Renewable Revolution

October 1, 2021

CleanTechnica

john • 2 days ago
Talking about money to maintain roads and bridges.
The excise duty on fuel has not risen from the 1990's.
Is there any wonder as to why there is a short fall in funds to maintain roads??

As to the situation in the Senate in the USA it is as you said a 50-50 balance, however the said senator will vote against any bill that is in anyway progressive.

The money coming from usage of fuel in ICE and soon to be implemented in a normal society for the usage of roads by EV's should go to maintaining roads for both.

The insane situation where the money coming is has not increased for over 50 years is lets be polite not good.

As to the said Senator it is a sad outcome for society that this single man can make or break any bill that comes up for a vote.

Zachary Shahan Community Manager john • 2 days ago
Prime Minister Manchin, who a tiny portion of society elected.

Probably part of the reason why later iterations of democratic systems in Europe didn't copy our system.

Vijay Govindan  Zachary Shahan • 2 days ago
I saw a piece on German leaders. The stability and lack of charismatic leaders is remarkable. If we ever re-do our system, the Senate as an institution has to go. Parliamentary democracy is far stronger than our republic.

freedomev  Vijay Govindan • a day ago
We just need to neuter the parties by removing their power like choosing who will run.
Ranked choice would go a long way to do that.
Nothing wrong with the Senate that independents won't cure and go back to the original filibuster rules limited to how long one could
talk..

Vijay Govindan • a day ago
Just out, Manchin is saying $1.5T over 10 years. A paltry sum.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/574715-manchin-says-his-spending-limit-is-15-trillion

Zachary Shahan Community Manager Vijay Govindan • 15 hours ago
And most of that was probably already committed.

This guy is pissing me off more and more.

Nio62 • 2 days ago
These frauds Manchin and Sinema are really Republicans and only care about the money their corporate masters pay them. They are an absolute disgrace and need to be replaced in the next election. Manchin and Sinema’s opposition to eliminating the legislative filibuster, which requires a 60 vote threshold for most legislation, is inexcusable. The only thing we can do is threaten their power, and threaten the seat that they hold and threaten their re-election.

Zachary Shahan Community Manager Nio62 • 2 days ago
They are something like 50% Republicans. Not the extreme seditionists and mafia associates of the GOP, but certainly not true Democrats.

Sinema is an especially odd case, given her background. Confusing one.

Benjamin Nead  Zachary Shahan • 16 hours ago • edited
Kyrsten Sinema is most certainly going to be primaried in 2024. A likely contender who is being considered is Ruben Gallego, currently representing Arizona's 7th District in The US House. If this happens and he's subsequently is elected, he would be the first Latino Senator from our state. Along with our other Democratic Senator, Mark Kelly, he would be fine.

The Arizona Democrats are pissed and the official party apparatus is now threatening to censure Sinema. She's got something like a 60% disapproval rate within that voter block. Factor in the usual 10% of "I don't know enough about her" no-nothings and she might have something like 30% support among Arizona Democrats, which is extraordinarily bad for her re-election prospects.

Unlike John McCain, she doesn't have much support amongst independents. Republicans also don't care for her. They just consider her a wimpy moderate and, if she attempted to switch parties, she would get slaughtered in their primary. Unfortunately - barring extraordinary circumstances - we're stuck with her through at least the end of 2024.

Kurt Rohlfs • 2 days ago
In terms of Manchin in this situation, threaten to enable EPA to go after coal to wipe them out within 5 years if you don't vote with the Democrats.

Broadly...
Kill the filibuster. Reverse Citizens United. Establish an independent committee with the visibility and authority to remove congressional leaders rights to vote on specific decisions and laws they have a conflict of interest in.

Put all government leaders communications to the public under oath, so they can be charged with perjury and removed for repeated offenses.

Change corporate governance law from shareholder primacy to stakeholder governance, including extending the boards fiduciary duties to all stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, consumers, the general public and the planet.

Increase IRS budget 50 fold to go after tax dodgers; IRS would be self funding within a year.

Mark Roest Kurt Rohlfs • 8 hours ago
Kurt, that threat to Manchin is brilliant! To carry it a step farther, have both Biden and the Democrats say it in unison -- and carry out the threat, because he won't back down. Assume the GOP has a 52 to 50 majority on any progressive legislation, as the article says in other words, and tell Biden the nicey-nice is over, it's all-out political war against the right wing, using Executive Power and partnerships with the clean technology industries and all those fighting for people's needs and rights. Be certain to carry the fight to the people every day, rally them the way a union leader rallies the workers during a drawn-out strike! And use Democrat-controlled state budgets to take care of the people being hurt, systematically.

The rest of your ideas are excellent also.

Agelbert Kurt Rohlfs • 18 hours ago
👍 Well said. I would add that a group of pro-environment corporations could easily form a PAC to convince 🦕 Manchin and 🐍 Sinema to change their voting behavior by providing larger contributions than the polluter corporations.

Matt Fulkerson  Agelbert • 10 hours ago
This is actually a very good point. I don't know why corporate money hasn't shown up against fossil fuel companies. Perhaps because most companies are actually greenwashing.

Agelbert Matt Fulkerson • an hour ago
Yes, the greenwashing is an unfortunate consequence of the unethical, but typical, greed based habit, engrained within modern corporate culture, of addressing real problems with perception management pig lipstick, rather than actually attempting to solve the problem.

The "socializing" of pollution costs onto we-the-people is the Social Darwinist ideological poison within modern corporate culture that severely endangers our future as a viable species. Big 🦖 Oil is the poster boy for rapacious greed caused ecocide. 🤦‍♂️


Kurt Rohlfs Agelbert • an hour ago
Thanks. I would agree with the PAC approach as well. Manchin is heavily invested in companies that pollute, so the clean PAC could easily offset that influence. A move to a clean economy would be good for West Virginia, but a noisy minority and and some donors are a loud bunch.
I don't know why Sinema is pushing back on this, it's counter to her Green Party/Social Worker roots and in general her donors, there must be something there.

Agelbert Kurt Rohlfs • a few seconds ago
You are welcome, my friend.
As to 🐍 Sinema, I'm pretty sure that she has been a stalking horse for the 😈 "best bidder", so to speak, from the start. She is as bought and paid for as they come. Manchin and Sinema are both birds of the same corruption serving feather.
If Sinema ever pretended to be "green", it was a front. Remember her HERO was none other than war loving Republican 🐘 Senator McCain!

Kurt Rohlfs Agelbert • 35 minutes ago
Thank you for the additional context. I had read her Wikipedia page, which is generally trustworthy. Her district deserved better, considering McCain was in that role.

Agelbert Kurt Rohlfs • 6 minutes ago • edited
I suspect the problem of corruption in US Government operates on several levels, all designed to convince we-the-people that we "live in a Representative Republic" where we democratically elect Representatives to represent us. As the Yale Study made in the 1990's confirmed, the USA is effectively an oligarchy, NOT a Representative Republic. The study documented the fact that for (at least) the previous decade, all (not most, but ALL!) decisions made by the lawmakers reflected the will of the richest Americans, in direct opposition to the wishes, as learned from frequent polls, of the overwhelming majority of we-the-voters.

Nearly 30 years later, the brazen disregard for the wishes of the electorate is even more pronounced.
So, the Manchin and Sinema thing is really just the tip of a giant thorughly undemocratic turdburg. That is why logical, sound suggestions like yours never see the light of legislation. Of course every politician with a lick of sense knows those reforms would work to make our country more democratic, more equitable and more healthy for the majority of we-the-voters. But that is NOT the constituency of our (s)elected Representatives and Senators. In fact, it never has been.

I am no longer sure that after the Civil War there were two sides to American politics, when the Madisonians got folded, spindled and corporate power mutiliated by the Hamiltonian Robber Barons.