ROFL!!! I have never said that the elite or the intelligent are stupid. People from your side of the argument have literally said that the masses, which include intelligent people, are stupid. Nice try to flip the argument, but you have erred.
Stop putting words in my mouth. Learn to speak truthfully, and then I might start taking you more seriously.
Thank you for making my argument that we should ban air conditioners and autos rather than lightbulbs. Lightbulbs use very little energy. The manual typewriter uses no electricity. The electric one does. Using the manual saves 100% of the energy used by the electric. If it doesn't save enough, it doesn't matter because real energy savings could be achieved, but your side does not advocate saving energy from the sources that use the most energy.
I don't even know what you're trying to say here, because I can't see the logic through all this petty sniping. Are you saying that electric typewriters, all 100 of them or so still in existence, consume the same number of watts on average that all the lightbulbs in all the countries in the WORLD do? Dude if you'd just cut the snippy comments, then even if I don't agree with one word of what you say, at least I might be able to understand you a little better.
I don't believe you understand the conservative argument. We favor research and development of all types of energy including wind, solar, battery, fossil fuels, nuclear, and hydro. If someone could make a car that gets 1,000 mpg gallon, please make it. Some people will buy it. If someone could make a lightbulb that could last 40 years, please make it. If someone could make a truck that can carry 50,000 lbs and get 100 mpg, please make it. Conservatives would be delighted if each of these were achieved.
I seriously question the truth value of these statements. You ever seen "Who Killed the Electric Car"? Do you not realize that Big Coal and Big Oil have a vested interest AGAINST cleaner energy? I am aware, however, of the unfortunate dilemma that dirty power tends to be cheap. That's a big part of the problem here. It's an even bigger problem when Big Oil companies spend only a tiny portion of their research and development on clean energy, relying instead on old, dirty technology.
Where we differ is that we do not believe that tyranny is the American Spirit. We do not believe that tyranny is patriotic. I agree that America can do anything better and I don't wonder about that at all. I have faith in the "stupid" masses as well as the elites, at least, those who do not believe in tyranny.
You are in absolutely no position to lecture me on this matter. The silent majority--get this--actually WANTS clean energy. They WANT society to press harder for developing clean, cost-effective sources of power. Do you? Or are you perfectly okay with Big Coal and Big Oil continuing to trash our seas and our skies? That's the status quo, Les. That's what we have right now. And you would fight to defend that? You think it's patriotic to continue polluting with no end in sight? Puh-lease! A fundamental part of the American Spirit is innovation. Innovation is what got us steam power in the first place, and weeded our dependence off of slavery. Innovation is what sent us to outer space. Innovation is what has given us cures to diseases that would have been an automatic death sentence just decades ago. Innovation is what will plummet the cost of clean energy far enough to put Big Coal and Big Oil out of business. Innovation is what will sharply decrease the grossly underrated health care costs due to dirty energy. THAT, sir, is what I think of when I think of patriotism. I could not be prouder of a nation that has come so far, primarily due to its innovation.
But I worry deeply that we have lost that focus. I worry that innovation nowadays is tarred and feathered under the guises of "big government." Had the Tea Party the influence back in the 1960s that it does now, I seriously wonder whether our spaceships would have even gotten off the ground. The USSR would have kicked our tails and made us look silly. And guess what? Quietly, that exact same thing is going on. Several other nations are leading the charge in clean energy--Denmark, Germany, Spain, China, and even India. Meanwhile, we sit on our butts and whine about some freakin' lightbulb and how it's about to become too freakin' efficient. Jesus, what have we come to? It is a BAD thing that public policy dictates that an appliance be efficient?? What the hell??
I really want to understand conservatives' position on the matter. I hear you when you say that the cost per megawatt-hour really should be the primary determining factor in terms of what energy sources we use. Disagree partially I may, but I do hear you. All I'm asking for is the same in return.