The Oil Drum

I read Spitzer's speach and it looks like a good start. However he doesnot see the Peak Oil message, merely the Global Warming message - so he is still trying to GROW NY by adding population and increasing total Electricity comsumption 15% with new power plants, even if he is trying to reduce individual consuption. I give him a 'C' for being only half way there.

One day he will realize we have no more fuel,so there is no reason to build more power plants. There is reason to make existing power plants more efficient while reducing emissions simply because there is less fuel and it is higher priced all of the time.

I thought it was relevant because these artificially produced jobs almost always (1) turn out to be ill paid rubbish in the end, once the fine words of the original speech are long-forgotten, or else (2) turn out - like "ethanol" - to be highly subsidized monsters that pay a few people well at the expense of taxing others more and generally dragging the economy for no useful purpose.

IOW, no matter how you slice it, government make-work is government make-work, and the last thing the overworked American needs is more artificially mandated make-work. After all, Spitzer wouldn't be able to advertise the JOBS he's "creating" unless what he's proposing is more labor-intensive than what came before - and that's virtually NEVER progress.