California has been featured on this blog many times, because a large number of its politicians and 'thinkers' are all too ready to adopt any crazy 'environmental solution' that comes down the pike. There's nothing wrong with wanting to save energy due to shortages in your state; however, squeaking in that little phrase "reducing greenhouse gases" immediately marries this initiative to halting global warming, a simple myth primarily designed to drive government intervention in our lives and provide wealth and power to its political proponents.
One should also be aware that manufacturers won't pay for the costs of increasing television efficiencies, as this article cleverly avoids mentioning. The article, predictably, plays up the positive: Consumers will save money on their energy bills! But consumers will pay more for the televisions (manufacturers will pass on the costs), so it's still an indirect tax on capitalist consumers.
Increasing TV energy efficiency provides a triple benefit to California by boosting the economy, lowering electricity ratepayers' utility bills and helping the state meet its goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 15% by 2020, Larson said. "Every dollar spent on energy efficiency returns $2 in savings," he added.
[From Flat-screen TVs to face energy-efficiency rules in California - Los Angeles Times]
Not satisfied with their already hefty tax revenues (CA is one of the most taxed states in the country), San Francisco plans to 'protect the environment' by charging drivers to drive in areas considered 'congested.' Again, this is just a tax. Governments don't really believe in global warming either, but it's a useful scapegoat to tax your ass once more.
The plan faces opponents in the city's business community. On Dec. 22, the president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, Steve Falk, wrote in an op-ed article in The San Francisco Chronicle that such tolls amount to a "stealth tax." The headline on the article was "San Francisco Is Not London."
The economic downturn also has prompted caution. During his second inaugural address a year ago, the city's mayor, Gavin Newsom, called congestion pricing "the single greatest step we can take to protect our environment and improve our quality of life."
[From Nation & World | San Francisco considers plan to charge drivers | Seattle Times Newspaper]
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