Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Continuing to Outsource American Jobs

I am so sick of the political elite thinking that it is a good thing… a good thing to outsource jobs to foreign countries.

At least, they act like it is a good thing.

Clinton signed on to NAFTA. This basically dropped the rules and regulations that kept American jobs in America, by making it more expensive and onerous to buy products from other North American countries. Once that was done, one was forced to wonder what any corporation was thinking if they kept their manufacturing base here in the states. Why pay an American $20 per hour when you can pay a Mexican to do the same job for $5 a day?

Bush sat on his ass and watched it all happen, because his cronies in big business were making gobs of money laying off Americans and hiring someone else to do the job across the border. He had no reason to change the flow of the tides.

And now, we have Obama, passing a carbon cap and trade bill, which will cap carbon emissions at 1990 levels, and tax corporations for emitting carbon dioxide.

This will make electricity and power more expensive. It will likely drive the coal industry out of business. Their profit margins are simply too low to pick up the huge tab for the carbon emissions that coal generation creates. Natural gas is also going to get hammered.

What does that leave us?

Hydoelectric? What about the proposals on the table to remove the 5 dams on the lower snake river, and possibly begin to remove Columbia River Dams, also? Hydroelectric is pollution free, but is harder than hell on river ecosystems. Besides, hydro is maxed out. It isn’t enough to power the USA, and can not be.

Nuclear? Did you all see that Obama just canceled the Yucca Mountain deal? That effectively killed nuclear energy in the US for the next 15 years, until a new plan can be had.

Solar? You would have to cover the State of Arizona with solar panels to get enough electricity to power the west. The cost of the land and upkeep on the panels alone would be astronomical.

Wind? And when the wind is not blowing, say, in the middle of a huge heat wave (when the wind doesn’t blow) and electricity demand is the highest it will ever be?

There is no way around it. Alternatives will not save us from very large increases in our energy costs. We have to have coal and NG. Very large increases in our energy costs mean that American manufacturing becomes even more non-competitive, and even more jobs are shipped out to China, who has not, and has no plans to, pass any rules on carbon emissions, ever. Just the transfer of these jobs to China will create enough carbon emissions to make up for any reduction in carbon by Americans in a few short years. We are signing our own death warrant, amidst cheers and jubilation, and achieving nothing in return.

Even if you think that carbon dioxide is causing dangerous climate change, this plan will do virtually nothing to stop that. Our emissions are so greatly overshadowed by China and India that the increased production over there to make up for our decreased production will cancel out any good we do.

This plan is economic suicide, at the very moment when the economy is already a shambles. When will the politicians realize that they cannot have it both ways?

12 comments:

"Grammie" or whatever name he wants to call me!! said...

Natural gas is also going to get hammered.

Goob, I'm curious as to your reasoning for this statement. I don't know what BHO has in mind but it seems that NG is a "clean" alternative. He's promised to build up our electric grid. Gas fired turbines are his best bet and a good backup to wind energy (they can come online in 15 minutes).

Schteveo said...

He doesn't care Goob.

He's part of the Insider American Elite now. Even if the country goes down the tubes, if it gets into an Us and Them scenario, he'll be on the upside of Them, eating beef, while we eat Soylent Green.

C-Bug,
the only problem is that gas turbine manufacturers are already about 7 to 10 years backed up on orders. There is no way to get those turbines up and running.

Generator sets are in higher demand. Many can be tied to numerous kinds of prime movers.

My suggestion, personal power.

Your own solar, wind and generators. Run the generators on gasoline or better, home brewed alcohol.

"Grammie" or whatever name he wants to call me!! said...

Negative Steve. A 400MW combined cycle power plant designed and built by a competent U.S. EPC (Engineering & procurement contractor) is 36 months, start to finish.

Anonymous said...

Mmmmmm *drool*

home brewed alcohol.

Anonymous said...

Goob, I'm curious as to your reasoning for this statement. I don't know what BHO has in mind but it seems that NG is a "clean" alternati

The type of fuel does not matter. It is the amount of CO2 emissions that matter. natural gas is second only to coal in total CO2 emissions per KWh generated. Subsequently, it will get hammered when a CO2 tax is passed.

Schteveo said...

c-Bug,
I'm not sure where you got that number.

My numbers are from guys I know at GE and SOLAR, two big players in the industry. There is such a back log, that they are stripping jets and helicopters for their engines. Generators are in such short supply, people are buying and selling generator orders. Not the hard equipment, just the orders for them.

My suggestion is still, do it yourself power.

This may sound crazy, but in the next 20 years, backyard windmills will sprout up, the same way TV antennas did when we were kids. I believe it.

Jimbo said...

"This may sound crazy, but in the next 20 years, backyard windmills will sprout up, the same way TV antennas did when we were kids. I believe it."

Keep the faith, Steve, keep the faith. I don't disagree and our own Lady-Bug is in the wind generator business.

I hope that isn't TMI C-Bug :-(

Oh, well. Too late. :-)

Spider said...

Last year, during his campaign, Yomama and Joe The Mouth had a very long and indepth meeting with fat Algore. At the time, the MSM was drooling to find out what the meeting was about. I think we now know what it was about.

I wonder if the American people realize that with each passing day, we're being treated more like subjects than free people.

"Grammie" or whatever name he wants to call me!! said...

Steve,
"My numbers are from guys I know at GE" would explain it. I wouldn't buy a GE toaster! We're in the wind generator business and much more. I can assure you my facts are correct.

"Grammie" or whatever name he wants to call me!! said...

US Treasury secretary attacks oil, gas tax breaks

Anonymous said...

We're in the wind generator business and much more.

Ooh-ooh! I call blog-buddy discount, for when Oblammo deceases other energy industries.
Aaaand, he supplies enough wind on his own to power a heck of a lot of us.

Anonymous said...

If we could just find a way to harness all the hot air coming out of Washington DC....