ExxonMobile decides how to spend recent profits

**uglymoney** · 02-04-2007, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by Tmorry326

This topic instantly shows peoples true party colors.

FYI - I'm not affiliated with any party. I'd love it if a centrist party that was socially liberal, economically conservative, gun friendly, anti-lobby, and progressively green (meaning realistically green, not radically green) would emerge from the ashes of the two failed parties, but I'm not holding out hope.

The democrats, who have embraced the science behind global warming, are going to be taken for a dangerous ride by the ethanol, pro subsidized farm products crowd along with the supposedly economically conservative republicans (in words, almost never in action), while pretty much ignoring cellulosic ethanol other than to give it a tiny amount of funding in comparision to the amount given to corn and even soybean ethanol, which really has zero chance of reducing CO2 output, and most likely will do exactly the opposite.

Some Democrats have some good ideas but they tend to have poor plans of action.

http://www.theksbwchannel.com/news/10887861/detail.html

I'd rather see a tax on incandescent lightbulbs that would simply correct the markets failure that causes them to be more popular than flourescent bulbs because they are cheaper to buy initially even though they cost the consumer much more in the long run.

All of our politicans run scared from any new non sin related tax, democrat or republican. What we need to do is shift our taxes off of income and onto energy, then let the free markets take care of the rest. Taxing energy would be the single most effective method of controlling our CO2 output.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- How many legislators does it take to change a light bulb?

In California, the answer is a majority -- plus Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Decrying the inefficiency of the common light bulb, a Democratic Assemblyman from Los Angeles wants California to become the first state to ban it -- by 2012.

Assemblyman Lloyd Levine says compact fluorescent light bulbs, which often have a spiral shape and are being promoted by Wal-Mart, are so efficient that consumers should be forced to use them. The compact bulbs use a quarter the energy of a conventional light.

"Incandescent light bulbs were first developed almost 125 years ago, and since that time they have undergone no major modifications," said Levine, who represents Sherman Oaks. "It's time to take a step forward."

Levine is known for his environmental bent. Last year, he authored legislation to require large supermarkets to recycle plastic bags. Schwarzenegger signed that bill but has not yet taken a position on the light bulb bill.

Levine isn't the only one who's seen the light. Democrat Jared Huffman, who represents San Rafael, is working on a similar bill.

The idea has annoyed some Republicans, who say people should be allowed to make their own choices about which bulbs to buy. But Levine, who heads the Assembly's Utilities and Commerce Committee, points out that the new bulbs are so efficient that electric utilities give them away.

He said replacing one 75-watt incandescent light bulb with a 20-watt compact fluorescent bulb would prevent 1,300 pounds of carbon dioxide from being pumped into the atmosphere by electric plants. Carbon dioxide is a major component of the gases that most experts believe are responsible for global warming. Consumers could also save $55 over the life of a single bulb.