No Mullah Left Behind
A few weeks ago I sent out an email to everyone who's email address I have, suggesting that they switch to Green Power. You can read about it below. In this blog, I'm re-publishing (regrettably without permission) a great endorsment for Green Power, by Thomas Friedman.
No Mullah Left Behind
Published in the NYTimes on February 13, 2005
By OP-ED COLUMNIST, THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
The Wall Street Journal ran a very, very alarming article from Iran on its front page last Tuesday. The article explained how the mullahs in Tehran - who are now swimming in cash thanks to soaring oil prices - rather than begging foreign investors to come into Iran, are now shunning some of them. The article related how a Turkish mobile-phone operator, which had signed a deal with the Iranian government to launch Iran's first privately owned cellphone network, had the contract frozen by the mullahs in the Iranian Parliament because they were worried it might help the Turks and their foreign partners spy on Iran.
The Journal quoted Ali Ansari, an Iran specialist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, as saying that for 10 years analysts had been writing about Iran's need for economic reform. "In actual fact, the scenario is worse now," said Mr. Ansari. "They have all this money with the high oil price, and they don't need to do anything about reforming the economy." Indeed, The Journal added, the conservative mullahs are feeling even more emboldened to argue that with high oil prices, Iran doesn't need Western investment capital and should feel "free to pursue its nuclear power program without interference."
This is a perfect example of the Bush energy policy at work, and the Bush energy policy is: "No Mullah Left Behind."
By adamantly refusing to do anything to improve energy conservation in America, or to phase in a $1-a-gallon gasoline tax on American drivers, or to demand increased mileage from Detroit's automakers, or to develop a crash program for renewable sources of energy, the Bush team is - as others have noted - financing both sides of the war on terrorism. We are financing the U.S. armed forces with our tax dollars, and, through our profligate use of energy, we are generating huge windfall profits for Saudi Arabia, Iran and Sudan, where the cash is used to insulate the regimes from any pressure to open up their economies, liberate their women or modernize their schools, and where it ends up instead financing madrassas, mosques and militants fundamentally opposed to the progressive, pluralistic agenda America is trying to promote. Now how smart is that?
The neocon strategy may have been necessary to trigger reform in Iraq and the wider Arab world, but it will not be sufficient unless it is followed up by what I call a "geo-green" strategy.
As a geo-green, I believe that combining environmentalism and geopolitics is the most moral and realistic strategy the U.S. could pursue today. Imagine if President Bush used his bully pulpit and political capital to focus the nation on sharply lowering energy consumption and embracing a gasoline tax.
What would that buy? It would buy reform in some of the worst regimes in the world, from Tehran to Moscow. It would reduce the chances that the U.S. and China are going to have a global struggle over oil - which is where we are heading. It would help us to strengthen the dollar and reduce the current account deficit by importing less crude. It would reduce climate change more than anything in Kyoto. It would significantly improve America's standing in the world by making us good global citizens. It would shrink the budget deficit. It would reduce our dependence on the Saudis so we could tell them the truth. (Addicts never tell the truth to their pushers.) And it would pull China away from its drift into supporting some of the worst governments in the world, like Sudan's, because it needs their oil. Most important, making energy independence our generation's moon shot could help inspire more young people to go into science and engineering, which we desperately need.
Sadly, the Bush team won't even consider this. It prefers cruise missiles to cruise controls. We need a grass-roots movement. Where are college kids these days? I would like to see every campus in America demand that its board of trustees disinvest from every U.S. auto company until they improve their mileage standards. Every college town needs to declare itself a "Hummer-free zone." You want to drive a gas-guzzling Humvee? Go to Iraq, not our campus. And an idea from my wife, Ann: free parking anywhere in America for anyone driving a hybrid car.
But no, President Bush has a better project: borrowing another trillion dollars, which will make us that much more dependent on countries like China and Saudi Arabia that hold our debt - so that you might, if you do everything right and live long enough, get a few more bucks out of your Social Security account.
The president's priorities are totally nuts.
This entry was posted
on Feb 19, 2005 at 2/19/2005 01:37:00 PM.
There are . If you want, you can leave your own response by clicking here.
You may also send this post to a friend of yours via email, or bookmark it for yourself by using icons below;
Green Power
Green Power
This is an open letter I sent out to everyone I know, on February 2nd, 2005.
Friends,
I’m writing you about a great opportunity that everyone (at least in New York State, but possibly elsewhere) can take advantage of. We are now able to decide which type of power we want powering our homes! I have recently switched to “Green Power”. It took no time at all. I included much of the research I did before switching below in order to save you some time.
For those of you who don’t know, Green Power is power generated by renewable/environmentally friendly methods. There’s more detail as well as several links below.
For those of you wondering why you should switch, here are a few reasons:
If terrorist-supporting countries controlling the oil our country needs to survive scares you, then start sending a message to lawmakers, power companies, and the world at large – we’re not going to be dependent on other countries for energy.
If you like the idea of renewable energy sources but think they don’t work well today – send a message to engineers, investors, and tech companies that there is a demand for it; trust me, they will produce products to meet the demand.
If you think renewable energy is a good idea, but fear the “higher cost” – it comes out to about $8 more per month (for me). That’s roughly equivalent to two coffees at Starbucks, or an imported beer at a local pub. As demand for renewable energy increases, so will the market for it, which will eventually drive prices down – it will also drive down the price of oil, as the demand for oil will go down. So don’t wait for everyone else to bring the price down, do your part, and if you’re strapped for cash, forego a beer, or two cups of Starbucks, each month and help us all benefit from a cleaner environment today, with reasonable pricing tomorrow.
When you make the switch, you don’t pay sales tax on the delivery of the electric to your home/business (ConEd still owns and maintains the lines delivering power to you).
OK, for those of you who are convinced, and want to know how to sign up, read below. For those of you who’s interest I’ve piqued, but you would like to do some of your own research, or hear more about why I chose one provider over another, skip down to the **More Info** line (or to the “links” area further down the email).
Go to: http://www.askpsc.com/campaigns/?action=viewCampaign&id=1033#providers
There you’ll find a list of Green Power Providers for New York State. For those of you who live in Manhattan, the two choices are ConEdison Solutions, and Econnergy. (I went w/ConEd Solutions; below for reasons why).
Go to whichever provider’s site you prefer, fill out the info on each one of the sites, and you’ll get a price quote on what green power in your area costs.
Keep in mind:
- When you compare what you’re paying now with what you’re being quoted for Green Power, make sure to use the “Market Supply Price” on your bill, not the actual amount per Kilowatt Hour (KWH). The price you pay is the market supply price for the energy PLUS the cost to deliver it to your home (including the maintenance of the infrastructure).
*More Info**
Here’s the deal. For those of you who live in Manhattan, there are two providers of Green Power:
ConEd Solutions http://www.conedsolutions.com/residential/greenpowermain.htm
and
Econnergy http://www.econnergy.com/green/
I chose ConEdison Solutions because of the following:
Their web site was very functional and informational. Econnergy’s wasn’t great (imho).
Their customer service (on the phone) was knowledgeable and helpful, and the wait time wasn’t too long. Econnergy’s wait time was 17 minutes, then the person on the phone didn’t really understand what Green Power was, or how her company was involved. I had to be transferred twice until someone who knew what they were talking about answered.
ConEd offered me a flat rate for 12 months, plus a one-time $25 credit for switching to green power, which off-set the extra cost for green power by about $2/month.
I didn’t like the deal from Econnergy. The offer is one of two products. A 100kwh package ($0.10/day), or a 200kwh ($0.20/day) package. That daily rate is added on top of whatever the regular market supply price is for power. The kwh packages are based on your own consumption, either 100kwh/month of your power will be from Green sources, or 200kwh will be from Green sources. With ConEd Solutions, all of your power is Green Power.
Cost:
You’ll need to check your own bill and see what works for you. Here is my scenario:
I use about 250 Kilowatt Hours (KWH) per month. Last month, the market rate per KWH charged by ConEd was 9.9 cents. The 12 month fixed rate for Green Power via ConEd Solutions (a subsidiary of ConEd) is 13.1 cents / KWH. That is an extra 3.2 cents /KWH or, $8/month. Considering ConEd Sol. Throws in about $2 per month, it comes to about $6 extra per month, and then don’t forget that you won’t have to pay sales tax on the delivery of your energy, so you’ll save a few dollars there too.
The net-net for me is a few dollars more per month to help the environment, and send a message that people in New York care about renewable energy, and are willing to buy products that meet higher standards.
What to do next? – Follow the links above to sign up, or, do some of your own homework to figure out which company and plan is best for you, and make the switch. Once you’ve decided which company to go with, it takes 1 minute to fill out the application on any given provider’s web page.
Details from ConEd Solutions on their Green Power: http://www.conedsolutions.com/residential/greenpowermain.htm
Green Energy Offer (copied from their site):
ConEdison Solutions is leading the way in promoting pollution-free electricity by offering GREEN Power - a clean, 100% renewable power. Instead of drawing on traditional power sources, such as nuclear power and fossil fuel sources, GREEN Power is generated from New York’s own wind and low-impact hydropower sources.
GREEN Power is composed of 75% run-of-the-river hydro and 25% NewWind Energy, a product of Community Energy, Inc. The benefit of GREEN Power is that it produces none of the air pollution or greenhouse gases associated with acid rain, smog, and global warming. ConEdison Solutions is committed to making a difference in the New York environment and together we have the opportunity to help make a powerful impact.
Additionally, the New York State sales tax on the delivery portion of your utility bill is fully eliminated (no tax) for purchasing energy from an energy services company, such as ConEdison Solutions.
Join the more thousands of smart New Yorkers who have already switched to renewable energy. You too can invest in a healthier future for all of us.
Due to the capability period of this offer, the term of this contract is 12 months.
Note: These offers are conditioned on your utility’s acceptance of your enrollment into its Retail Access Program and the utility electricity pricing option specified in the offer.
Links:
http://www.poweryourway.com/pages/green.html
http://www.askpsc.com/campaigns/?action=viewCampaign&id=1033
http://www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/
http://www.dsireusa.org/library/includes/map2.cfm?CurrentPageID=1&State=NY
This entry was posted
on at 2/19/2005 01:33:00 PM.
There are . If you want, you can leave your own response by clicking here.
You may also send this post to a friend of yours via email, or bookmark it for yourself by using icons below;
Stumble
Leave your response