environment

Our Low National Saving Rate

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One of the most concerning news stories of recent weeks is our low national savings rate. Last year it was a negative 1.6%. The previous year it was negative 1%. This year’s rate is the lowest in over 70 years.

For most Americans, that’s just another financial figure that goes in one ear and out the other. For some it’s not surprising, as they know first hand the impact of our mounting debt on their finances. They know what it feels like to be beholden to the bank.

Yet, for those who have a real understanding of this figure it’s pretty scary. It means we are spending more then we have money coming in. And a lot of that debt is not going to things that are improving us or building our country. It’s one thing to be borrowing money to get an education or buy an house or pickup truck, it’s another to buying more toys then you really need.

There is a lot of evidence that we are buying more toys then we need. We are too often sold consumerism and become blind to our own means or the costs of our consumption. Indeed, the personal financial transaction is minor compared to all the stuff we are amassing as individuals.

Roadway

All those material possessions had to come from somewhere. They involved the exploitation of some material whether close or far away from us. They may have or may not have brought money into the local community. More likely then not, these days, they didn’t. And then they have to go somewhere.

There is no problem with making investments into the future. Likewise, there is no problem with purchasing material goods. But we need to be reasonable at what we buy and realize that there is only so much we really need. We need to focus more on ourselves and our communities, and stop buying things.

Ward Stone

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As a follow-up to tonight’s Save the Pine Bush Dinner,  Ward Stone will be on WAMC’s VoxPop Radio at 2pm on 90.3 FM in Albany and wamc.org on the web.

I am delighted he will be back doing his advocacy and research — he knows his stuff and after hearing him stand at the lectern and speak for an hour,  I can tell you he is as sharp as ever.  He is still warning us and still telling us unpopular things,  much like Rachael Carson 50 years before him.

Being retired from state service, he doesn’t have to worry about pissing off politicians and people in high places — they can denounce and belittle him — but they can’t fire him again or take away his constitutionally guaranteed pension earned by his decades over hard-work to the people of New York.

Ward Stone is 76. He had some physical ailments but his multiple strokes haven’t taken away his energy or commitment to our environment. If anything, thanks to the past five years out of the public eye and recovery from his stroke, he’s in better health then before.

Nobody in powerful positions should write off Ward Stone. He has a lot more to do for our community in the coming years.

Energy Efficency vs Conservation

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Most people don’t understand the difference between energy conservation and energy efficiency. Yet, it’s an important concept to understand.

For the sake of this example, let’s take a 100 watt incandescent light bulb. You plan on leaving it on for an hour, which will consume 100 watts over the hour or 0.10 kW/h. Giving it some thought about the electricity you will use, you decide to reduce your energy consumption by either conservation or improving the efficiency of the light bulb.

Window Past My Desk

Energy Efficiency.

You decide to swap the 100 watt incandescent light bulb for a compact florescent bulb, which uses only 26 watts over an hour. The 26-watt CFL is as bright as the 100 watt incadescent bulb, so you don’t end up losing anything.

When you choose energy efficiency  you don’t lose anything by switching over to the more efficient technology. Indeed, with modern compact florescent technology, the electronic ballasts are flicker and lamp color resembles a regular bulb. The bulb doesn’t get hot and lasts longer. You always win with efficiency!

Government can easily set efficiency standards. Through laws and regulations, the US Energy Department can tell manufacturers that they must limit the amount of energy required to complete a desired task. That does not mean giving up features, or shutting off the light bulb. Yet, without government efficiency standards, it can often be difficult to find more efficent appliances, because manufacturers are lazy and do not feel the need to innovate.

Light Through the Trees

Energy Conservation.

You decide to keep the 100 watt incandescence bulb and turn off the light after 15 minutes, so you sit in darkness for the rest of the hour. You only use 25 watts over the hour.

When you choose conservation, you save money, but give up utility in response. If their is enough day light, you can turn off a light bulb, and use the day light to read by. You choose to buy a smaller car or television set to conserve energy. It’s a personal choice, or as Dick Cheney famously said, “Conservation is a personal virtue”.

Government can not normally force people to engage in conservation. Unless fuel is rationed or they send a cop to your door to tell you to turn off that 100 watt bulb, you can choose to use as little or as much energy as you want as long as you pay for it. People can be educated on virtues of conservation.

If I Leave NY State, Will I Become a Bitter Republican?

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The conventional wisdom has it that when people move out of an area for ideological reasons, they become the polar opposite of what they where when they lived in their previous area. People move out to suburbs, from the city, are usually some of the most hard core conservatives, as are those people who move from the rustbelt to the sunbelt.

Maybe.

East Branch of Deerfield River

But if anything, when I was a college student at Plattsburgh, like five years ago, I felt the most active and included in the Upstate and Rural Democrats that dominated that area. The Clinton County Democrats where not dominated by a bunch of liberal extremists out to remake our state in their vision. For the most part, they were just happy to grab whatever little coat tails of power they could grab.

I have never viewed myself as a right-winger, but I do cringe at many of the things liberals advocate for in our state. More regulations and taxes on working folks, just do not seem the right direction for our country. We certainly don’t need any more gun control or people telling us how to live our lives. At the same time, we need a government that stands up for working folks against big corporations.

I feel if I lived in a place where my own political party was not the enemy, then I could be much more involved and active in politics. It’s always more fun being in the minority, and fighting the good fight for the reforms you want to see, against the opposition, rather then being disappointed with your own people for not living up to their own ideals.

Municipal Cash Incinerators

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There is a new high-tech device coming to communities across America. It’s being billed as a solution to reduce government waste, create jobs, create “green” electricity, and best of all provide a great way to use taxpayer dollars. It’s called municipal cash incinerators.

Many people have not heard of the concept of burning taxpayer dollars to create electricity. Yet, studies have shown it’s a remarkably good way. Why burn perfectly good coal or natural gas, when you can burn municipal cash? We all know that renewables like solar and wind can not power a society. So there is only one real choice: Municipal Cash Incinerators.

How does this advanced technology work? Using a high-tech process, $1 bills bought using municipal tax dollars, obtained through property taxes and government grants, are burned in a large furnace that heats water to steam and turn a turbine. This turbine generates electricity. Best off all, because money is green in color, it is a green process. Moreover, money spend on cash burners will not be wasted on less productive governmental purposes like roads and schools.

trash to steam

There are many good reasons to burn municipal cash:

  • For one, if government starts hoarding $1 bills rather then storing the money in a normal bank account, city halls across the country would be overwhelmed with all this paper cash.
  • If this cash was used for productive purposes it would continue the money in the economic cycle and help drive inflation up.
  • Many conservatives feel that inflation is the biggest risk facing our society today.

Some activists are complaining about municipal cash incinerators. They say it’s stupid to burn taxpayer dollars. Some are even suggesting that constructing municipal cash incinerators is an outright fraud, a stealing of people’s hard earned dollars. So what? Government has to spend the public’s money somehow.