Green Energy Insanity : Electric Cars Need Coal Energy

Green energy is a bust? Who knew? Whatz this all about? It's about the government picking winners and losers in the market place. It's about the government spending tax dollars on green projects they know will fail but do it anyway as this is a good way to launder money for progressive Democrat campaign funds which amounted to millions.

What's really neat is that the Democrats made no effort to hide the fact that they were organizing these special projects, solar and wind enterprises, for the sole purpose of returning some of the tax dollars to the campaign coffers of Democrat candidates, that is, bundlers that owned or managed these special companies were operatives of the Obama election and reelection campaign.

They said it was to stop green house gases, the song of the environmentalists seeking more power, they said it was that demon coal that was causing so much damages to the environment, but in reality it was only to secure more power over the individual through more government regulation.

Even better, there was nearly no out rage from the general public or the press concerning this theft of tax dollars or individual freedom save FOX news and talk radio. One has to wonder why? Is it the fear of being labeled a social pariah?  Worse, a racist? Is it easier to just shut up and let the chips fall where they may rather then be labeled?

When the country becomes unmanageable , think back on your decision to do nothing when such action could have made a difference. Edmond Burke said it best, " For tyranny to succeed, all it takes is for good men to do nothing".

Electric Cars: The Environmentalist Paradox
Source: James R. Healey, "Electric-Car Costs Can Outweigh Cheap Fuel," USA Today, June 12, 2013.
June 18, 2013

The government recently said that the fuel cost for an electric vehicle is only about one-third of the cost to fuel a gasoline vehicle for the same distance, but that Energy Department (DOE) formula leaves out some key financial and environmental factors in the overall cost of owning an electric vehicle, says USA Today.

• Electric car owners spend only $1.14, on average, to go as far as gasoline-car owners do on one gallon of gas, which averages about $3.63, according to travel consultant AAA.
• The $1.14 number was trumpeted by electric-car interests ranging from General Motors, which sells the mostly electric Chevrolet Volt, to a variety of clean-fuel and environmental advocacy blogs.
• However, the DOE calculation blazingly illuminates a sharp conflict between clean fuel and cheap fuel.

Electric cars are so cheap to run because of cheap electricity available to recharge the batteries. The reason electricity is cheap is because of cheap, if not always clean-burning, coal, and cheap, if not necessarily carbon-emission-free, natural gas.

• Burning coal accounts for about 40 percent of the power generated in the United States, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data for the first quarter of 2013.
• Coal's share of electricity generation has ranged from a post-recession high of 47.4 percent the first quarter of 2010 to a low of 36.3 percent first quarter last year, according to EIA data.
• During the same period, natural gas has ranged from a low of 20.5 percent in the first quarter to a high of 33.1 percent of all fuel used to produce electricity in third quarter last year, EIA says.
• All told, roughly two-thirds of the fuel was burned to provide power to recharge the locally clean, electrified vehicles is carbon-based.

Beyond the environmental costs, the DOE calculation also does not factor in the purely financial drawbacks of electrified vehicles that include:

• Expensive accessories and your time: Getting and installing a 240-volt home charger for a plug-in hybrid or electric car -- pretty much a practical necessity -- runs $1,500 to $3,000.
• Expensive batteries: To replace a battery pack outside of warranty could cost from $4,000 to more than three times that much for a $70,000 Tesla luxury electric.
• Uncertain depreciation: Electrified vehicles will depreciate much faster from the sticker price than the most-similar gasoline models. But, if you assume the buyer got the federal subsidy and possible state aid, depreciation's similar for the gas and electrified models.