Letter to Dan Lungren

Dear Congressman Lungren:
I hope you can keep an open mind as I discuss with you the importance and benefits of a carbon tax. I know you may be ideologically opposed to this concept, but please hear me out on this. Fossil fuels, especially oil were instrumental in building the United States into a superpower. We have a lot to thank for the discovery of petroleum and the enormous positive changes brought to our civilization by the industrial revolution. During the middle of the twentieth century as our infrastructure was being built around oil, only a small group of scientists were aware of the toxicity of oil. As our collective knowledge of the effects of burning fossil fuels has grown over the past 60 years, the costs have grown as well. The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and ongoing oil accidents occurring around the world, most recently in Dalian, China illustrate the risks involved in the extraction, refining, delivery and combustion of oil. There is no credible argument that can refute the reality that damage to the environment during the production, delivery and burning of oil represents a cost. Whether we are talking about smog alerts in Los Angeles, increased asthma cases in large cities, ocean dead zones, acid rain, fallout from global climate change, or increased lung cancer rates, we have been paying a price for our decision over a hundred years ago to exploit this resource. Because these costs are so difficult to quantify, we have allowed ourselves to wait until incidents occur before we commit to paying for these costs. In most cases, the general public has footed the tab for these large, spread out environmental damage consequences. If you can see the environment as a cost of production like any other cost such as labor, capital and material, what entity besides the company involved in the production of its product should be responsible for these costs? The obvious answer of course, is that a company operating in a free market economy, should not depend on anyone else for its costs of production. Yet, that is what has been happening on a very large scale for the last 100 years. The fossil fuel industry has, without any fanfare, transferred most of these costs onto the general public, violating some of the most important principles of free enterprise systems - depending on the public to subsidize your business and not maintaining a level playing field for all the market players. Picking up the tab for all of these costs represents a massive subsidy of the fossil fuel industry and has kept the price of oil artificially low relative to its true cost. Is that fair? Yes, I agree these costs are extremely difficult to quantify. But to leave them out is an affront to our free market economy. The purpose of implementing a carbon tax is to finally begin to quantify the cost of environmental damage as a legitimate cost of production, fully integrating these costs into the Profit and Loss statements of fossil fuel companies and leveling the playing field for other energy producers. The other related issue to a carbon tax is jobs. There is a common perception that any type of clean energy legislation would adversely affect our economy and prevent job growth. I beg to differ and I will explain to you why. Our dependence on foreign sources for oil is an issue of national security.
Unfortunately, due to our consumption patterns, there is not enough oil reserves in the U.S., even fully exploited to quench our appetite. In an atmosphere of rapidly rising world demand, oil producing countries cannot keep up with this demand. If you read the Wall Street Journal the other day, a milestone was reached when it was announced that China has now surpassed the United States as the largest consumer of energy. The cost of securing oil from countries that are sometimes openly hostile to our way of life and the risk that some of our money going overseas for oil is finding its ways into the waiting pockets of terrorists is unsettling at the very least. I propose to you that our dependence on oil is the root cause of our precarious economy. Unless we begin to transform our infrastructure and wean ourselves away from oil, the risks will only increase. The United States oil production peaked in 1970 and there are scientists predicting peak oil within the next 10 years. The economic consequences of terminal decline are potentially disastrous. Should we sit this out and wait to see what happens or purchase an insurance policy in the form of clean energy technology to inoculate ourselves from this inevitable result?

Sincerely,
David Brotman

Passing Meaningful Climate Change Legislation

In a recent editorial, Thomas Friedman asked the question: Are there 7 Republicans who can put  their country first and vote for meaningful climate change legislation?

The answer is a qualified no. The only sliver of hope Democrats have in  implementing a carbon tax is to frame the issue as a model of free enterprise. In a market economy, players operate on a level playing field. No one player has an unfair advantage coming into the market. The damage to the environment and our health resulting from the production or use of a fossil fuel represents a cost. Unlike hard costs such as rent, office supplies and labor,  environmental costs are difficult to quantify. Nevertheless, from the beginning of the industrial revolution up through today, the general public has been picking up the tab for these costs. This shifting of cost to the public represents a massive subsidy to the oil, coal and gas industry which explains why fossil fuels remain relatively cheap in comparison to renewable energy. A carbon tax represents the first attempt in a hundred  years to quantify the environmental costs of fossil fuel production. It  finally integrates a cost that has been conspicuously missing from the P and L statements of companies that have profited enormously from its absence. A carbon tax will finally level the playing field in the market, inoculate our economy from volatile price swings as we approach peak oil and affirm our commitment to our children.

Meeting with Elizabeth Kim at Alyson Huber's Office

Today I rode my bike to Rancho Cordova City Hall to meet with Elizabeth Kim, a member of Alyson Huber’s staff. Alysson Huber is the assemblywoman representing the 10th assembly district of California. The purpose of our meeting was to discuss the benefits of a carbon tax. The meeting went really well and I strongly believe that Elizabeth got the concept which is fairly straightforward. When a company produces a product, it is concerned about revenues and expenses. Only measurable costs are included in a P and L statement. Up until now, energy companies such as oil, coal and gas have been able to make enormous profits off of their energy products because they have been able to shift a significant portion of those costs onto the general public. What does this mean? Let’s take a look at coal for example. In strip mining, entire mountains are blown up and removed and heavy machinery is moved in to extract the coal. Once the coal is processed it is used to power utilities and other industries. When the coal is burned, Co2 is released into the air. When the Co2 reacts with H2o, carbonic acid is produced which is more commonly referred to as acid rain. When lakes and rivers become acidic, the fish and other life in the lake die off as oxygen becomes depleted. In addition, Co2 traps heat from the sun which in turn warms the atmosphere, aka global warming. Other chemicals are also released into the air during the burning of coal and find their way into our lungs.Each of these damaging effects either on the environment or our health represent a significant cost. The problem is that quantifying these costs is very difficult. In the absence of easily measurable costs, the fossil fuel industry can profit handsomely by avoiding responsibility and effectively shifting all of these costs onto the general public. This shifting of costs represents a massive subsidy of the fossil fuel industry. In effect, we are paying for part of the production costs of these energy sources. The central premise of my argument for a carbon tax is this: The environment represents a cost of doing business just like any other cost. If you rent a storage space, you have to pay for it. If you rent labor, you have to pay for it. And if you damage the environment during the production of your product, you alone should be responsible for it, not the public. That is what free enterprise is about. A carbon tax is the most effective way of quantifying the cost of "damaging" the environment. It is easy to implement, easy to monitor and encourages a shift away from fossil fuels without compromising jobs. In any case, Elizabeth was so impressed with my ideas, she invited me to meet with Assemblywoman Huber at the state capitol sometime in the future. We agreed that I would call her next week to find out Huber’s reaction to my ideas.

Meeting with Elizabeth Kim at Alyson Huber's Office

Today I rode my bike to Rancho Cordova City Hall to meet with Elizabeth Kim, a member of Alyson Huber’s staff. Alysson Huber is the assemblywoman representing the 10th assembly district of California. The purpose of our meeting was to discuss the benefits of a carbon tax. The meeting went really well and I strongly believe that Elizabeth got the concept which is fairly straightforward. When a company produces a product, it is concerned about revenues and expenses. Only measurable costs are included in a P and L statement. Up until now, energy companies such as oil, coal and gas have been able to make enormous profits off of their energy products because they have been able to shift a significant portion of those costs onto the general public. What does this mean? Let’s take a look at coal for example. In strip mining, entire mountains are blown up and removed and heavy machinery is moved in to extract the coal. Once the coal is processed it is used to power utilities and other industries. When the coal is burned, Co2 is released into the air. When the Co2 reacts with H2o, carbonic acid is produced which is more commonly referred to as acid rain. When lakes and rivers become acidic, the fish and other life in the lake die off as oxygen becomes depleted. In addition, Co2 traps heat from the sun which in turn warms the atmosphere, aka global warming. Other chemicals are also released into the air during the burning of coal and find their way into our lungs.Each of these damaging effects either on the environment or our health represent a significant cost. The problem is that quantifying these costs is very difficult. In the absence of easily measurable costs, the fossil fuel industry can profit handsomely by avoiding responsibility and effectively shifting all of these costs onto the general public. This shifting of costs represents a massive subsidy of the fossil fuel industry. In effect, we are paying for part of the production costs of these energy sources. The central premise of my argument for a carbon tax is this: The environment represents a cost of doing business just like any other cost. If you rent a storage space, you have to pay for it. If you rent labor, you have to pay for it. And if you damage the environment during the production of your product, you alone should be responsible for it, not the public. That is what free enterprise is about. A carbon tax is the most effective way of quantifying the cost of "damaging" the environment. It is easy to implement, easy to monitor and encourages a shift away from fossil fuels without compromising jobs. In any case, Elizabeth was so impressed with my ideas, she invited me to meet with Assemblywoman Huber at the state capitol sometime in the future. We agreed that I would call her next week to find out Huber’s reaction to my ideas.

The Zen of Sarcasm

Don’t  be irreplaceable.  If  you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted.

Always  remember that you’re unique. Just  like everyone else.

Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

Before  you criticize people, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.

If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is probably not for you.

If  you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably a  wise investment.

If  you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.

Some  days you’re the bug; some days you’re the windshield.

A closed mouth gathers no foot.

Generally speaking, you aren’t learning much when your lips are moving.

Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.

Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

Town Hall Meeting

I decided to go to a town hall meeting hosted by Alyson Huber, Assemblymember of the 10th district. It was held at the Rio Americano High School from 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM. The weather was kind of warm that day but in keeping with my desire to maintain a low carbon footprint, I decided to go there by bike. One way distance is about 9 miles with easy access from the bike trail since the high school overlooks the American River. I was kind of in a hurry so by the time I got there, I was drenched in sweat. I walked into the event at the school library and quite a few heads turned to stare at the spectacle of a man drenched in sweat. After signing in without dripping on the sign-in sheet, I made my way over to a seat about 4 rows back and took in the crowd assembled. A lot of gray hair and bald heads dominated the audience with a few younger people scattered throughout. The meeting started promptly at 5:30 with Assemblymember Huber introducing herself and describing her focus at the state capital. My purpose in attending was to follow up on emails left on her website and messages left on her voice mail asking about the oil severance tax. California is the only oil producing state that does not have a severance tax and a modest 6% tax could pull in close to 900 million dollars a year. After being forced to sit through cranky old conservatives railing about pensions that state workers don’t deserve, I finally got a chance to speak up. My question was whether Ms. Huber thought that the state budget deficit could be solved without looking at any revenue generation and whether she supported the oil severance tax. I was a little disappointed to hear an ambiguous answer from her with her thinking out loud whether gas prices would go up. (The short answer to that question is no, they won’t go up because oil is a world commodity. How come people have so much trouble with this concept?). She did mention that a severance tax is included in the assembly version of the budget but not in the senate version. I appreciated how much time she spent with my question but I don’t get the sense that she is particularly enthusiastic about it. When the meeting ended, there was no time for chit chat since there was another town hall meeting across town she had to go to. I did get a chance to speak to one of her staff members and she told me to call anytime.

Fry's Ordeal

The day pumpkin and wifey left for Taiwan, June 6th, 2010, my computer started wheezing and beeping. I could tell that what was happening was the CPU fan was starting to fail, causing thermal overheating and thus the warning beeps. Since it has been about 4 years since the last time I upgraded, I figured it would be a good time to build a new computer. I usually do all my own upgrading, putting together a new motherboard, CPU and ram since it is pretty simple stuff to do. This particular upgrade turned out to be the upgrade from hell as you shall see.On Monday morning, I scanned the latest Fry’s ads for motherboard/CPU specials. There was a good special going on with a AMD Phenom quad 4 processor. I hopped in the car for the 25 minute drive up Hazel Ave to the Fry’s in Roseville to make the purchase.

An hour and half later, I was back home, busy putting everything together. I didn’t waste any time and by early afternoon, I was ready to flip on the power switch. I turned it on and nothing happened. I checked all my connections and knew something wasn’t right so I figured that it was worth a trip back to Fry’s. At the service desk a technician took a look at the computer and found the problem right away. There is a secondary 12v power supply connection on the Gigabyte motherboard that I had missed, probably because it was a 6 pin connection and my power supply had only a 4 pin connection. I asked the technician if it was okay to plug in a 4 pin male to a 6 pin female and he said "Oh sure, no problem." Okay, I could accept that and feeling a little embarrassed, I packed up the unit and took it back home. As soon as I got home, I turned on the power and it did the POST (power on self test) with no problem. Okay, that’s good. Next step was the operating system install. I put in the Windows XP disk and started the install. Usually when I get to this point, the job is pretty much over since the operating system installs itself and just asks me to plop in a CD when it needs a particular driver. However, this time, I got the blue screen of death at about the halfway point. WTF? I checked all my connections and everything looked fine. Now what? Time to take it back to Fry’s. This time another technician took a look at it and said, "I know what your problem is. You have to install Windows 7." "Are you sure?", I asked . That seemed kind of strange. "Oh, yes. Look right here." And he showed me on the side of the Gigabyte MB box a sticker that said Windows 7 compatible. Okay, I guess he must be right so I packed up the unit and took it back home. I had to pay $100 for Windows 7 Home Premium edition, I justified this purchase because I had always promised myself that eventually I would replace my aging Windows XP system. I put in the disk and the install bombed with a memory address error at about the halfway point. Not again!, I thought to myself. That same afternoon, I got in the car yet again for another trip to Fry’s. By this time, I am starting to get frustrated. Some people would already be dropping their unit from a 20 story building but I am not the type to be easily defeated. I was determined to get it working. At the service desk, I told the technician that I was having problems installing Windows 7 and could they do it for me. Certainly, for $100. Okay, I guess I have to do it. I dropped off the unit and drove home. There was something nagging in the back of my mind about Windows XP not being compatible with an AMD Phenom quad 4 processor and when I got home, I called AMD directly and the support tech guy said that is absolute nonsense that their Phenom processors only work on Windows XP systems. In any case, the next day, the unit was ready for pickup. When I got to the service desk, I asked the technician if he encountered any issues during the install. "Nope, everything was fine," he said. "Are you sure?", I asked. How come he didn’t have any problems and I did? Was there something magical going on? Life wasn’t fair. I took it home and powered it on. It didn’t even get as far as the initial windows splash screen before a memory error came on and when I rebooted it, I got the blue screen of death. Something like bad_pool_not_equal. I was starting to get a little fussy. How many trips have I made? 4 and counting. That is 20 miles/trip which is 40 miles roundtrip or 160 miles. Time for trip #5. At the service desk, I explained my problem and also pointed out that AMD quad 4 processors should work fine on Windows XP. "We have to do some diagnostics", the tech guy told me. Well, duh! How come that wasn’t done during the Windows 7 system install? I can’t imagine that install going without a hitch. "Don’t worry, we’ll find the problem." Famous last words. In any case, I had to leave the unit with them and wait for the results. The next day which was Friday, I called to ask how things were going. "Still performing diagnostics", the support desk answered. "How long is this going to take?" "Try calling tomorrow." Alright. I suppose I could deal with one more day without the computer . After all, I have 4 other computers at home so it is not like I am left high and dry. Regardless, I was anxious to get this issue resolved. The next day, I called in the afternoon. "Sorry, the guy working on it is not here. Try again tomorrow." Now I am getting pissed. See how long it took? I could have gotten pissed back on Wednesday when the Windows 7 install bombed. And looking back, that should have been when I trusted my instincts and thrown in the towel. But I don’t give in very easily. But the operating system issue was bugging me. Why should I have had to buy Windows 7 if it was supposed to work with Windows XP? I decided that it was time to return everything. I should get a refund on the operating system install because the tech guy gave me wrong information and I had an email from AMD supporting my argument. I got to the support desk and showed the tech guy the email from AMD. Okay, he said. He was getting ready to give me a screwdriver to dismantle the system right there to remove the MB and other parts so I could return it. Just before he handed me the screwdriver, another tech guy, Josh said, "I was the one who worked on it and everything works fine." Okay, I wanted to see proof. He turned it on and it seemed to boot fine . However, he did mention something about a graphics dll file in windows system32 that had to be replaced. That’s weird but okay, what else could I say? No charge on the diagnostics but this was definitely going to be the last time. I took it home and booted up. It froze midway during the windows startup. That’s it. No mas. I promptly removed everything and placed all the parts in the original packaging and jammed up Hazel Avenue to return it. The woman at the service desk was getting ready to refund me everything including the operating system install but there was just one little problem. I had forgotten to include the I/O thermal plate. Without that tiny piece of metal, she wouldn’t give me a refund on the motherboard. I did get a credit for everything else and drove home to pick up the remaining piece. Altogether about 7 trips back and forth for a computer upgrade. I resolved that I was never going to Fry’s again for computer parts or service. And so ends my 8 days of hell with Fry’s.