Hottest July Ever

[KEADLE]

And Raleigh GOP Repulikunts Contiued to Make Global Warming Jokes

[Tom Disque]

Post by KEADLE
And Raleigh GOP Repulikunts Contiued to Make Global Warming Jokes

Maybe hottest since records have been kept, but not the hottest ever.
According
to articles I've read in Scientific American and other scientific journals,
there
have been periods in the earth's history when it was so warm that we didn't
even
have polar ice caps. The reverse was also true, according to the "snowball
earth"
theory.

Personally, I think that global warming is real, but the contribution from
humans
is so small a percentage of the total that it is hard to see how we could be
the cause,
unless we are the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back (and we may
be).

The target of most jokes I've heard is how some people are cashing in on the
global warming scare. Those who want to convince others that global warming
is real would do well to hide their actions to the contrary. Don't try to
tell others
to buy an overpriced electric car while jetting off to a global warming
conference
at some remote island location. Don't try to tell others to keep the
thermostat at
eighty degrees in the summer when their house could fit in your garage.

[Salvatore]

Post by Tom Disque
The target of most jokes I've heard is how some people are cashing in on the
global warming scare. Those who want to convince others that global warming
is real would do well to hide their actions to the contrary. Don't try to
tell others
to buy an overpriced electric car while jetting off to a global warming
conference
at some remote island location. Don't try to tell others to keep the
thermostat at
eighty degrees in the summer when their house could fit in your garage.

The people who buy electric cars or hybrids fall into one of the two
following categories:

1.) People who have spare money and want to make a political message, and
2.) People who invest in a car to save money.

In the Triangle, it's become an increasingly good investment to purchase
a vehicle with an electric motor, whether it be either gas-electric
hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or a pure plug-in vehicle. Yes, there are lots
of bleeding-heart liberals who fall under Category 1, but I fall under
Category 2. Here's why:

*ELECTRIC RATES IN WAKE COUNTY:* The cost of residential electricity is
regulated by the state government, and it has barely budged since 1994.
The current cost is 9.5¢ per kilowatt-hour in the fall and winter, and
10.5¢ in the spring and summer. This is about 17% lower than the average
energy cost in the rest of the United States.

*FUEL TAXES IN NORTH CAROLINA:* North Carolina is unique in that nearly
every road is owned by the state, and therefore, the state portion of
fuel taxes is very high. (From what I believe, it's at least 40¢ per
gallon.)

*TAX BREAKS AND INTEREST RATES:* There's the obvious $7,500 tax break for
buying a Nissan Leaf or Chevrolet Volt, but there's also a
not-so-obvious financial break for people who buy either those or
gas-electric hybrids: the cars don't depreciate as fast as their
gas-only counterparts. A car that keeps its value is a car that can be
financed for dirt cheap, and it can be quickly sold by a bank in the
unfortunate event that it's repossessed. I've seen a 2001 Honda Insight
sell for $7,000 in Cary, even though its KBB value is barely $4,000.

I can almost guarantee that fuel taxes will remain high and will go
higher, and as a result, fuel-efficient vehicles will remain in high
demand, but in the event that electric rates rise, it would behoove
everybody to cut down on their electric usage by either (gasp!) buying a
programmable thermostat or reinforcing their homes' insulation.