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Last post on May 21, 2013 at 3:02 PM
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#10818 of 10918 Re: Thank God it's record warmth! [steve_]
by gagrice
Jan 25, 2013 (5:56 pm)
He probably left when they decided to use fire prone batteries.
Lithium batteries have more negatives than positives from where I stand. Obviously they are a financial loser. A123 has gone bankrupt more than once. We have wasted at least $249 million on that company alone. Now the Chinese own it. That means the Koreans will likely lose the Chevy Volt batteries to the Chinese.
#10820 of 10918 Re: Italians fighting MM/GW [gagrice]
by alltorque
Jan 30, 2013 (12:50 pm)
Much as I love Italy, Naples is the one city that really needs to be taken down and left down. It appears to be a complete mess in all areas of public services.
Beautiful city in a superb location but a poster child for how not to do it. This story is only surprising in that it has taken so long to happen. That, of course, presumes it is true and not just the latest round of brinkmanship by one vested interest or another.
Would I drive in Naples ? Only in a main battle tank. "What do you call a car in Naples without any dents ? Brand new, for sale".
Ciao.
#10821 of 10918 Re: Italians fighting MM/GW [alltorque]
by scwmcan
Jan 30, 2013 (8:06 pm)
I thought the cars being beat up was true for most of Italy, when I was there they seemed to be pretty crazy drivers.
#10822 of 10918 Re: Italians fighting MM/GW [alltorque]
by fintail
Jan 30, 2013 (8:08 pm)
Maybe Vesuvius can help with that again
A lot of Italy seems to barely be first world, not surprising there are financial shenanigans.
#10823 of 10918 Re: Italians fighting MM/GW [fintail]
by steve_ HOST
Jan 30, 2013 (8:42 pm)
I think it's mostly that the Mafia controls Naples.
#10824 of 10918 Killing US softly with HSRail
by gagrice
Mar 03, 2013 (9:54 pm)
“‘What did Spain do with its European money, its cheap debt?’ [economist Cesar] Molinas said. “We made empty buildings and airports and high-speed trains.’ (As the Madrid banker told me, ‘The cost embedded in taking someone by high-speed rail to Galicia is so high that it would be cheaper just to give people in Galicia a free plane ticket.’)”
http://www.calwatchdog.com/2013/03/03/38639/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=f- acebook
#10825 of 10918 CARB victim of recession
by gagrice
Mar 05, 2013 (6:57 pm)
Great Recession short-circuits CARB’s Cap and Trade auction
March 5, 2013
By Wayne Lusvardi
Recessions are painful, especially for those who lost their jobs. But there is one upside to less economic activity: lower levels of pollution.
Ironically, the Great Recession short-circuited the California Air Resources Board’s auctions for pollution permits under its new Cap and Trade program.
The California Air Resources Board scheduled a supplementary auction of pollution permits for March 2013. But no industries or electric utilities filed the required “intent to bid” notice by the bid guarantee deadline of Feb. 27.
That meant no private industries or public utilities exceeded their government-set pollution maximums and needed to “buy” extra pollution permits after CARB’s Feb. 19 Cap and Trade auction. Most industries seem to be buying pollution permits rather than installing more pollution reduction technologies, which had been a major goal of AB 32.
http://www.calwatchdog.com/2013/03/05/great-recession-short-circuits-carbs-cap-a- nd-trade-auction/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook
Cheaper to pollute and buy permits... Guess who captured the bulk of the permits. Another grand scheme shot down by the lousy economy.
#10826 of 10918 How do you hide a $100 billion boondoggle??
by gagrice
Mar 06, 2013 (8:49 am)
In the case of CA High speed rail you hire a CFO with experience.
“Here’s a quick quiz: What two state agencies have a long history of providing misleading and deceptive accounts of their tangled, troubled finances to the public and the Legislature? A history of depicting legitimate criticism as being ideologically driven and mendacious? A history of resisting reform and fighting to maintain a wrongheaded status quo? A history of refusing to acknowledge past fiascoes?
“If you said the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California High-Speed Rail Authority, pat yourself on the back. Given their poor records, if these agencies were looking for executive talent, one would assume they’d bring in an outsider with a strong history of oversight and independence – someone willing to stand up to the bureaucratic forces of inertia.
“But then that’s what the agencies would do if they were honest about their records. Instead, inexplicably, both the pension giant and bullet-train shepherd think they’re doing a great job. And so it was no surprise to learn this week that the rail authority has hired CALPERS’ acting chief financial officer, Russell Fong, as its CFO. How tidy.
“Expect the same management culture to continue at both agencies. Arrogance and denial: It’s the CalPERS/CHSRA way.”
http://www.calwatchdog.com/2013/03/06/train-agency-raids-calpers-for-exec-talent- -oy-vey/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook
#10827 of 10918 chicken-and-egg
by steve_ HOST
Mar 06, 2013 (9:33 am)
"Ten states currently require manufacturers to sell a progressively larger number of advanced technology vehicles between now and 2025," said Wehrman. "Together, manufacturers have to place five million of these vehicles — battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell electric vehicles — on the road by 2025.
"At the moment, however, the infrastructure simply does not exist to support these vehicles."
Infrastructure concerns are "out of our hands," he noted, adding "government help is needed."
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