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Should Rick Perry be confirmed as the Secretary of Energy?

vaggar99vaggar99 Posts: 3,427
edited January 2017 in A Moving Train
yes, another vaggar99 poll

Should Rick Perry be confirmed as the Secretary of Energy? 11 votes

yes
9%
sk8nshoot1 1 vote
no
90%
ledveddermanvaggar99my2handsa5pjmfc2006Kev - Coat and KeysCM189191Santos L. Halperlazlobluejoseph33 10 votes

Comments

  • vaggar99vaggar99 Posts: 3,427
    no
    easy one
  • g under pg under p Posts: 18,196
    He will be one of the first one of the TRUMP'S administration to be confirmed. Just because he's so clueless however at times can crack a joke.

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  • vaggar99vaggar99 Posts: 3,427
    no
    Rick Perry has an embarrassing secret. One afternoon in 2006, he stood at the head of a long table surrounded by renewable energy executives, myself included, and did something his new boss would hate: He extolled the many virtues of wind energy. Glowingly and in some detail, he went on about how the Texas wind industry creates jobs, saves ratepayers money, expands the tax base, cleans the air and furthers energy independence.

    It gets worse. A year earlier, Perry had approved a $5 billion charge on ratepayers to fund new transmission lines, called the CREZ lines, specifically designed to create even more new wind projects than Texas already had.

    If you haven't heard, President Trump hates wind energy with a passion. "Not only are wind farms disgusting looking, but even worse they are bad for people's health," he tweeted. Fortunately for Perry, though, Trump needn't worry about Perry harboring secret wind-love. A few years later, Perry faced a test that revealed his true colors. Spoiler: They aren't green.

    The test had to do with the CREZ lines Perry supported back in 2006. They were part of a bold, bipartisan plan to address the mismatch between the plentiful wind resource in West Texas and congested power lines back to Houston and Dallas. Wind was cheap and getting cheaper, meaning ratepayers' savings through lower power prices would significantly exceed the costs of building the lines, and so the plan was approved. Construction began in 2008.

    That same year, however, the financial crisis peaked, President Obama was elected and the Tea Party was born. Many Republicans suddenly realized that whatever Obama was for, they were now against. Renewable energy was one of these about-face issues, along with Romneycare and deficit spending, and Republican talking points on wind morphed from energy independence to Solyndra and the unsightliness of turbines.

    Timing couldn't have been worse for the wind industry. The Great Recession crippled financings - Texas wind crashed from 2,000 megawatts per year before 2009 to just 300 in 2011. Worse, the federal tax credit for wind, which leveled the playing field against fossil fuel subsidies, would expire in 2011 unless renewed. Presidents from George H.W. Bush to Obama presided over bipartisan renewals, but suddenly Republicans like Mitt Romney lined up against renewal.

    The close vote to renew the wind tax credits created a moment of truth for Perry. A rising star in the Republican Party, presidential contender and governor of the biggest wind state, the vote meant a lot to Texans and his voice could mean the difference. Which way would he go?

    Perry had every reason to support renewal. He had supported previous renewals. He believed in tax credits - through his enterprise funds, he gave hundreds of millions to private companies to create jobs. Most important, he had already spent billions of ratepayer money to construct the CREZ lines for new wind projects, and those lines could become his own "bridge to nowhere" if Congress abruptly killed the credits and the projects depending on them.

    But as the vote drew near, Perry let it be known that he opposed renewal. In fact, he suddenly claimed he opposed not just wind, but all, energy tax credits - a laughable position considering his own record, not to mention the armies of lobbyists protecting fossil fuel tax breaks.

    Luckily, other Texas Republicans like Rep. Mac Thornberry of Clarendon prioritized Texas ratepayers over politics and voted to renew the credits. Today 7,000 megawatts of new wind farms, and counting, have been built connecting to the CREZ lines. These farms produce the cheapest electricity in the state and represent thousands of new jobs, billions in new tax base and tens of millions annually for Texas' schools.

    Maya Angelou once said, "When people show you who they are, believe them." Rick Perry is a man who chose self-interest over his constituents'.

    Now he's also the man chosen to lead an agency the name of which he couldn't even remember. Here's to hoping as secretary of energy that Perry can rediscover the many ways renewable energy keeps Americans safe, strong and healthy.

    Bowman is a clean energy entrepreneur who has developed renewable energy projects in Texas and around the country since 1998. He lives in Austin.

    houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Bowman-Rick-Perry-has-shown-his-true-colors-and-10918648.php
  • oftenreadingoftenreading Posts: 12,845
    Trump hates wind farming because it looks disgusting and is harmful to people's health? Makes sense, because coal mining is so much more pleasant to look at, and healthful to boot.
    my small self... like a book amongst the many on a shelf
  • rgambsrgambs Posts: 13,576
    None of which has much to do with the DoE, a dept he doesn't even understand.
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  • ledveddermanledvedderman Posts: 7,761
    no
    Rick Perry with glasses or Rick Perry without glasses?

    Irregardless, I vote no.
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  • unsungunsung Posts: 9,487
    Another dept that should be ended.
  • mfc2006mfc2006 Posts: 37,447
    edited February 2017
    no
    He's an idiot and probably can't even spell the word energy, so no.
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  • josevolutionjosevolution Posts: 29,538
    oftenreading said:

    Trump hates wind farming because it looks disgusting and is harmful to people's health? Makes sense, because coal mining is so much more pleasant to look at, and healthful to boot.

    Yeah lol let's see where would I rather work out on a farm or inside a hole on a mountain side ..
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  • joseph33joseph33 Posts: 1,247
    no
    As he wanted to disband the EPA during the 08 elections,I say no he shouldn't.
  • my2handsmy2hands Posts: 17,117
    no
    Rick Perry

    lol
  • vaggar99vaggar99 Posts: 3,427
    no
    meats
  • a5pja5pj Posts: 3,896
    no
    Green companies like solar and wind should get so many tax credits it should put oil out of business. It will put an end to fake wars and save our planet.
    Wouldn't it be funny if the world ended in 2010, with lots of fire?



  • unsungunsung Posts: 9,487
    All subsidies should be ended.
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