will be around, meaning they want their money now, to secure themselves for what may change. This is why we need to push it harder, and have government and scientists, including AI, to be involved in decisions and planning much more, and help build confidence by promoting this more ... you need to "sell folks" more aggressively. Oil and gas have big bucks, I think we should focus more on getting those big bucks investing more into renewables, even though they been investing in renewables, but can significantly more ... by creating new offers/ incentives that are too good to turn down. When developing these mass energy systems, keep in mind of technological advancements, and design to be open and friendly/ compatibility with upgrading and changes. This posting is to look at both sides of the argument too, because it is easy to look at the title of this posting, and assume, that I am out to attack business only, or that I am some radical leftist. But my point here, is to take a common sense look at what changes need to be made to soften the blow some, that nature is going to give us ... and to try to actually improve the economy as well as the environment. I will add more of my views below.
***** CBS NEWS: Big oil asks government to protect it from climate change ... (newsread/ video)
***** FORBES | LEN TESORO: Debunking Myths About Federal Oil & Gas Subsidies ... (newsread)
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***** PD/ RCJ: "GLOBAL WAR'N'ING" ... PART'S 54 THRU 1
***** PD/ RCJ: "ANTHROPOGENIC CLIMATE CHANGE" ... PART'S 3, 2 & 1
***** PD/ RCJ: "MO of YO MONEY" ... PART'S 15 THRU 1
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Thomas Hudson Pickering/ Ranch Chimp with wife, Rosalie
I use the decades old term "Welfare Queen" in the title, because this was a term used to describe some mothers for years, saying that mothers would have more babies to collect government money, and use various fraudulent methods to collect more. Many of these corporate giants also used these terms to spread word through their pre- paid politicians, that taxpayers should stop giving out handouts to these poor people and mothers, who keep themselves down, by doing more of the same, as far as what they call "bad personal decision making". The thing is, with all that we give out to many of these corporations, which is more than generous, they keep making these bad decisions, that keep them and us in the same rut. We have to keep increasing how much we need to spend on them, to keep them doing business as usual, instead of trying to improve themselves ... by definition, they are "welfare queens" then. We are not talking about poor folks here, these are folks that spend tens of millions on lobbying Washington for more handouts and breaks, and pay to write legislation in their favour as well. They stupidly are willing to pay $10 million in fines, for something that could have been fixed for a few million, while hoping to not get caught, these people are reckless and wasteful. We are talking about folks, that make decisions for the rest of us, call themselves leaders, innovators, strong, and rational decision makers ... yet they whine like babies when they fuck up and have to feel the repercussions of their actions ... I mean, whatever happened to that "pull yourself up by your bootstraps", and accepting consequences for your actions, that they constantly sing in chorus? ... are these problems not a result of your actions? And in all fairness to these large corporate icons of energy ... I am only using their own perspective here ... pointing out what they themselves preach/ advocate. Meaning, I agree that we should give them "some" help, breaks, and incentives, after all, I'm not a communist or hard- ass ... since we use all this energy. But we been helping them for decades, and the amount of help they need goes up from decade to decade, because they refuse to change. When will the time come when they can stand on their own?, they already make substantial profits, how much more do we need to breastfeed them? Why should we keep helping those who refuse to help themselves, that repetitively make the same mistakes over and over, that everyone else has to pay for, eh? They believe in free market, and those that fail, need to be replaced, when they become insufficient and incompetent ... and to keep competitive and changing to the market and consumer needs and demand.
As I was pointing out in previous postings in the "Global War'n'ing" series, infrastructure planning and development are going to be needed, if we continue to do the same or not ... so much damage is already done, and it's getting worse. And not just in Texas, but all over, such as the east coast in the U.S., as well as globally, which will be very expensive, and we are constantly losing coastline to rising sea levels. As for this region on the Texas Coast, it will be much more costs in the long run, than they are even talking about, if you want to really protect these industries. This nonsense that oil and chemical companies are spewing, that this is about protecting people and the environment first ... why even talk stupid shit like that?, no one believes this garbage anymore, so just dont say anything, unless it is worth listening to. Take this area of Houston where these industries are ... the only people that even live in those southeast areas of Houston are poor working classes, and no one cares about them ... no investor with any common sense invests in retail/ commercial or residential development in that area, or would even consider doing anything around those industries ... that is why your big development is up in areas like The Woodlands or west. This is about protecting those industries only, and the environment has already been damaged for years, and they have done little to nothing to try to clean up a thing. Sure, we are caught in the energy/ resources trap and global race, that we will have to help pay for needed infrastructure, for everyone, not just these companies ... but as far as these companies, they need to pay too, and that is not likely, considering Washington as we have it. This means also, that all those foreign companies that have business there, whether it's the French, Saudis, or whoever ... they need to shell out more too. Sadly, whatever they shell out, they will see that they have their lobbyists, make sure there is wayz to rollover the costs to the taxpayers/ consumers through new or existing legislation. And any other costs to them, they will pass those costs over by increasing prices on product, if we dont pay it all ... it's all market driven, and global. So whether it's a storm that makes gas prices go up 25- 30 cents a gallon after it hits, or the cost of repair, accidents, neglect/ fines, or whatever, we are alwayz going to have to face that cost increase factor, which will be up and down like the markets, regardless. None of this "costs game" will stop, until we change how we do things, it will be constant debt, constant cuts to pay for it, and a constant race to try to compete in the global arena. And this whole energy race we are in, is only to make a small percentage of folks richer, and to develop a larger market and demand globally, to be more dependent on this way of thinking and doing.
It is just plain stupid to keep incentivising bad business decisions even, it's bad for the environment and business ... and as long as there is any of these resources in the ground, they are going to keep extracting them, because of the value ... we know this. What is needed to at least halt some of this usage and dependency, is to create and market brand new business incentives into renewable energy, instead of giving incentive to invest largely into this outdated way of providing energy and capital. Restructuring incentives, although oil is investing in renewables more now, make it even more attractive ... the thing is to sell the "oil and gas" producers to invest more, they have the money, and will benefit big. We all know that we are on the edge of a big transition in energy, the technologies are already in place, it's being done all over right now ... make it so that those investments are more lucrative, through legislation. This includes incentives to educate and train millions worldwide, as well as development in new infrastructure, taking climate change into consideration for that infrastructure, as far as the safest and accessibility friendly places to build it on a mass scale, and creating new mega industries in such for the future, right now ... and much is already being done. This is a big jobs creator too, and big as far as new business, and a new mass breed of investors, that can expand and grow beyond what we imagine now ... business- wise, it's a sound investment that can only grow because of demand, and a winner ... and much is already in play for them. This new development will be global too, and still be a big player in developing countries, as far as business and expanding economic growth. Oil is still needed for other uses, but on a smaller scale, but there will be no need to burn it as we do now ... we can minimize and even eliminate much of our damage, by changing what and how we use as far as energy and fuel, and so much can also be done as far as cleaning up our production. Not focusing on doing this on a larger scale right now is stupid, even from a business perspective ... all you're doing is increasing the chance of accidents, putting a huge strain on the economies, having to spend constantly to fix damages, costing business more in fines and expenses, wasting an arm and leg on lobbying and advertising, court costs and legal fees, civil suits, and the list goes on. This investment is much more sound as far as for a future sustainable business model, than the way we are doing things now. It's new and fresh, not outdated, to where it reached already it's potential, and has no where else to go of any worth to the Earth or business. It is so importante to change this mindset in stone that we have, and have governments even advocating this stronger in unison. Replacing some of these outdated political deadbeats and ideas is needed also, and that demand is on the rise too.
Word Out ....
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***** RANCH CHIMP JOURNAL "WELCOME" POST
***** RCJ MUSIC/ ART'S HONOUR ROLL SOCIETY (my hand- selected music/ arts picks)
***** "THE RESISTANCE | PERILS OF THE POWER POSSE" ... ( a 2 part futuristic Ranch Chimp Journal dream to dream on )
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