I don't like the idea of "cap-and-trade". I do not believe it is effective. I like the idea of energy source forced switching way better. It is sort of like the CAFE standards for motor vehicles. It goes something like this. Note: when I say fossil fuels in this, just assume I mean nuclear too.
Mandate that 50% electrical power production/generation be turned over to green energy by 2025. That means the installation of green energy production equipment to replace shut down fossil fuels powered equipment.
If an electrical generation station is not able to meet the standard by the deadline date of 2025, they must reduce the amount of electricity they produce with fossil fuels by an amount that would bring them into the 50% green energy production requirement.
Mandate that 100% electrical power production/generation be turned over to green energy by 2035. That means the total replacement of fossil fuels with green energy, and the final abandonment of the use of fossil fuels for the production of electricity in the state of New Mexico by that date.
If an electrical generation station is not able to meet the standard by the deadline date of 2035, they must reduce the amount of electricity they produce with fossil fuels by an amount that would bring them into the 100% green energy production requirement. That would mean they would have to shut down their remaining fossil fuels powered facilities regardless of the amount of electrical generating capacity remaining after the shutdown.
I would like to see federal dollars go into such a scheme to help the power production facilities make the switch, and for retraining of ex-fossil fuels workers. This timeline is accelerated to bring about this crucial change in our state's energy production methods much sooner than advocated by the DPNM.
I would like to add that during the last pre-primary convention there was a gentleman expressing concern over shutting down nuclear plants. He said the wind doesn't blow all the time, and the sun only shines half the time. He misspoke when he said there is no way to store the solar energy for use during times that the sun's not shining. He expressed concern that there will be times when the lights will go off, if we abandon nuclear.
I disagree on a couple points. The most obvious one is the electricity storage issue he spoke of. Our civilization does indeed have the technology to store electrical power, and we are getting better at it all the time. It may be a fact that there might be some electrical generation capacity shortage while we bring our state to 100% green energy production, but I say that is part of the cost.
We will have to tolerate some times of brownouts and even blackouts during the transition. (Roasted marshmallows by an outdoors fire under the stars? Family togetherness. grin emoticon ) I would encourage all New Mexicans to look at any future brownouts or blackouts as temporary in nature, and ushering in a new era, and a better life for all of us. Think of the brownout in your neighborhood as keeping a person on life support at the hospital alive, and feel good about yourself. We can promote the transitional problems we face in terms of doing honorable things for the greater good of the community, and nothing would be further from the truth of the matter. We will face problems with the transition, but the possible problems we might face due to switching power production methods pale in comparison to the problems we will face if we do nothing, or if we delay the effort.
We should all keep in mind that by the year 2045 our whole state could be transformed into a green electricity generating powerhouse of the Southwest with a net export of energy to the surrounding states.
All of this scheme would mean more jobs, a cleaner environment, raising state revenues as we abandon fossil fuels for green energy, and a higher standard of living for all of our people.
Mandate that 100% electrical power production/generation be turned over to green energy by 2035. That means the total replacement of fossil fuels with green energy, and the final abandonment of the use of fossil fuels for the production of electricity in the state of New Mexico by that date.
If an electrical generation station is not able to meet the standard by the deadline date of 2035, they must reduce the amount of electricity they produce with fossil fuels by an amount that would bring them into the 100% green energy production requirement. That would mean they would have to shut down their remaining fossil fuels powered facilities regardless of the amount of electrical generating capacity remaining after the shutdown.
I would like to see federal dollars go into such a scheme to help the power production facilities make the switch, and for retraining of ex-fossil fuels workers. This timeline is accelerated to bring about this crucial change in our state's energy production methods much sooner than advocated by the DPNM.
I would like to add that during the last pre-primary convention there was a gentleman expressing concern over shutting down nuclear plants. He said the wind doesn't blow all the time, and the sun only shines half the time. He misspoke when he said there is no way to store the solar energy for use during times that the sun's not shining. He expressed concern that there will be times when the lights will go off, if we abandon nuclear.
I disagree on a couple points. The most obvious one is the electricity storage issue he spoke of. Our civilization does indeed have the technology to store electrical power, and we are getting better at it all the time. It may be a fact that there might be some electrical generation capacity shortage while we bring our state to 100% green energy production, but I say that is part of the cost.
We will have to tolerate some times of brownouts and even blackouts during the transition. (Roasted marshmallows by an outdoors fire under the stars? Family togetherness. grin emoticon ) I would encourage all New Mexicans to look at any future brownouts or blackouts as temporary in nature, and ushering in a new era, and a better life for all of us. Think of the brownout in your neighborhood as keeping a person on life support at the hospital alive, and feel good about yourself. We can promote the transitional problems we face in terms of doing honorable things for the greater good of the community, and nothing would be further from the truth of the matter. We will face problems with the transition, but the possible problems we might face due to switching power production methods pale in comparison to the problems we will face if we do nothing, or if we delay the effort.
We should all keep in mind that by the year 2045 our whole state could be transformed into a green electricity generating powerhouse of the Southwest with a net export of energy to the surrounding states.
All of this scheme would mean more jobs, a cleaner environment, raising state revenues as we abandon fossil fuels for green energy, and a higher standard of living for all of our people.
Dump the idea of cap-and-trade. Promote a scheme of Forced Power Production Capacity Switching. This should be on a worldwide basis too! Cap-n-trade is no good here, and there. It is an inadequate compromise between fossil fuels, manufacturing and government who rely on the revenues from it. This is further proven with the UN timeline on this issue, which is not near aggressive enough.
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