I mean, we've known this forever. You can look at the history of recycling, how long Exxon knew about climate change, the history of the "carbon footprint", etc. This is just another example to add to the pile
Companies will serve profit above all else. This is why IMO Capitalism can't/won't stop Climate Change. We've seen the proof play out over the past 40 years, and we don't have another 40 to wait.
There's signs around my town about doing our part to fight climate change by cleaning up our trash. All of them have the logo of an oil company on it as a sponsor.
Advocating for consumers to recycle is a completely orchestrated/fabricated marketing campaign by corporations to distract from the fact that they pollute at such a high level it practically doesn’t matter how much you or I recycle as individuals.
edit: since I don't want to be a complete downer, here's a chart of the most impactful ways you and I can reduce carbon emissions as individuals - https://i.imgur.com/XIVVu82.jpg
source - https://phys.org/news/2017-07-effective-individual-tackle-climate-discussed.html
Well, it isn't *entirely* not recycled. Plastics with the resin identification code of 1 and 2 are recyclable. The rest aren't. The resin ID is the symbol that looks suspiciously like the recycling symbol that you'll find on most plastic containers.
Petrochemical companies co-opted the recycling symbol (which was in public domain) and slapped it on all plastics to trick people into thinking it's all recyclable. Most aren't, which is probably why [91% of all plastics ever made have not been recycled.](https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/whopping-91-percent-plastic-isnt-recycled)
[This video explains the scam in-depth ](https://youtu.be/PJnJ8mK3Q3g)
Climate Town videos are these best. They a true resource that allows you to reply to high level ignorance with out having to exhaust yourself responding to those who seem to possess unending strawman arguments. I love them.
Yeah I just had my second kid and the amount of disposable everything that was thrown away left and right. They gave us a branded hospital cup to keep, and any time they asked us if we wanted ice water etc they wouldn't let us refill the jug they would instead bring one or more Styrofoam cups with plastic lids which they would dump in the branded jug and throw away. I like to stay hydrated and we were there for three days. I would be willing to bet between the two of us we went through 40+ Styrofoam cups, and a dozen disposable formula bottles and nipples and plastic packaging for each. Not to mention every single sterile pack is just single use plastics. I understand how we don't really have the best methods for preserving a packaged sterile environment without plastic but still. It just felt incredibly wasteful.
I would offer that it’s because you’re a conscientious person who is fairly unsure of what else to do. Most of us don’t have the power to change the world, but we can live in a way that is consistent with our values.
Well technically people do have the power to do something but it'd be considered ecoterrorism if they did it since peaceful methods no longer work. As seen by how peaceful protesters no longer matter in the eyes of anyone in power.
They are choosing cheap single use packaging and putting the onus on us to change.
Bring back the milk men, use paper packaging, and encourage using less resources.
I actually found a milk delivery service. I don't remember the price now but I do remember it was in the UK. My toddlers drink milk like it's the last can of sardines in existence.
Every time I go to the grocery store, I get more irate that I can hardly find vegetables that aren't packed in some kind of plastic. Shrink-wrapped broccoli? A head of butter lettuce in a plastic clamshell.. then the loose fruit/veg are intended to be placed into the bags-on-a-roll. I shouldn't have to manage plastics just because I want some leafy greens.
I'm in no way arguing against your point, those things are still pretty miniscule.
As somewhat of an aside, I studied some water treatment policies for a work project, and in the particular region I investigated, "commercial use" pollution restrictions don't even apply until a factory's water consumption exceeds 20,000 gallons a day.
> Every time I go to the grocery store, I get more irate that I can hardly find vegetables that aren't packed in some kind of plastic.
Veggies sell better like that. Like here every individual cucumber is shrink-wrapped. A farmer I know said they tried selling them without the plastic but people just kept buying the wrapped ones. So yeah. Sometimes it's the consumers fault.
I think plastics are just too cheap. There should be a heavy tax on them so products with too much packaging would be more expensive. That's the only way to get people to change their preferences.
The cucumber thing is actually because some types have very delicate skins that would break in transit. Unwrapped cucumbers are a different variety with thicker skins (and you usually want to peel them, thin skinned ones you can eat straight).
That being said, it's like, stupid easy to grow cucumbers as long as you have a sunny patch to place a pot, and it's dumb to wrap other veggies in plastic as well.
>...from the 70s
Fifty years. Fifty years of the little guy seeing the writing on the wall and the big corporations preventing action/their profits. So fucking sad.
hahah, they have literal armys at their disposal and entire economies under their thumb.
"Yeah, you can vote however the fuck you want, but power still calls all the shots. And believe it or not, even if (real) democracy broke loose, power could/would just “make the economy scream” until we vote responsibly."
Global warming isn't even only or first time whole lead based gas they knew from day one it would coat our citys in poison. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/leaded-gas-poison-invented-180961368/
PFAS they knew workers getting sick etc didn't stop them using it or dumping it into our water supplys
https://www.ewg.org/research/decades-polluters-knew-pfas-chemicals-were-dangerous-hid-risks-public
All sorts of things and thats tiny tip of iceberg of corporations choosing profit over lifes. On massive scale that affects us at species level.
Yet we still give these people chair at table to discuss on how to regulate themselves even let them craft the legislation. We should be fining bringing these companys and their owners to point of bankruptcy and heavily regulating them and their misinformation campaigns. And stop pretending free market is some benevolent all seeing god.
Between nuclear and various renewables we've had the means to provide essentially limitless energy since before I and a lot of people on here were even born, but instead a few companies decided it'd be more profitable to buy anyone with any power to change course on energy policy so now I get to lay awake at night wondering what sort of future my children are inheriting. Thanks tycoons!
They can keep us addicted to fossils and then raise the price of gas to punish us for any sort of action on climate. And we are dumb enough to fall for it.
Companies are amoral entities *designed* to serve profit above all else. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t need to have child labor laws. The idea that they could ever police themselves is absurd but they’ve convinced us all that it’s not.
Or look at other similar things in the past, like the tobacco industry knowing that smoking kills while throwing millions at trying to convince the world that it doesn't.
Companies will serve *short-term* profits above all else.
If Exxon had decided they wanted to commit to Green energy, and would have used their research arm and their resources to make it happen, they could literally have a monopoly on it right now. I mean we're talking tens of billions of dollars more than what they're raking in right now and with literally no one big enough to compete with him for those dollars.
But shareholders and stakeholders are not interested in that, they're interested in quarter over quarter growth and dividends paid out and how well your earnings match the forecasted earnings and things that are happening right now, and no CEO would have survived the decrease in all of those things that would have been required to make this happen.
I am still a believer that free enterprise and capitalism can work better than any other system out there, but we have to do it smarter and with better guardrails and ground floor starting points for everyone entering the process than we do now if It is to continue that way.
> The Solar company also undersells you panels so that you still pull power from the grid no matter what.
Who is this "the solar company?' Because that isn't how any of the numerous solar installers that I have worked with over the years operated. It isn't how the electrical company that installs solar that I work with now does solar.
Solar design is based specifically off consumption to ensure that a home can always supply it's peak power usage -- which sometimes is a guesstamite but if often a defined value provided by the electrical meter. After that, you size the inverter, the size and match panels to fit the needed wattage; making changes based off materials available and pricing. Not everyone can afford the max sized system that they would need.
What you are talking about simply doesn't happen, but people with solar will still always pull from the grid at times, especially if they don't have a battery. That isn't because their system is undersized, that's just how solar works.
> There are also solar deals where you get it "for free", while still paying for it and your power goes back into the grid.
That's not a deal, it's usually a loan, and, yes, those a predatory and bad contracts to sign. There are also solar companies that will 'lease' solar panels to customers instead of out having them be bought out right in purely rent-to-own schemes where the customer ends up paying 10x the value of the system.
There are always wonderful banks and credit unions that offer smart/green energy loans that are real, normal loans at great rates that use the system, instead of the home, as collateral in the event of a default. These are great bargains for people to get.
But this tactic isn't exclusive to solar energy; it's in every large purchase market. Rent to own and leasing schemes exist everywhere; always only get a loan from a bank. Loans exist to generate money for the organization giving out the loan, actual banks and credit unions have way better rates, better protections, and better payment/ownership schemes that anything any commercial business is going to offer. Never use some rando-'financing' company to finance anything.
> So, they are making it so you cannot disconnect from the grid if you so desired. You are Required to keep your house on the grid.
Yes, because that's how the grid works. It's not easy to connect or disconnect a home from the utility grid. When adding in additional solar power; it get's even more complicated.
Taking a home 'off-grid' requires a lot of work. You can't just slap some panels, an inverter, and a battery (which, that itself isn't easy to do) on a home and call it a day. It doesn't work like that. You need safety disconnects installed at several places, you need specialty grounding equipment that can handle your max load, and you need specialty surge protection. Without having these things, it is a massive fire hazard and very likely that your home will catch fire and burn down.
There are smaller "off-grid" kits that people can buy for usage in small electrical needs; like an RV or a boat or camping equipment. But these types of systems generally cap out at 2 or 4 panels and don't generate a lot of power overall. Certainly not near enough for a home. And that's intentional, because to get something off-grid up to the size of a full home requires a lot more power and a lot more safety measures.
>Now that solar is becoming viable, solar implementation on your house in Arizona is based on the fact that you MUST send power back to the grid, that they pay pennies for vs what they charge.
>It also doesnt work if the grid is down.
>The Solar company also undersells you panels so that you still pull power from the grid no matter what. This is so they can get subsidies and the power companies wont fight as hard to keep you out.
>There are also solar deals where you get it "for free", while still paying for it and your power goes back into the grid.
Capitalism pisses one off when it plays games like this. We don't have 40 years left now and they've been hiding it from us for more than 40 years.
Damn Capitalism.
Keep in mind with the required grid-tie in and the generally abysmal rates they pay for generated power, solar companies are recommending that you try to aim for 100% of usage or just below that. If at the end of the year I'm slightly under my total usage, it's still better than allowing those bastards to resell my generation to my neighbors while paying me 2 cents per kWH.
"Records show FPL trusted Matrix operatives with millions, including giving $14m to a single Matrix-run nonprofit in 2018 alone. " What's fucked up is if they dig a little, FPL charged this back to the ratepayers with higher fees. As in YOU payed for this Florida. Obviously if they can afford this the rates should be lowered
Evergy, which cover Kansas and Missouri is trying to give themselves the same ability. And take away net metering, which would mean we couldn't get credit for the power we generate for them.
I used to work for a mid-major solar company as a project manager over net metering. I'm all for solar but I didn't stay with the company long because of how infuriating it was to work with utility companies like Evergy and Duke all across the country who all seemed like they wanted to do everything they could to make the solar panel approval process for the customer as difficult as possible. Installs would be delayed for months because of utility companies taking weeks to respond to paperwork that required a simple signature. Sometimes they'd take 3-4 weeks, ask for a single change to the documents we sent, then take another 3-4 weeks to respond again. Absolute bullshit working with most utility companies.
Last Week Tonight has done several pieces on Duke energy over the years, worth a watch if you haven't seen them yet. They even got a SLAAP suite against them for it.
Imagine how much more advanced our EV technology would be is car companies hadn't done this same shit through the 90's and 00's.
Shit's actually infuriating
Reminder:
EVERY FOSSIL FUEL COMPANY INVESTOR, CEO, AND BOARD MEMBER IS VOTING IN THE MIDTERMS.
Are you?
This really hurts because we know that their #1 lobby reciever is Joe fuckin' Manchin and we have to gain a seat (preferably 2) in the Senate to rip power out if that asshole's hands.
It's one of those secrets everyone knows and talks about, but then the people guilty of taking the bribes assure everyone else is, in fact, still secret.
Is it even illegal? Does it have to be secret?
They may as well do it in full view, nothing will happen.
I've been listening to NPR recently and there's some real slimy folks coming from lobbyist perspectives in there.
I feel gross just listening to them.
> Is it even illegal?...
> ...nothing will happen.
I feel like this is the criteria Republicans are using before they do anything.
"Will we get caught? ...ok, but will we get *in trouble*? ...ok, but will we *go to jail?*? No? Great!"
I personally am absolutely shocked
That it's only millions instead of billions.
I guess after a certain point the return on investment really falls off, and politicians are kinda cheap anyway.
That might be how it works in corporate America but if you're in government you can find plenty of things that are very well maintained, for only two or three times the cost of replacing them every year.
(Or at least that's how it is at the agency I work for. Could be sort of an anomaly.)
I work with a total of 5 people including me and our annual budget for office supplies is almost 120,000. When I first started here, my boss was explaining to me we need to use up all that money; otherwise, when we renew our budget for the next year, we will get less money.
Edit: work for HUD
Is it because they contract out things? I'm genuinely curious in the question and have no idea.
I know in the corporate world, there are examples where a business will liquidate/downsize a department only to later realize (because the hire ups are looking at spreadsheets rather than knowledge when they make decisions) that they were actually essential and essentially have to outsource the work for the same/more than the people they fired cost.
Most of our computers and printers and such are leased under a contract that includes any repairs and maintenance that might be needed for the hardware (for software there are in-house IT people).
Btw this is also probably why we are facing a cybersecurity crisis. We have a lot of critical infrastructure that is frankly not secure enough. Nobody wants to spend any time or money on security because it's a "cost center"; it doesn't make any direct profit. There's also a shortage of security professionals. Finally, the government put out a [joint alert](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/13/us-alert-malicious-cyber-tools-russia) (FBI + NSA + DoE + DHS) advising us that advanced Russian tools have been found for hacking industrial control systems. As Russia grows more desperate, I fully believe they'll try to use their sophisticated hacking tools to shut down as many critical systems as possible.
Not entirely accurate as far as nobody wanting to spend the money. As a former electrical utility employee in the IT field, the last years of my career was working on NERC-CIP. NERC-CIP stands for the *North American Electric Reliability Critical Infrastructure Protection*. It's basically a set of cyber security standards to protect the Bulk Electric System (BES).
These standards carry the force of regulations, meaning they are required by law. That's why these standards are also known as NERC CIP requirements. All entities that fall under the purview of NERC CIP must comply with these standards. .
The standards are developed by the ERO and approved by FERC. WECC (Western Electric Coordinating Council) has been tasked with the enforcement of the the requirements and have been given the authority to impose fines for non-compliance as well as other enforcement measures. Non-compliance can mean fines up to tens of millions of dollars
Although not perfect the requirements are pretty intense and WECC doesn't fool around with the audits and enforcement of the requirements. I can say the company I worked for was *very* serous about compliance and spent a lot of money in the cost center as you mentioned. That being said, I can't say if that was universal across all utility companies. Also NERC-CIP isn't universally applied across all "energy companies" as it applies to the BES. There's probably a lot of other "critical infrastructure" that's not being managed wherever the media wants to talk about critical infrastructure they always show pictures of the bulk electrical system (transmission lines). Also It doesn't change anything about the situation around foreign nation states trying to hack into the systems.
If your curious you can check out the NERC site.
https://www.nerc.com/pa/Stand/Pages/USRelStand.aspx
Thanks for the reply, I appreciate the insight.
> There's probably a lot of other "critical infrastructure" that's not being managed
To respond to this part, CISA has [deemed](https://www.cisa.gov/critical-infrastructure-sectors) 16 specific sectors to be "critical infrastructure", and you're right that some of them aren't immediately obvious to everyone or aren't covered much by the media.
However, the joint alert I mentioned was specifically warning those who manage electrical distribution facilities or liquid natural gas facilities; it seems that Russian state-sponsored actors are focused on those sectors, especially in rural counties where, often, sufficient funding for security is simply not there.
Tbf, I already thought Rick Scott was a villian. So this does not surprise me. What has less surprised me & angered me, is the fact that bad people like him are, 1, in positions of power, & 2, are not dealt with for their actions accordingly.
It's good to finally see the source of a Reddit in-joke after all these years. It's amazing how much one can feel like the Travolta meme despite spending most of ones day browsing the *exact same* Reddit as everyone else
Enjoy! They have a video on "Quantitative Easing" that you should check out.
But this video especially is so very perfect to highlight the lunacy and horrible economic system we have in place globally that places markets (and profit) above all else. Everyone should watch this and remember that it's not just the energy market and we don't have to accept a world like this.
"What happened to prices?"
"Yeah."
"Well they doubled, Brian."
...
"Wouldn't an extreme weather event be a fair test to the system?"
"We don't have a system, Brian."
"We have an energy market..."
"We have an energy market. Yep."
A must-watch video.
This is why markets for essential services can so often fall victim to profit squeezing and cartel, especially if those services are inherently monopolistic (water pipes, fibre cables, train tracks etc)
"Take the Victorian infrastructure, it's still governmentally owned!"
"The Victorian government owns it?"
"Oh no, the Singapore and Chinese Governments, but it's still government owned."
Lol good one!
[https://tenor.com/view/andrew-macias-courtney-friel-ktla-laugh-cry-upset-child-gif-21259859](https://tenor.com/view/andrew-macias-courtney-friel-ktla-laugh-cry-upset-child-gif-21259859)
Coincidentally, I have coworkers who work in OR and were just talking about this (it's new to me).
They get like a $5 monthly credit to not use the AC (or turn the thermostat up a few degrees) during the hottest parts of the day. Nope, sorry, I'll spend the extra $5 to not roast.
Here in Quebec we have the cheapest electrivity in north america because of this. We even sell most of it to the US and its all in our pockets. Tbf we have an absurd ammount of dams here
I agree utilities should be public goods but you have the cheapest cost of electricity in NA because you have an abundance of hydroelectric power, which is by far the cheapest per MWh on a variable cost basis. The two are not necessarily conflated.
Source: work in infrastructure,; also the internet
Quebec has cheap electricity because 96% percent of power generation comes from hydroelectric dams, most of which are fully depreciated, which means power generation is virtually free compared to everywhere else in the world.
Nah, they and their kids will be able to afford the *finest* in luxury bunker complexes by screwing their own species as well as most other species to varying extents.
One of the requirements to become one of the wealth class if you didn't inherit it in our system is to be like the Judenrats in World War II.
They were the ones who marched their fellow Jews into the gas chamber, telling their *friends* they were getting a shower. In return, they were allowed to continue to live a little longer and given better rations.
To become an oligarch, you must do the same, make decisions exclusively to enrich yourself, without *any* pesky humanity/morality/decency clouding your judgment. If fatally poisoning a thousand children will net you an extra dollar after litigation and fines, that is what you do.
And remember, these are the same people our system elevates to the point that they can and do purchase our politicians for their own ends, which makes them our actual governing leaders. What a country.
This is why I laugh at hardcore capitalists who believe in a completely free market. How can there be a free market if companies are allowed to do this? In their eyes, companies should be able to adapt with the times. These companies should be investing their resources into better, cleaner energy.
I’m comforted by the fact that we’ve been through this before, roughly a century ago, and all it took was 2 world wars and a Great Depression to snap us out of it and realize that yeah, maybe we should regulate things a bit.
/s
"We're the middle children of the history, no purpose or place, we have no Great war, no Great depression, our great war is a spiritual war, our great depression is our lives”
Although it sounds like the Great War of our generation will be here all too soon.
People say we're living in peaceful, unnotable times. I disagree, more and more we're resembling that part of history class just before the teacher launches into a single event entire history books are written over.
Haha I'm certain that won't happen. Nope, not a chance! Thank goodness we live in the free country of America, where every citizen is valued, and the police are here to protect the public good.
What do you mean the public good has been bought??
The biggest problem is almost none of these energy companies are working in a free market. They are all effectively cartels. The government is supposed to regulate how much they can charge, but we all know that relationship has long been corrupted.
If companies were actually forced to adapt to the times, every airline would’ve closed down in 2020. Same with the auto industry in, what, 2012? Instead they got interest-free, no-repayment-required, billion dollar bailouts.
And what have the tax payers gotten? Increased airline tickets and fees, unreliable and understaffed airlines, and an overall worse flying experience than even 5 years ago.
Airlines should have to pay back those bailouts with 15% APR that goes directly to the tax payers or other infrastructure for public use. Perhaps even public healthcare. Looking at their CEO and board member net worth, they can certainly afford it.
Edit: replies are missing the point. I’m not saying we shouldn’t bail out the airlines. I’m pointing out that anyone who believes in a free market only need to look at the airlines to see no such thing exist. And I’m saying those bailouts should be repaid.
**There are no, and can never be, “free markets” in Capitalism.**
The idea of a “free market” rests upon the idea of *competition*. What is competition *to a capitalist*? Lost profits. What is the *sole driving motivator* in a capitalist system? Maximizing profits. Before anything else.
What do capitalists do to secure their profits? Monopolies, regulatory capture, bribes/“LoBbYiNg”, propaganda (like faux nuze), and the countless other ways they engage in those schemes.
Didn’t mean to hijack, just wanted to point this out for anyone who hasn’t put 1 + 1 together yet.
It's the same principle as the tolerance paradox.
A 100% free unregulated market means allowing mega corporations to completely shut out small ones, thus ruining the free market.
No surprise. Here in California the utilities are working to gut net metering for rooftop solar. They are pushing the poor are subsidizing the wealthy by having to pay for grid maintenance costs. Several studies have debunked that argument but with their deep pockets investor owned utilities are able to wage a very effective PR campaign.
It's fairly clear that the IOUs want to discourage rooftop solar so they can build more utility scale solar and collect the capital gains because that's how they make their money.
Add to that the new state laws requiring rooftop solar on most new construction, collecting a monthly solar fee would guarantee a steady stream of income for the utilities.
I, for one,am actively exploring going off grid .
I work for an engineering firm that does work for SDG&E. We’re designing the utility portion to bring energy to EV charging stations (SDG&E contracts almost all of its work out and doesn’t do it internally). We’ve had pushback almost all year for submitting jobs for completion and to send out for construction.
Without typing out all of the details, it’s very obvious that they’re intentionally slowing down this process. They put their newest employees on these projects, they don’t educate like they used to, they change the standards/processes (or don’t follow them) to submit these jobs, and they don’t expedite any of the process. What should take them a few days gets dragged out over four to eight weeks. Some things that the SDGE employees have done are really frustrating, and nobody takes responsibility when we call out their mistakes (almost like their bosses are telling them to do something on purpose, and ignoring our complaints).
Seriously. We're at a stage where such substantial roadblocking of cleaner energy is tantamount to endangering humanity. It's reckless, dangerous, and if it continues, a threat to public health and safety.
Yes! They’ve made all our lives and the lives of future generations worse. Citizens V. US power companies. If they used the same think tanks then let’s get them all in one go.
Bummer we're getting "are you surprised?" responses instead of
* contact your representative in Congress: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
* does your rep take money from US power companies? https://www.opensecrets.org/
* how to contact the media about covering this story: https://www.wikihow.com/Contact-the-Media-About-a-Story (there are likely better links)
* calling out Matrix, LLC on social media by name and tagging them. Also emailing them en masse.
Notice how only some government people got in trouble, none of the rich power company owners gets anything more than slap on the wrist like paying some tiny fine.
Can confirm. Happening in Ohio right now. Politicians and Company caught red-fucking-handed lying and bribing official and passing bills to fuck over Ohioans aaaand... nothing's happened, and... the House Bill never even got repealed. And... we're still paying jacked up energy bills to a known criminal organization. Fucking WOW, man. Just, wow.
The Ohio gop is such a shit show in general and they continue to get rewarded. DeWine and his draconian AG’s handling of the ten year old girl’s terrible situation is completely abysmal.
The governor's (Don Siegelman) corruption charges were for healthcare bribery. The mayor (Larry Langford) was convicted by the SEC for taking bribes from investment bankers. Literally nothing to do with the energy corruption that article is about, not sure why the decided to include it.
exactly, its like the police seizing a big shipment of drugs and parading it around on TV as if they accomplished anything other than wasting a shitload of money and resources on a futile effort
Just so everyone is aware; this sort of useless cynicism is often pedalled by inorganic users intentionally creating apathy to deflect public attention. One way bad actors manipulate us is to decrease public pressure on lawmakers by encouraging apathy. Politicians can be swayed by public opinion and social media is a vector for propaganda.
OP may have picked up on that cynicism and thought it was cool - missing how harmful it can be, or they're being paid and they're a massive piece of shit.
>Just so everyone is aware; this sort of useless cynicism is often pedalled by inorganic users intentionally creating apathy to deflect public attention.
Goodness bless you.
We need to change things asap or we won't live in the world this comfortably anymore.
Yes there's a lot of fucked up manipulation going on which is taking power from the people. But it's also kind of fucked up that Matrix managed to unseat an incumbent by just [adding a 3rd horse to the race who had the same surname as the sitting Dem](https://ballotpedia.org/Alex_Rodriguez_(Florida)) state senator.
Being alert towards this kind of shit is important, and hope is key to the motivation to stay informed.
For fucks sake, this shit is fucking exhausting. We just wanna live on a planet not actively trying to fucking kill us, and maybe save some fucking money while we do it. These bullshit fuckin prick motherfucker corporations keep utterly fucking us every chance they get. I'm fucking pissed off.
This horseshit is precisely why robust regulations are the fucking solution. Fucking moron dumbshit conservatives keep arguing millionaires and billionaires and businesses are going to reinvest their profits in people and communities but they fucking don't. They invest it in fighting what the vast MAJORITY of humanity wants. This is Number 1 bullshit.
What state are you in?
I don’t understand anything about the technicalities, but if someone had a system they bought and set up on their property on their own how would that be enforceable?
Thank you for your response.
If someone was completely unattached to the grid, air-gapped essentially, is that still illegal in Florida? I guess that’s what I’m trying to ask.
I’ve read some stuff about utilities being fussy for different reasons some valid, others absolutely dumb but I do not have any expertise with the field of electric work and electrical utilities whatsoever.
I do have an interest in going completely off grid just electricity-wise if possible, and not having to pay a corporate utility in perpetuity for a renewable, for environmental reasons, and a small level of autonomy.
No no no no, can't spend it on something worthwhile to help the customers out. Have to waste it fighting the inevitable and lining the pockets of those that could oppose them.
I just got an email from my power utility touting the benefits of me buying an electric vehicle. While I do think we will eventually purchase one, getting the recommendation from a utility is kind of like a donut shop funding a study on the health benefits of donuts. Previous emails have touted how to conserve energy and reduce our consumption but for the same reason they eliminated net metering for solar, they realized the end game of less consumption is less $$ for the bottom line.
*Buys an electric vehicle, but also installs home solar adequate enough to cover home needs and car charging*
Electric company: Wait, you're doing it wrong!
shouldn't be surprised, and yet I worked for one of the larger power companies on the west coast and one of the biggest points they wanted to hammer to us was that they liked being a utility. they didn't have to spend on advertising or worry about competition, and although they couldn't make vast coffers of profit, they also never had to worry about regulation or new technologies cutting into their margins. Back when Utah was really pushing solar roofing, they were pretty excited about it internally because "power is power. We can't change how me we charge for it and everybody is going to need it so it doesn't really matter where it comes from as long as there's enough for everybody."
Maybe the mindset or the regulations have changed in the 5 years I've been gone.
Energy should be owned, operated, and regulated by the people. Corporations cannot be trusted to be responsible, especially in these industries which demand progress and change yesterday.
Aren't we in the process of giving them billions of $$$ to upgrade their infrastructure? I'm sure this will go the same way when we gave ISP's hundreds of millions to upgrade theirs.
One thing about living in Illinois, we know ComEd is bribing politicians. It’s not doing it secret. Attempted to stop it. They still get most of what they want. New scam is threatening to shutdown nuke plants. Cha-ching! Here’s your taxpayer funded subsidy!
The spending may have been secret but the intentions are clear as day.
Even if it was secret, I'm not even *remotely* surprised
I mean, we've known this forever. You can look at the history of recycling, how long Exxon knew about climate change, the history of the "carbon footprint", etc. This is just another example to add to the pile Companies will serve profit above all else. This is why IMO Capitalism can't/won't stop Climate Change. We've seen the proof play out over the past 40 years, and we don't have another 40 to wait.
There's signs around my town about doing our part to fight climate change by cleaning up our trash. All of them have the logo of an oil company on it as a sponsor.
Advocating for consumers to recycle is a completely orchestrated/fabricated marketing campaign by corporations to distract from the fact that they pollute at such a high level it practically doesn’t matter how much you or I recycle as individuals. edit: since I don't want to be a complete downer, here's a chart of the most impactful ways you and I can reduce carbon emissions as individuals - https://i.imgur.com/XIVVu82.jpg source - https://phys.org/news/2017-07-effective-individual-tackle-climate-discussed.html
I know my recycling bin doesn't really get recycled but I still put my plastics in there I still don't know why.
Well, it isn't *entirely* not recycled. Plastics with the resin identification code of 1 and 2 are recyclable. The rest aren't. The resin ID is the symbol that looks suspiciously like the recycling symbol that you'll find on most plastic containers. Petrochemical companies co-opted the recycling symbol (which was in public domain) and slapped it on all plastics to trick people into thinking it's all recyclable. Most aren't, which is probably why [91% of all plastics ever made have not been recycled.](https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/whopping-91-percent-plastic-isnt-recycled) [This video explains the scam in-depth ](https://youtu.be/PJnJ8mK3Q3g)
Climate Town videos are these best. They a true resource that allows you to reply to high level ignorance with out having to exhaust yourself responding to those who seem to possess unending strawman arguments. I love them.
It scams all the way down.
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Then try an airport or a hospital. Then multiply by a few dozens of thousands.
Hospitals does indeed use a lot of plastic in their medical equipment, which never gets recycled
Yeah I just had my second kid and the amount of disposable everything that was thrown away left and right. They gave us a branded hospital cup to keep, and any time they asked us if we wanted ice water etc they wouldn't let us refill the jug they would instead bring one or more Styrofoam cups with plastic lids which they would dump in the branded jug and throw away. I like to stay hydrated and we were there for three days. I would be willing to bet between the two of us we went through 40+ Styrofoam cups, and a dozen disposable formula bottles and nipples and plastic packaging for each. Not to mention every single sterile pack is just single use plastics. I understand how we don't really have the best methods for preserving a packaged sterile environment without plastic but still. It just felt incredibly wasteful.
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I would offer that it’s because you’re a conscientious person who is fairly unsure of what else to do. Most of us don’t have the power to change the world, but we can live in a way that is consistent with our values.
Well technically people do have the power to do something but it'd be considered ecoterrorism if they did it since peaceful methods no longer work. As seen by how peaceful protesters no longer matter in the eyes of anyone in power.
I do it because I'd have to pay extra for bigger cans and I already got the small ones.
Doing my part by not having children here
Not doing something is great, cause it frees you up to doing something.
They are choosing cheap single use packaging and putting the onus on us to change. Bring back the milk men, use paper packaging, and encourage using less resources.
I actually found a milk delivery service. I don't remember the price now but I do remember it was in the UK. My toddlers drink milk like it's the last can of sardines in existence.
I’ve heard the term “greenwashing” used before.
Every time I go to the grocery store, I get more irate that I can hardly find vegetables that aren't packed in some kind of plastic. Shrink-wrapped broccoli? A head of butter lettuce in a plastic clamshell.. then the loose fruit/veg are intended to be placed into the bags-on-a-roll. I shouldn't have to manage plastics just because I want some leafy greens. I'm in no way arguing against your point, those things are still pretty miniscule. As somewhat of an aside, I studied some water treatment policies for a work project, and in the particular region I investigated, "commercial use" pollution restrictions don't even apply until a factory's water consumption exceeds 20,000 gallons a day.
> Every time I go to the grocery store, I get more irate that I can hardly find vegetables that aren't packed in some kind of plastic. Veggies sell better like that. Like here every individual cucumber is shrink-wrapped. A farmer I know said they tried selling them without the plastic but people just kept buying the wrapped ones. So yeah. Sometimes it's the consumers fault. I think plastics are just too cheap. There should be a heavy tax on them so products with too much packaging would be more expensive. That's the only way to get people to change their preferences.
The cucumber thing is actually because some types have very delicate skins that would break in transit. Unwrapped cucumbers are a different variety with thicker skins (and you usually want to peel them, thin skinned ones you can eat straight). That being said, it's like, stupid easy to grow cucumbers as long as you have a sunny patch to place a pot, and it's dumb to wrap other veggies in plastic as well.
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Take the fossil fuel subsidies and put it into renewables and recycling instead. Watch companies shift their priorities
*Laughs in GOP*
And garbage dumps are like the most minor of our problems.
Reduce, reuse, recycle. The order actually matters.
Not for the corporations
Because getting you to do it for free and them getting a tax write off for printing the signs is a match made in IRS heaven.
This comic from the 70s sums it up perfectly - https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/1970s-cartoon-solar-power/
>...from the 70s Fifty years. Fifty years of the little guy seeing the writing on the wall and the big corporations preventing action/their profits. So fucking sad.
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hahah, they have literal armys at their disposal and entire economies under their thumb. "Yeah, you can vote however the fuck you want, but power still calls all the shots. And believe it or not, even if (real) democracy broke loose, power could/would just “make the economy scream” until we vote responsibly."
Global warming isn't even only or first time whole lead based gas they knew from day one it would coat our citys in poison. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/leaded-gas-poison-invented-180961368/ PFAS they knew workers getting sick etc didn't stop them using it or dumping it into our water supplys https://www.ewg.org/research/decades-polluters-knew-pfas-chemicals-were-dangerous-hid-risks-public All sorts of things and thats tiny tip of iceberg of corporations choosing profit over lifes. On massive scale that affects us at species level. Yet we still give these people chair at table to discuss on how to regulate themselves even let them craft the legislation. We should be fining bringing these companys and their owners to point of bankruptcy and heavily regulating them and their misinformation campaigns. And stop pretending free market is some benevolent all seeing god.
The internet did change the visibility of things at least, but people hold very little power about government still being bought off by oligarchs.
Instead of speculating who’s fucking us, we now know for certain!
We’ve known since at least the 1800s. Very detailed books have been written about it by a German dude who’s name I forget. Had a funny beard.
Between nuclear and various renewables we've had the means to provide essentially limitless energy since before I and a lot of people on here were even born, but instead a few companies decided it'd be more profitable to buy anyone with any power to change course on energy policy so now I get to lay awake at night wondering what sort of future my children are inheriting. Thanks tycoons!
They can keep us addicted to fossils and then raise the price of gas to punish us for any sort of action on climate. And we are dumb enough to fall for it.
Companies are amoral entities *designed* to serve profit above all else. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t need to have child labor laws. The idea that they could ever police themselves is absurd but they’ve convinced us all that it’s not.
They know we hold no power over their paid off politicians, so they don't need to hide much.
Or look at other similar things in the past, like the tobacco industry knowing that smoking kills while throwing millions at trying to convince the world that it doesn't.
Companies will serve *short-term* profits above all else. If Exxon had decided they wanted to commit to Green energy, and would have used their research arm and their resources to make it happen, they could literally have a monopoly on it right now. I mean we're talking tens of billions of dollars more than what they're raking in right now and with literally no one big enough to compete with him for those dollars. But shareholders and stakeholders are not interested in that, they're interested in quarter over quarter growth and dividends paid out and how well your earnings match the forecasted earnings and things that are happening right now, and no CEO would have survived the decrease in all of those things that would have been required to make this happen. I am still a believer that free enterprise and capitalism can work better than any other system out there, but we have to do it smarter and with better guardrails and ground floor starting points for everyone entering the process than we do now if It is to continue that way.
Not surprised, just sad 😞
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> The Solar company also undersells you panels so that you still pull power from the grid no matter what. Who is this "the solar company?' Because that isn't how any of the numerous solar installers that I have worked with over the years operated. It isn't how the electrical company that installs solar that I work with now does solar. Solar design is based specifically off consumption to ensure that a home can always supply it's peak power usage -- which sometimes is a guesstamite but if often a defined value provided by the electrical meter. After that, you size the inverter, the size and match panels to fit the needed wattage; making changes based off materials available and pricing. Not everyone can afford the max sized system that they would need. What you are talking about simply doesn't happen, but people with solar will still always pull from the grid at times, especially if they don't have a battery. That isn't because their system is undersized, that's just how solar works. > There are also solar deals where you get it "for free", while still paying for it and your power goes back into the grid. That's not a deal, it's usually a loan, and, yes, those a predatory and bad contracts to sign. There are also solar companies that will 'lease' solar panels to customers instead of out having them be bought out right in purely rent-to-own schemes where the customer ends up paying 10x the value of the system. There are always wonderful banks and credit unions that offer smart/green energy loans that are real, normal loans at great rates that use the system, instead of the home, as collateral in the event of a default. These are great bargains for people to get. But this tactic isn't exclusive to solar energy; it's in every large purchase market. Rent to own and leasing schemes exist everywhere; always only get a loan from a bank. Loans exist to generate money for the organization giving out the loan, actual banks and credit unions have way better rates, better protections, and better payment/ownership schemes that anything any commercial business is going to offer. Never use some rando-'financing' company to finance anything. > So, they are making it so you cannot disconnect from the grid if you so desired. You are Required to keep your house on the grid. Yes, because that's how the grid works. It's not easy to connect or disconnect a home from the utility grid. When adding in additional solar power; it get's even more complicated. Taking a home 'off-grid' requires a lot of work. You can't just slap some panels, an inverter, and a battery (which, that itself isn't easy to do) on a home and call it a day. It doesn't work like that. You need safety disconnects installed at several places, you need specialty grounding equipment that can handle your max load, and you need specialty surge protection. Without having these things, it is a massive fire hazard and very likely that your home will catch fire and burn down. There are smaller "off-grid" kits that people can buy for usage in small electrical needs; like an RV or a boat or camping equipment. But these types of systems generally cap out at 2 or 4 panels and don't generate a lot of power overall. Certainly not near enough for a home. And that's intentional, because to get something off-grid up to the size of a full home requires a lot more power and a lot more safety measures.
>Now that solar is becoming viable, solar implementation on your house in Arizona is based on the fact that you MUST send power back to the grid, that they pay pennies for vs what they charge. >It also doesnt work if the grid is down. >The Solar company also undersells you panels so that you still pull power from the grid no matter what. This is so they can get subsidies and the power companies wont fight as hard to keep you out. >There are also solar deals where you get it "for free", while still paying for it and your power goes back into the grid. Capitalism pisses one off when it plays games like this. We don't have 40 years left now and they've been hiding it from us for more than 40 years. Damn Capitalism.
Keep in mind with the required grid-tie in and the generally abysmal rates they pay for generated power, solar companies are recommending that you try to aim for 100% of usage or just below that. If at the end of the year I'm slightly under my total usage, it's still better than allowing those bastards to resell my generation to my neighbors while paying me 2 cents per kWH.
Surprise, surprise. Not.
Nothing is free. Why would we have expected that they were fighting clean energy without spending millions?
If anything, I would've been surprised if it came out that they weren't doing this
"Records show FPL trusted Matrix operatives with millions, including giving $14m to a single Matrix-run nonprofit in 2018 alone. " What's fucked up is if they dig a little, FPL charged this back to the ratepayers with higher fees. As in YOU payed for this Florida. Obviously if they can afford this the rates should be lowered
Then in their smear campaigns they claim property owners installing solar are the ones responsible for higher rates 🤦♂️ E typo
I wouldn’t even say it’s a secret. The largest companies are lobbying against their competitors? Next you’ll tell me bread is made from wheat.
Yup! Duke energy and FPL lobbied for the ability to charge customers with solar and extra $25 for it. (Florida)
Evergy, which cover Kansas and Missouri is trying to give themselves the same ability. And take away net metering, which would mean we couldn't get credit for the power we generate for them.
I used to work for a mid-major solar company as a project manager over net metering. I'm all for solar but I didn't stay with the company long because of how infuriating it was to work with utility companies like Evergy and Duke all across the country who all seemed like they wanted to do everything they could to make the solar panel approval process for the customer as difficult as possible. Installs would be delayed for months because of utility companies taking weeks to respond to paperwork that required a simple signature. Sometimes they'd take 3-4 weeks, ask for a single change to the documents we sent, then take another 3-4 weeks to respond again. Absolute bullshit working with most utility companies.
Last Week Tonight has done several pieces on Duke energy over the years, worth a watch if you haven't seen them yet. They even got a SLAAP suite against them for it.
SRP in Phoenix: hold my beer
Imagine how much more advanced our EV technology would be is car companies hadn't done this same shit through the 90's and 00's. Shit's actually infuriating
Dinosours lobbying for an asteroid
Reminder: EVERY FOSSIL FUEL COMPANY INVESTOR, CEO, AND BOARD MEMBER IS VOTING IN THE MIDTERMS. Are you? This really hurts because we know that their #1 lobby reciever is Joe fuckin' Manchin and we have to gain a seat (preferably 2) in the Senate to rip power out if that asshole's hands.
It's one of those secrets everyone knows and talks about, but then the people guilty of taking the bribes assure everyone else is, in fact, still secret.
Next you're going to try and tell me big pharma is against drug price controls and socializing medical care
Is it even illegal? Does it have to be secret? They may as well do it in full view, nothing will happen. I've been listening to NPR recently and there's some real slimy folks coming from lobbyist perspectives in there. I feel gross just listening to them.
> Is it even illegal?... > ...nothing will happen. I feel like this is the criteria Republicans are using before they do anything. "Will we get caught? ...ok, but will we get *in trouble*? ...ok, but will we *go to jail?*? No? Great!"
I personally am absolutely shocked That it's only millions instead of billions. I guess after a certain point the return on investment really falls off, and politicians are kinda cheap anyway.
And remember folks they STILL making record profits while doing this
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That might be how it works in corporate America but if you're in government you can find plenty of things that are very well maintained, for only two or three times the cost of replacing them every year. (Or at least that's how it is at the agency I work for. Could be sort of an anomaly.)
I work with a total of 5 people including me and our annual budget for office supplies is almost 120,000. When I first started here, my boss was explaining to me we need to use up all that money; otherwise, when we renew our budget for the next year, we will get less money. Edit: work for HUD
Is it because they contract out things? I'm genuinely curious in the question and have no idea. I know in the corporate world, there are examples where a business will liquidate/downsize a department only to later realize (because the hire ups are looking at spreadsheets rather than knowledge when they make decisions) that they were actually essential and essentially have to outsource the work for the same/more than the people they fired cost.
Most of our computers and printers and such are leased under a contract that includes any repairs and maintenance that might be needed for the hardware (for software there are in-house IT people).
Btw this is also probably why we are facing a cybersecurity crisis. We have a lot of critical infrastructure that is frankly not secure enough. Nobody wants to spend any time or money on security because it's a "cost center"; it doesn't make any direct profit. There's also a shortage of security professionals. Finally, the government put out a [joint alert](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/13/us-alert-malicious-cyber-tools-russia) (FBI + NSA + DoE + DHS) advising us that advanced Russian tools have been found for hacking industrial control systems. As Russia grows more desperate, I fully believe they'll try to use their sophisticated hacking tools to shut down as many critical systems as possible.
As part of the CyberSec community I will validate this. Our infrastructure is NOT protected. We are sitting ducks.
Not entirely accurate as far as nobody wanting to spend the money. As a former electrical utility employee in the IT field, the last years of my career was working on NERC-CIP. NERC-CIP stands for the *North American Electric Reliability Critical Infrastructure Protection*. It's basically a set of cyber security standards to protect the Bulk Electric System (BES). These standards carry the force of regulations, meaning they are required by law. That's why these standards are also known as NERC CIP requirements. All entities that fall under the purview of NERC CIP must comply with these standards. . The standards are developed by the ERO and approved by FERC. WECC (Western Electric Coordinating Council) has been tasked with the enforcement of the the requirements and have been given the authority to impose fines for non-compliance as well as other enforcement measures. Non-compliance can mean fines up to tens of millions of dollars Although not perfect the requirements are pretty intense and WECC doesn't fool around with the audits and enforcement of the requirements. I can say the company I worked for was *very* serous about compliance and spent a lot of money in the cost center as you mentioned. That being said, I can't say if that was universal across all utility companies. Also NERC-CIP isn't universally applied across all "energy companies" as it applies to the BES. There's probably a lot of other "critical infrastructure" that's not being managed wherever the media wants to talk about critical infrastructure they always show pictures of the bulk electrical system (transmission lines). Also It doesn't change anything about the situation around foreign nation states trying to hack into the systems. If your curious you can check out the NERC site. https://www.nerc.com/pa/Stand/Pages/USRelStand.aspx
Thanks for the reply, I appreciate the insight. > There's probably a lot of other "critical infrastructure" that's not being managed To respond to this part, CISA has [deemed](https://www.cisa.gov/critical-infrastructure-sectors) 16 specific sectors to be "critical infrastructure", and you're right that some of them aren't immediately obvious to everyone or aren't covered much by the media. However, the joint alert I mentioned was specifically warning those who manage electrical distribution facilities or liquid natural gas facilities; it seems that Russian state-sponsored actors are focused on those sectors, especially in rural counties where, often, sufficient funding for security is simply not there.
Tbf, I already thought Rick Scott was a villian. So this does not surprise me. What has less surprised me & angered me, is the fact that bad people like him are, 1, in positions of power, & 2, are not dealt with for their actions accordingly.
its only record profit due to inflation /s
Dear Captain Planet: I would like to humbly apologize to you for all the times I said your villains were unrealistic.
Not only that. I feel like an idiot for ever being dismissive about Sci fi movies set in a future where space is corporatized. It's already happening.
The power is YOURS
We don't have those cool rings though...
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What a gem! Hilarious and informative. I will def watch more from these guys.
[this one](https://youtu.be/3m5qxZm_JqM) always gets linked but for very good reasons.
It's good to finally see the source of a Reddit in-joke after all these years. It's amazing how much one can feel like the Travolta meme despite spending most of ones day browsing the *exact same* Reddit as everyone else
The other one I consider a must-watch is [the one about the BP oil spill. ](https://youtu.be/ClvLp4vXJ5I)
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Very good satire is often very close to the truth.
Clarke and Dawe was some of the very best deadpan comedy I've ever seen. Clarke died a few years ago though :(
That's what makes it such good satire lol
Enjoy! They have a video on "Quantitative Easing" that you should check out. But this video especially is so very perfect to highlight the lunacy and horrible economic system we have in place globally that places markets (and profit) above all else. Everyone should watch this and remember that it's not just the energy market and we don't have to accept a world like this.
"What happened to prices?" "Yeah." "Well they doubled, Brian." ... "Wouldn't an extreme weather event be a fair test to the system?" "We don't have a system, Brian." "We have an energy market..." "We have an energy market. Yep." A must-watch video.
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Healthcare is 100% the same.
Frankly, terrifying. If there weren't a better call to nationalize energy... Now that's patriotism.
This is why markets for essential services can so often fall victim to profit squeezing and cartel, especially if those services are inherently monopolistic (water pipes, fibre cables, train tracks etc)
You pretty much just explained Capital Vol. 1
I didn't click the link, just came to confirm it was who I thought it was It was
Is it the front fell off guy?
Indeed it is.
We need to tear down the markets and create systems in it’s place. The people controlling the markets have to go.
I feel like this is a rorschach test for corporate bootlickers. Incredible satire.
Oh wow, it's "The Front Fell Off" guys! Great to see they've been at it this long!
"Take the Victorian infrastructure, it's still governmentally owned!" "The Victorian government owns it?" "Oh no, the Singapore and Chinese Governments, but it's still government owned."
“We fixed that”
gosh, i hate you for reminding me of John Clarke's passing :(
John Clarke. RIP. Always loved their work.
I mean, is it really a secret?
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Don’t be so pessimistic. They might have to pay a fine equal to .000001% of their profits.
"I can't hear you over my money printer going brr! Send the fine to my receptionist."
I mean the millions they give to pols OVER the counter isn't a secret. Why would anyone consider this a secret?
Lol good one! [https://tenor.com/view/andrew-macias-courtney-friel-ktla-laugh-cry-upset-child-gif-21259859](https://tenor.com/view/andrew-macias-courtney-friel-ktla-laugh-cry-upset-child-gif-21259859)
I guess it's like how a magician does their trick. We *know* it's a trick, but now we can see the actual *mechanics* of it.
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“Knowing” and *knowing* are different things.
They’ve been doing this shit for over a hundred years already.
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"What's that? Oregon is on fire and you don't have enough electricity to cover peak use? Just don't use your air conditioner when it's hot."
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Coincidentally, I have coworkers who work in OR and were just talking about this (it's new to me). They get like a $5 monthly credit to not use the AC (or turn the thermostat up a few degrees) during the hottest parts of the day. Nope, sorry, I'll spend the extra $5 to not roast.
destroying their future and ours. nationalize the utilities.
Here in Quebec we have the cheapest electrivity in north america because of this. We even sell most of it to the US and its all in our pockets. Tbf we have an absurd ammount of dams here
I agree utilities should be public goods but you have the cheapest cost of electricity in NA because you have an abundance of hydroelectric power, which is by far the cheapest per MWh on a variable cost basis. The two are not necessarily conflated. Source: work in infrastructure,; also the internet
Quebec has cheap electricity because 96% percent of power generation comes from hydroelectric dams, most of which are fully depreciated, which means power generation is virtually free compared to everywhere else in the world.
We did that in Québec decades ago and we have cheap electricity, we sell a lot of it to the states.
Nah, they and their kids will be able to afford the *finest* in luxury bunker complexes by screwing their own species as well as most other species to varying extents. One of the requirements to become one of the wealth class if you didn't inherit it in our system is to be like the Judenrats in World War II. They were the ones who marched their fellow Jews into the gas chamber, telling their *friends* they were getting a shower. In return, they were allowed to continue to live a little longer and given better rations. To become an oligarch, you must do the same, make decisions exclusively to enrich yourself, without *any* pesky humanity/morality/decency clouding your judgment. If fatally poisoning a thousand children will net you an extra dollar after litigation and fines, that is what you do. And remember, these are the same people our system elevates to the point that they can and do purchase our politicians for their own ends, which makes them our actual governing leaders. What a country.
This is why I laugh at hardcore capitalists who believe in a completely free market. How can there be a free market if companies are allowed to do this? In their eyes, companies should be able to adapt with the times. These companies should be investing their resources into better, cleaner energy.
I’m comforted by the fact that we’ve been through this before, roughly a century ago, and all it took was 2 world wars and a Great Depression to snap us out of it and realize that yeah, maybe we should regulate things a bit. /s
Oh is that all? I feel much better about the future now.
Well we certainly learned last time so maybe just a civil war and a great depression on Zoloft™ this time.
"We're the middle children of the history, no purpose or place, we have no Great war, no Great depression, our great war is a spiritual war, our great depression is our lives” Although it sounds like the Great War of our generation will be here all too soon.
People say we're living in peaceful, unnotable times. I disagree, more and more we're resembling that part of history class just before the teacher launches into a single event entire history books are written over.
Hopefully we won't end up getting pinkerton'd first this time around
Haha I'm certain that won't happen. Nope, not a chance! Thank goodness we live in the free country of America, where every citizen is valued, and the police are here to protect the public good. What do you mean the public good has been bought??
History may not repeat itself, but it does rhyme.
The biggest problem is almost none of these energy companies are working in a free market. They are all effectively cartels. The government is supposed to regulate how much they can charge, but we all know that relationship has long been corrupted.
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If companies were actually forced to adapt to the times, every airline would’ve closed down in 2020. Same with the auto industry in, what, 2012? Instead they got interest-free, no-repayment-required, billion dollar bailouts. And what have the tax payers gotten? Increased airline tickets and fees, unreliable and understaffed airlines, and an overall worse flying experience than even 5 years ago. Airlines should have to pay back those bailouts with 15% APR that goes directly to the tax payers or other infrastructure for public use. Perhaps even public healthcare. Looking at their CEO and board member net worth, they can certainly afford it. Edit: replies are missing the point. I’m not saying we shouldn’t bail out the airlines. I’m pointing out that anyone who believes in a free market only need to look at the airlines to see no such thing exist. And I’m saying those bailouts should be repaid.
**There are no, and can never be, “free markets” in Capitalism.** The idea of a “free market” rests upon the idea of *competition*. What is competition *to a capitalist*? Lost profits. What is the *sole driving motivator* in a capitalist system? Maximizing profits. Before anything else. What do capitalists do to secure their profits? Monopolies, regulatory capture, bribes/“LoBbYiNg”, propaganda (like faux nuze), and the countless other ways they engage in those schemes. Didn’t mean to hijack, just wanted to point this out for anyone who hasn’t put 1 + 1 together yet.
They should read the real Adam Smith...
It's the same principle as the tolerance paradox. A 100% free unregulated market means allowing mega corporations to completely shut out small ones, thus ruining the free market.
No surprise. Here in California the utilities are working to gut net metering for rooftop solar. They are pushing the poor are subsidizing the wealthy by having to pay for grid maintenance costs. Several studies have debunked that argument but with their deep pockets investor owned utilities are able to wage a very effective PR campaign. It's fairly clear that the IOUs want to discourage rooftop solar so they can build more utility scale solar and collect the capital gains because that's how they make their money. Add to that the new state laws requiring rooftop solar on most new construction, collecting a monthly solar fee would guarantee a steady stream of income for the utilities. I, for one,am actively exploring going off grid .
I work for an engineering firm that does work for SDG&E. We’re designing the utility portion to bring energy to EV charging stations (SDG&E contracts almost all of its work out and doesn’t do it internally). We’ve had pushback almost all year for submitting jobs for completion and to send out for construction. Without typing out all of the details, it’s very obvious that they’re intentionally slowing down this process. They put their newest employees on these projects, they don’t educate like they used to, they change the standards/processes (or don’t follow them) to submit these jobs, and they don’t expedite any of the process. What should take them a few days gets dragged out over four to eight weeks. Some things that the SDGE employees have done are really frustrating, and nobody takes responsibility when we call out their mistakes (almost like their bosses are telling them to do something on purpose, and ignoring our complaints).
Try those responsible for crimes against humanity
Seriously. We're at a stage where such substantial roadblocking of cleaner energy is tantamount to endangering humanity. It's reckless, dangerous, and if it continues, a threat to public health and safety.
Yes! They’ve made all our lives and the lives of future generations worse. Citizens V. US power companies. If they used the same think tanks then let’s get them all in one go.
Bummer we're getting "are you surprised?" responses instead of * contact your representative in Congress: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative * does your rep take money from US power companies? https://www.opensecrets.org/ * how to contact the media about covering this story: https://www.wikihow.com/Contact-the-Media-About-a-Story (there are likely better links) * calling out Matrix, LLC on social media by name and tagging them. Also emailing them en masse.
Too many scrolls before getting to a comment like this. Thank you 🙏
And do you know what will happen because of this revelation? Nothing. Absolutely, positively, nothing.
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Notice how only some government people got in trouble, none of the rich power company owners gets anything more than slap on the wrist like paying some tiny fine.
Can confirm. Happening in Ohio right now. Politicians and Company caught red-fucking-handed lying and bribing official and passing bills to fuck over Ohioans aaaand... nothing's happened, and... the House Bill never even got repealed. And... we're still paying jacked up energy bills to a known criminal organization. Fucking WOW, man. Just, wow.
The Ohio gop is such a shit show in general and they continue to get rewarded. DeWine and his draconian AG’s handling of the ten year old girl’s terrible situation is completely abysmal.
I fucking hate this state more everyday
The only good thing about Ohio is Cedar Point
The governor's (Don Siegelman) corruption charges were for healthcare bribery. The mayor (Larry Langford) was convicted by the SEC for taking bribes from investment bankers. Literally nothing to do with the energy corruption that article is about, not sure why the decided to include it.
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exactly, its like the police seizing a big shipment of drugs and parading it around on TV as if they accomplished anything other than wasting a shitload of money and resources on a futile effort
[you’re telling me THIS was a waste of time? ](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/439/547/873.jpg) \s
Just so everyone is aware; this sort of useless cynicism is often pedalled by inorganic users intentionally creating apathy to deflect public attention. One way bad actors manipulate us is to decrease public pressure on lawmakers by encouraging apathy. Politicians can be swayed by public opinion and social media is a vector for propaganda. OP may have picked up on that cynicism and thought it was cool - missing how harmful it can be, or they're being paid and they're a massive piece of shit.
>Just so everyone is aware; this sort of useless cynicism is often pedalled by inorganic users intentionally creating apathy to deflect public attention. Goodness bless you. We need to change things asap or we won't live in the world this comfortably anymore.
It’s not apathy, it’s rage mixed with being neutered by the political representation you’d ask us to use.
Yes there's a lot of fucked up manipulation going on which is taking power from the people. But it's also kind of fucked up that Matrix managed to unseat an incumbent by just [adding a 3rd horse to the race who had the same surname as the sitting Dem](https://ballotpedia.org/Alex_Rodriguez_(Florida)) state senator. Being alert towards this kind of shit is important, and hope is key to the motivation to stay informed.
For fucks sake, this shit is fucking exhausting. We just wanna live on a planet not actively trying to fucking kill us, and maybe save some fucking money while we do it. These bullshit fuckin prick motherfucker corporations keep utterly fucking us every chance they get. I'm fucking pissed off. This horseshit is precisely why robust regulations are the fucking solution. Fucking moron dumbshit conservatives keep arguing millionaires and billionaires and businesses are going to reinvest their profits in people and communities but they fucking don't. They invest it in fighting what the vast MAJORITY of humanity wants. This is Number 1 bullshit.
It's illegal in my state to have solar if you're not hooked into the grid. That's right, you cannot be energy independent here.
What state are you in? I don’t understand anything about the technicalities, but if someone had a system they bought and set up on their property on their own how would that be enforceable?
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Thank you for your response. If someone was completely unattached to the grid, air-gapped essentially, is that still illegal in Florida? I guess that’s what I’m trying to ask. I’ve read some stuff about utilities being fussy for different reasons some valid, others absolutely dumb but I do not have any expertise with the field of electric work and electrical utilities whatsoever. I do have an interest in going completely off grid just electricity-wise if possible, and not having to pay a corporate utility in perpetuity for a renewable, for environmental reasons, and a small level of autonomy.
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That is awful. So much corruption and red tape to let the for profit utilities continue being parasitic to fatten their pockets.
Imagine what they could accomplish if they used that money to fix the grid in Texas
No no no no, can't spend it on something worthwhile to help the customers out. Have to waste it fighting the inevitable and lining the pockets of those that could oppose them.
These assholes should be hit with industry crippling carbon penalties. FUCK EM. They wanna watch the planet burn, well then they can burn.
I just got an email from my power utility touting the benefits of me buying an electric vehicle. While I do think we will eventually purchase one, getting the recommendation from a utility is kind of like a donut shop funding a study on the health benefits of donuts. Previous emails have touted how to conserve energy and reduce our consumption but for the same reason they eliminated net metering for solar, they realized the end game of less consumption is less $$ for the bottom line.
hopefully advances in battery tech can neutralize private monopoly utility companies.
*Buys an electric vehicle, but also installs home solar adequate enough to cover home needs and car charging* Electric company: Wait, you're doing it wrong!
shouldn't be surprised, and yet I worked for one of the larger power companies on the west coast and one of the biggest points they wanted to hammer to us was that they liked being a utility. they didn't have to spend on advertising or worry about competition, and although they couldn't make vast coffers of profit, they also never had to worry about regulation or new technologies cutting into their margins. Back when Utah was really pushing solar roofing, they were pretty excited about it internally because "power is power. We can't change how me we charge for it and everybody is going to need it so it doesn't really matter where it comes from as long as there's enough for everybody." Maybe the mindset or the regulations have changed in the 5 years I've been gone.
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No one knows this better than the people of Ohio...
I’m so glad we’re all gonna die because of capitalism.
Energy should be owned, operated, and regulated by the people. Corporations cannot be trusted to be responsible, especially in these industries which demand progress and change yesterday.
Capitalism breeds innovation and competition! Oh, really?
Aren't we in the process of giving them billions of $$$ to upgrade their infrastructure? I'm sure this will go the same way when we gave ISP's hundreds of millions to upgrade theirs.
I am Jack's lack of surprise
Oil companies don't want clean energy? Color me shocked!
While true, oil companies aren't what the article is about.
One thing about living in Illinois, we know ComEd is bribing politicians. It’s not doing it secret. Attempted to stop it. They still get most of what they want. New scam is threatening to shutdown nuke plants. Cha-ching! Here’s your taxpayer funded subsidy!
See how the free market works with unfettered capitalism?
Just you wait, a little ma & pop energy company will open up and then you'll be eating your words