[p2p-research] does green capitalism manufacture artificial scarcity ...

[Chris Watkins]

This might seem obvious to us, but not to the article's author: that Lovins
no doubt envisaged a much more serious effort at efficiency and the use and
development of alternatives. If the California government and populace took
a lazy and short-sighted approach (not unique to California, of course!)
that's first and foremost on their own heads. Blaming Lovins strikes me as
completely wrong-headed.

Chris

On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 06:58, Samuel Rose <samuel.rose at gmail.com> wrote:

> I can buy that Enron took advantage of a situation, but I also agree with
> Vinay that it seems pretty absurd that Lovins was in on some kind of deal to
> help Enron cash in on it.
>
> It could very well be, from the National Resources Defence Council
> perspective, that they were able to lobby California to reduce the burning
> of coal and oil mostly out of concern of pollution and greenhouse gas
> emissions curtailment, and that folks liek Lovins are also simultaneously
> active in ramping up solar, wind, etc to cushion the demand. I don't think
> Lovins and Enron were working together, but that Enron took advantage of the
> situation, probably. If Enron had not been in the picture, there probably
> never would have been blackouts, etc I think it is more likely that Enron
> tried to mask their scarcity-creating reductions behind these environmental
> reductions that they already knew were happening, to scam people, and make
> money.
>
> On Sat, Oct 4, 2008 at 5:56 AM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Dear friends:
>>
>> What to think of this:
>> http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-09-02-heartfield-en.html
>>
>> It's basically a critique of higher energy prices, I find the critique
>> very weird, and would appreciate any commentary,
>>
>> Not building more power plants, distributing solar and wind energy
>> locally, and hiking up prices is all seen as a plot to manufacture
>> artificial scarcity by 'green capitalists'
>>
>> I also don't see the author offering any alternative,
>>
>> Excerpt:
>>
>>
>> The old-fashioned market incentive for energy efficiency is the savings
>> people make on their bills when they insulate their homes, or turn down the
>> air conditioning. Businesses, too, have every interest in keeping overheads
>> low by using the energy they pay for wisely. Normal prices would give
>> customers the incentive to reduce their electricity consumption.
>>
>> But amazingly the Enron-Lovins model of restricting supply is the one that
>> is being adopted around the world. Utility companies are rewarding consumers
>> for reducing their consumption from central power stations and encouraging
>> domestic-sited energy generation, through windmills and solar panels.
>> Playing on Californians' distrust of the power companies, the Environmental
>> Protection Agency is planning to add solar power to one million new homes –
>> paid for by another surcharge on utility bills.[8]<http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-09-02-heartfield-en.html#footNoteNUM8>In Britain, the government is introducing regulations to make all new homes
>> carbon-neutral. The current goal of carbon-neutral homes reverses the
>> division of labour that saw specialised energy producers distribute
>> electricity, turning it into an eighteenth century cottage industry. The
>> simple economic lesson that mass production avoids reproduction of effort
>> has been lost. Nothing could be more wasteful, or more certain to create new
>> scarcity.
>>
>> California's "negawatt revolution" is only one of the more extreme
>> versions of the way that green priorities work in tandem with profiting by
>> manufacturing scarcity. South African radical Dominic Tweedie argues that
>> recent electricity blackouts there happened because of "a campaign to impose
>> artificial scarcity". The failure to build power stations to meet the
>> growing demand from South Africa's black townships was not recognised as a
>> problem by activists there because they bought into the green prejudice that
>> social aspirations could be met by redistribution alone, at the expense of
>> increased output. Now supply companies are hiking up prices to the people
>> who can least afford them.
>>
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>
>
> --
> Sam Rose
> Social Synergy
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-- 
Chris Watkins (a.k.a. Chriswaterguy)

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I like this: five.sentenc.es
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