and she said.. "how you interpret the dream is probably more important than the dream itself"

Michael considered fate at 13:03 | Permalink | Post a Comment

Comment posted by

Anonymous @ 1/15/2008 9:27 PM:

Here's how quixotic environmental policy goes down: a well-intentioned bill gets passed by a self-indulgent politican, to be implemented in 6 years, when it's the next guy's problem. In the mean time, the next guy gets wise, claims enforcability issues, and the bill is repealed (see the California Zero Emission Vehicle project, etc).
Seems like there's a better (and less totalitarian) option, like variable pricing during peak hours. Would anyone disagree with this?

Comment posted by

Michael @ 1/17/2008 12:58 AM:

In theory, sure.. it looks good on paper. But here is a potential problem example:

Public transit in city X is expensive and crowded during rush hour, so politician X proposes a bill to charge each passenger more during peak hours. However, passenger Z is poor and commutes on the bus cause it is cheap, while passenger-hipster-wannabe N is relatively wealthy and only uses the bus at night when he is going downtown to see a concert.

Sure, that ain't electricity, but it's a comparative example, sort of? Gimme a break, it's late, I is tired.

After catching some of the new Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles last night on Fox, and then stumbling upon Terminator 3 on FX, I had to ask myself: would I want Arnold controlling my thermostat?

..a proposal set to be considered at month's end could allow the state of California to "require that residents install remotely monitored temperature controls in their homes next year." The Programmable Communication Thermostat (PCT) would feature a "non-removable" FM receiver which could be controlled by Big Brother in "times of emergency" to drop load in order for "utilities to meet their supplies [when] the integrity of the grid is being jeopardized."

Personally, I like the idea of the Hollywood elite being forced to forego frigadaire-like temperatures in their mcmansions during the summer heat waves, don't you?

To be fair, my apartment has been about 50 degrees for months now, so I'm doing my part - even if at least 50% of my decision to freeze is miserly.

And before all you folks who can't hack it without your A/C start hiding behind excuses like "what about a medical condition that requires certain temperature limitations?" - I can say, from having worked with utility billing software, situations like this exist and they are properly dealt with.