Has President Trump

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I would expect a quick vote and then getting on with the real business of the nation.

One hopes for that return to real business to occur; it's been neglected for too many years.

[HONDO74]

I would expect a quick vote and then getting on with the real business of the nation.

One hopes for that return to real business to occur; it's been neglected for too many years.

Biden says he wants 2 trillion dollars to spend on infrastructure and it going to provide for good Union jobs. But other than speaking in general terms I'm not sure what he has in mind. Are we talking about new roads and bridges. Maybe high speed rail on the east coast. As I recall Biden used to travel by train.

One thing I do know is that any type of construction require lots of energy. Fossil fuel energy. Might come in conflict with his plans for carbon zero...

[robert.]

Lithium.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

But other than speaking in general terms I'm not sure what he has in mind.

Have to wait and see.....we waited for four years and got a lot of nothing with the last WH.

One thing I do know is that any type of construction require lots of energy. Fossil fuel energy. Might come in conflict with his plans for carbon zero...

Maybe part of it is construction of non-fossil fuel energy generation sources; lot of money to made there. But no matter what at this point it's going to cost fossil fuel until people begin to accept and use alternatives. There's no magic switch. Go all electric cars and trucks and you still need to generate electricity somewhere in the line - just re-arranging the deck chairs.

[robert.]

It’s going to be a painful weaning from fossil fuel.

[rogruth]

I forget what it is called, someone will know, but my son has a car that is primarily electric and uses a gasoline engine to power the battery.
It seems to work well and gets high equivalent mileage. Maybe moe of this type is what is needed for a stop gap.

[chuck]

Generally a hybrid. It is possible he has a "Volt"? A Chevrolet product that has a small gas engine to provide electricity once you run the main battery down. GM (and most of the others) have abandoned this in favor of all electric and high performance charging stations.

The rub is how do you get the electricity? It used to be that most of the electricity form the grid was generated using coal. That has changed radically in the last 5-10 years as most power is generated from natural gas via fracking. Still a fossil fuel but much less environmentally damaging than coal or oil. I think we're are getting 10-15% of our main grid power off of renewables, mostly wind turbine and solar. The latter is rapidly expanding as newer technologies have produced much cheaper and more efficient solar panels.

Battery technology. I forgot about that in the original post. Possibly the most important aspect. Most of the renewables were not suitable because they need wind or sunlight to work and these are not continuous sources, BUT, when they are working they produce a lot of power and there needed to be ways to store it.

[HONDO74]

The rub is how do you get the electricity? It used to be that most of the electricity form the grid was generated using coal. That has changed radically in the last 5-10 years as most power is generated from natural gas via fracking. Still a fossil fuel but much less environmentally damaging than coal or oil. I think we're are getting 10-15% of our main grid power off of renewables, mostly wind turbine and solar. The latter is rapidly expanding as newer technologies have produced much cheaper and more efficient solar panels.

Coumo banned fracking in New York. They import natural gas now from Pennsylvania to run their gas fired power plants

When it comes to green energy. Texas now leads the country with wind turbines, and soon it will be a leader in solar panel farms. The down side is that the Chinese are now heavily invested in this effort. Some politicians are concerned it could become a National Security Risk.

the mining of Lithium salts is presently an ecological disaster in the making. Maybe technology will come up with a better source for battery storage

[rogruth]

Chuck,
My sons hybrid car is a Kia.
Having some of those old age name lapse problems.

[chuck]

He's probably got the Plug in Hybrid. Driver can select which mode he is in, straight electric or gas with the push of a button.

Volt was an "unusual" vehicle. The gas engine was not used for direct drive, just a way to charge up the battery or run the generator to provide power to the electric drive train. It was a "genset" vehicle. They aren't making these anymore. All GM products are straight electric (e.g. Bolt) or hybrid.

[rogruth]

My sons car switches to the gas engine when heavy accelerator pressure is applied, starting, accelerating and swiches to electric when cruising and idling.
No sound when at idle. I don't know much about it. I do know that he likes it AND the dealer.

[HONDO74]

Flashback: Nancy Pelosi praised unionists storming Wisconsin State Capitol
Democrats were for occupying capitols before they were against it,

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has gone on record praising the storming of the Capitol as an "impressive show of democracy in action" -- the 2011 invasion of the Madison, Wis., state capitol, that is.

Pelosi's previous comment's resurfaced following the disturbing assault on the U.S. Capitol earlier this month at the hands of a right wing-mob who stormed the halls of Congress hoping to prevent the certification of the U.S. presidential election.

The assault drew forceful condemnations from both sides of the political aisle -- including Pelosi -- who wasted little time introducing former President Trump's second impeachment in the House for "inciting" the violence.

Ten years earlier, unionists stormed the Wisconsin State Capitol in an attempt to block a vote on collective bargaining reform. Thousands of demonstrators managed to enter the building by violently breaking down doors and shattering windows -- but the attack garnered much praise from Pelosi and other prominent Democrats at the time.

The occupiers were praised publically by Pelosi for theirHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi has gone on record praising the storming of the Capitol as an "impressive show of democracy in action" -- the 2011 invasion of the Madison, Wis., state capitol, that is.

Pelosi's previous comment's resurfaced following the assault on the U.S. Capitol earlier this month at the hands of a right wing-mob who stormed the halls of Congress hoping to prevent the certification of the U.S. presidential election.

The assault drew forceful condemnations from both sides of the political aisle -- including Pelosi -- who wasted little time introducing former President Trump's second impeachment in the House for "inciting" the violence.

Ten years earlier, unionists stormed the Wisconsin State Capitol in an attempt to block a vote on collective bargaining reform. Thousands of demonstrators managed to enter the building by violently breaking down doors and shattering windows -- but the attack garnered much praise from Pelosi and other prominent Democrats at the time.

The occupiers were praised publically by Pelosi for their "impressive show of democracy in action." The House Speaker took to Twitter to express her "solidarity" with the activists as they attacked the Capitol, and sent senators into hiding until police managed to remove them from the building.

"impressive show of democracy in action."

[Neil]

Violence is one thing. Civil disobedience is an entirely different thing. Think Martin Luther King and Ghandi vs. Timothy McVeigh.
It's not hard to discern the difference between a sit-in in the Capitol of this state or the other vs. the assault on the police, damage to property and threatening hanging the Vice President on the other. The law enforcement response to civil disobedience is arrest without violence. The law enforcement response to the invasion of the Capitol bearing arms is shooting in self-defense.

[up148]

Until this civil violence is dealt with much harsher, none of the participants will be deterred. When they're burning buildings and vehicles, hurting or killing police officers and other non-violent participants, its time to open fire. This has gone on way too long and as long as participants get a slap on the wrist it will not stop. Anyone arrested for "violent protest" should lose all rights to government assistance going forward. Let everyone know this is the new punishment criteria and then if they choose to test it, so be it.

We've been too soft on crime in this country for years and this is one reason our prisons are full. No ones afraid of the consequences for doing a crime.

[HONDO74]

Until this civil violence is dealt with much harsher, none of the participants will be deterred. When they're burning buildings and vehicles, hurting or killing police officers and other non-violent participants, its time to open fire. This has gone on way too long and as long as participants get a slap on the wrist it will not stop. Anyone arrested for "violent protest" should lose all rights to government assistance going forward. Let everyone know this is the new punishment criteria and then if they choose to test it, so be it.

We've been too soft on crime in this country for years and this is one reason are prisons are full. No ones afraid of the consequences for doing a crime.

I expect to see a repeat of last year with the rioting, looting and burning.