In a recent CBS/YouGov survey, 58% of Americans said that Biden wasn’t focusing enough on the economy and even more—65%—said this about inflation. Only 33% say that Biden and the Democrats are focusing on issues they care about the most. According to a CNN poll, 7 in 10 Americans think the government isn’t doing enough to reduce inflation and relieve disruptions in the supply-chain. Against this backdrop, it’s not surprising that just 38% approve of the president’s handling of the economy and even fewer—30%— his handling of inflation
Eco-lifestyle consumerism of dubious values seems to be all the rage these days. Many smart marketers have figured out that it’s easy to sell new products to urban consumers who feel guilty about their consumption and ecological impact.
The newest one is buying into “community solar farms” that are these vast areas of farm land covered by solar panels that sell into the grid. The consumer pays a little extra on his or her bill – or maybe about the same with tax credits – and they subsidize the construction of these urbanized farm fields or former forests. They argue it’s carbon-free energy, although it’s heavily backed up fossil generation of the grid. The fossil plants work “less hard” with “less load” so they burn less fuel when assisted by the solar, but it’s still all supported by our fossil-fuel grid while using up valuable farm land and forest land. If we took land that was going to be a solar farms and put it into traditional non-urban uses, what would be the impact on the climate? It would at least be less ugly solar farms to look at.
Geothermal heat that uses refrigerant to pump or dump heat out of the earth using large quantities of electricity is also a popular thing – it’s a new high-end product that can be sold by well drillers – who traditionally could only market their service to rural dwellers beyond the city water supply. I’m equally cynical about this technology, because it uses incredible amounts of electrical energy to power it – theoretically from renewable sources – but rarely that’s case as intense amount of energy to power a geothermal system comes from the fossil-fuel grid.
I don’t discredit the early pioneers in this green technology, but I think it’s valid to ask questions, even if we shouldn’t be necessarily defending the status quo. Certainly, we should be doing everything to get solar panels on existing buildings, as solar is proven technology that is simple and inexpensive. It doesn’t consume land on existing structures, it is long lasting, even if it’s as toxic as the rest of electronics it powers. I think we should increase efficiency standards on new buildings and furnaces, work to do more to improve energy efficiency on existing buildings. Geothermal should be considered as an alternative to air-source heat pumps both in existing and new buildings, but it should not be promoted as a way to “consume more” with “zero impact”.
It’s stupid to ignore the climate crisis we are all facing. But throwing money at so-called green technologies that do little to actually address the problem of over consumption and over population isn’t necessarily a good answer.
Sustainability is a popular thing these days. Marketing premium greenie products like solar farms and electric cars is all the rage. You can’t open social media without seeing their advertising. But in many cases, I’m really not sure if they are that good for the environment.
I often have very little extra money in my bank account and I’m always looking for ways to trim expenses from my budget. I refuse to get home internet and do not do online shopping and only rarely do I drive my truck, preferring to take public transportation around town.
The thing is my checking account is not interest bearing so it makes little sense to keep money there except when absolutely necessary to pay the bills. Plus looking at an nearly empty account makes me watch my spending to avoid draining it too low.
Not having trash service makes me think carefully about everything I buy and how I’m going to get rid of it. Things that don’t burn, just accumulate until I take them to the transfer station for recycling or disposal. Having to think about how to get rid of things makes me want a lot less things.
And it just bothers me to see my hard earned money go up in smoke – literally when I burn packaging – but also more figuratively when I pay my electric and heating bill. I just hate being billed for things after the fact. I’d rather pay up front and use up what’s already mine. Maybe when I own a house I’d much rather have a coal or wood stove where I can at least see how my stockpile is being used up.
Plus I’m deeply committed to building a better future for myself so I don’t have to live in this run down apartment forever. I want to be able to own acreage where I shoot my guns, have fires and livestock and do my thing without neighbors right next door. Even better yet would be to off-grid, generate most of my electricity and heat on-site using food, then farming a lot of my own food.
Jeanette Vecchio is 30, and everywhere she goes, she's feeling the pinch of something she hasn't experienced before in her life: high inflation.
The latest reminder came when she went to her favorite corner restaurant in Chicago where she loves the bread and butter.
"They're now charging for bread and butter," she says. "I was so devastated by it. But it's just another example of an increase across the board."
From restaurant meals to apartment rents, consumer prices have been climbing at the fastest pace in 40 years, meaning younger adults are witnessing the highest inflation of their lifetimes.
The Labor Department said Thursday that January prices were 7.5% higher than a year ago — the largest increase since 1982. Higher costs for food, shelter, and electricity were among the biggest drivers of inflation last month.