Remember, this is the goal for Progressives - Granite Grok

Remember, this is the goal for Progressives

For those  people who keep thinking “we live in a Free country”, here is yet another sign from the Progressives now running our Federal Government that they believe that the Constitution (ok, just by their Official Position in Government) allows them the notion that they should tell us what is good or bad behavior.  No, not what is criminal behavioral or not, but the “good and righteous moral behavior” they have blessed.  From CNSNews.com:

The “new energy future” will require the federal government to encourage “the right kinds of behavior,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell told a clean energy summit in Nevada on Tuesday.   “When you are getting into a new energy future, you really benefit from having the support of states — and the federal government encouraging the right kinds of behavior and encouraging those incentives (for solar panel installation), she said.

Right – so if you don’t go right out and get solar’d up, if you don’t use renewable energy, you are a bad person (among all the other things that the Politically correct things that Smart People have decided are “right for the times” (without a note that, hmm, we change our minds about these things too). And as far as “getting into a new energy future”, this has all been decided for us – as in jamming it down our throats on the front end and making sure that we must “make the right decisions” by taking away energy resources on the back side (e.g., coal and nuke, for nothing says Freedom like limiting real choice, eh?).  “Right kinds of behavior”?  We’re back to the end goal of Progressives – the Administrative State whose technocrats will make all important choices for us.

Jewell mentioned the “right” kind of behavior twice in her speech, without specifically saying what it means. But she did give some hints.  In the first reference, Jewell was discussing the various ways that REI reduced its carbon footprint when she chaired the company. She said REI’s carbon-reduction efforts began as “random acts of kindness — things like encouraging people, including employees, to ride bikes to work; using green energy where we could, recycling and those things….”

And that’s OK – if the owners of the company believe that is in the best interest of the company, go for it.  It is VOLUNTARY on they part and using (mostly, although I betcha our tax money got dangled out there somewhere as a carrot for “incentivizing”).  Oh wait – THERE it is:

Jewell’s second reference to the “right” kind of behavior came at the end of her speech:  “If we’re going to address climate change, we need to pull together as leaders to make it happen — leaders in business, leaders in utilities, leaders in states, leaders in private industry, leaders in government, and leaders as individuals. We need to wake up and look at the landscapes and admit what’s happening around us. We need to ask ourselves, how can we be part of the solution? How can we provide incentives to reward and incent the right behavior? How can we hold each other accountable?”

Jewell admitted that REI’s efforts to install solar panels at a number of stores was a costly venture at first.  “But we did go to states that gave us an incentive to do that,” Jewell said. “California and Oregon come to mind, places that dominate in terms of where the onsite solar is, but also federal programs that made it affordable for us to go early on into onsite solar.”

“and what a good boy Government tax spender am I”.  And nothing says “incent” like “here’s money I took from Paul, Tom, and Harry to give to REI – a profitable company”.  Just like NH’s RGGI political cronyism did by taking money from every NH electric rate payer as a carbon tax and give it to another multi-million dollar profitable company that belongs to an international behemouth conglomerate.

And here is one REALLY good reason why Government should stay the heck out of this – but Progressives haven’t figured out that Solyndra type efforts also fails at the micro level too:

Jewell admitted that REI’s efforts to install solar panels at a number of stores was a costly venture at first. Over an eight-year period, REI saw a reduction in the cost and an increase in efficiency of solar panels. But to begin with, she said, the internal rate of return for REI’s 11 solar-panel projects was only 1-and-a-half percent over ten years — “not something you generally sign up for unless you are really committed to reducing your carbon footprint.”

And that is after all o fthe tax subsidies.  If I was a manager of a company who had to meet a budget, I’d be hardpressed to explain that kind of ROI.  Now to be fair, REI is a large camping and backpacking supply kind of company – I have bought stuff from them in the past so this solar stuff fits into their model.  But why should I have to help pay for it in my taxes – why can’t they pay for it themselves?

Oh yeah – Progressives have made that decision for us – they will use what they need to have us behave the way they want us to, freedom to choose and Free Markets be damned.  After all, Freedom means they don’t have the control they crave.  Remember what Democrat NH State Rep Leigh Webb said:

 The role of government is to legislate behavior

And always remember that they are legislating behavior that they first approve of.  The Bigger the Government, the smaller the citizen.

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