From the Star Ledger:
Home prices drop in NJ markets, according to realtors group
Home prices dropped in three out of four New Jersey metro areas tracked by the National Association of Realtors at the end of the fourth quarter.
Data compiled by the NAR showed median home prices for a single-family home in the Newark-Union area fell 1.1 percent from the previous year to $357,000. They dropped more dramatically in the Trenton-Ewing (down 5.7 percent to $232,900) and Atlantic City (down 4.7 percent to $217,200) areas.
Only the Edison region showed an increase, up 6.1 percent to $308,400.
The median price is where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
Two other areas monitored by the NAR that cross state lines showed gains. The metropolitan region that includes Northern New Jersey, New York City and White Plains, N.Y., showed a 4.6 percent increase to $462,000. In Western New Jersey, the region that includes Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton jumped 8.7 percent to $199,700.
Frist!
The “entire North Polar ice cap will be gone in five years,’’ Gore, now 65, told a German TV audience in 2008. Wrong.
In fact, receding Arctic ice rebounded between 2012 and 2013, growing by 29 percent into an unbroken patch more than half the size of Europe and within 5 percent of what it was 30 years ago, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
Last month near the South Pole, a Russian ship carrying scientists and tourists traveled to the bottom of the Earth so passengers might document global warming and shrinking ice caps. But the ship got stuck on ice that was thicker than at any time since records started being kept in 1978. The warming fans were airlifted to safety by helicopter, leaving behind confused penguins.
And — whoops! — climate scientists conceded last year that the Earth’s surface temperature stopped rising in 1997. (Or did temps take a temporary “pause,’’ as warmists say?) Too bad for makers of jet-skis and tank tops: We might see global cooling into the 2030s.
Warmists blamed Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012 on greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. But the hurricane season that ended on Nov. 30, 2013, was among the quietest since 1960, according to an opinion piece by journalist and attorney Michael Fumento published in The Post.
http://nypost.com/2014/02/17/al-gores-global-warming-rhetoric-is-put-on-ice/
I just read this yesterday:
“NSIDC data indicate that ice extent in the Bering Sea for most of this winter has been between 20 to 30 percent above the 1979 to 2000 average. February 2012 had the highest ice extent for the area since satellite records started.”
Liberalism is just another word for nothing else to lose.
More later… running errands.
As someone who has multiple degrees in science, I can attest. The left seems to think that they are in tune with science while the right is woefully ignorant. A recent survey showed 60% of Republicans believed in neither evolution nor climate change. What was a little more alarming, although you would never know if from the headline is that 40% of Democrats did not believe in either as well. With respect to climate change, it is occurring, because it always has. Beyond that, the greenhouse effect is real. How much it is responsible for any temperature fluctuations, that’s up for debate. The models that predict this stuff are incredibly insufficient and the apocalyptic scenario that is often tossed out there is just not going to happen. What people don’t understand is that in order to secure federal funding, its pays to be an alarmist. Climate scientists get funded this way because politicians will divert money their way. The CDC does this on an annual basis trying to convince us that some sort of flu (bird, swine, sars) is going to wipe us all out.
In the end, there is some truth to the left agreeing with science and the right dismissing it without anyone actually ever looking at the science behind it. The problem with the left is that they blindly accept anything someone with a degree says even if it is asinine. The problem with the right is, they blindly dismiss anything anyone with a degree says, even if it is straight forward and correct. In the end, I’ve found, its a rare day that you change anyone’s mind on any issue, no matter how hard you try. Meanwhile, that’s all people spend their time doing this days. It’s a big waste.
Care about global pollution and global warming? Boycott China, India, Russia, and Australia. After you do all that, go hug a tree.
(Or install LED lighting and drive a little electric car)
4 – Global warming is the will of god, who are we to try to play god and change that?
Ben – The is more too it than that. The left consider themselves the keepers of intellectualism and use that to the point where there can be no debate, they won’t stand still for one.
They touted a Green Technology Economy that was to lead the global economy to prosperity for everyone. Obama promised millions of electric cars by now and lots of green energy jobs to go with it. 2013 sales of the taxpayer funded Volt? 23,094…Total plug in electric car sales were about 96,000 in the US last year.
To date I have yet to see any evidence that electric cars have less of a carbon footprint than autos run on 100% stored dinosaur energy. Apparently electric cars can actually contribute as much if not more carbon emissions than a traditional gasoline powered auto. The huge initial emissions from manufacturing is the cause. The components of an electric car from it’s battery to charging it with electricity created by stored dinosaur energy means the car will actually have put more carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere than a similar-size gasoline-powered car driven the same number of miles and it cost a heck of allot more too, so you as a buyer need to create tons of carbon emissions just to earn the money to buy the electric car too. Most dinosaur fueled autos can be recycled, not so for lithium powered cars. But don’t bother trying to debate those with bigger brains and egos than you.
Yet you cannot argue with DiCaprio or Al Gore on the subject as they drive around in $100k Fisker Karma electric cars, and fly in private jets because they say buying carbon credits to offset their excesses covers it, and don’t bother posting on Krugman’s blog you will be told that what they are discussing is imperceptible to you in any way so you should just go away.
The real challenge for the left is to get green energy cheaper than fossil fuels. However that is never going to happen. You cannot beat low cost stored dinosaur energy in the form of oil. It was created by 100 million years of dead organisms piling up and cooking, and those dead organisms were created with 100 million years worth of sunlight and oxygen.
Once we run out of the cheap dinosaur energy that gives us the oil we pump from the ground today we will then begin to take the remaining coal from the ground formed from the dead remains of trees that grew for 100 million years fueled my millions of years of sunlight and carbon dioxide. No amount of solar panels and wind farms will ever create enough cheap green energy to compete with that. And even a B – student in chemistry can see that, but you won’t even be invited to the debate so don’t bother.
There is no doubt that burning fossil fuels will have some type of effect on our planet based on the cause/effect law of our planet. Every action carries a consequence. No matter what.
The part I think we can all agree upon is that no one really knows what the consequences or effects of our actions really are.
charging it with electricity created by stored dinosaur energy means the car will actually have put more carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere than a similar-size gasoline-powered car driven the same number of miles
Doesn’t the law of thermodynamics disprove this statement? There is no way that small internal combustion engine is more efficient than a large scale turbine generator. The *BEST* internal combustion engines only push 30-35% efficiency (and you do not have one of these in your car). Gas turbines I believe are better than 60%.
Most dinosaur fueled autos can be recycled, not so for lithium powered cars.
I suspect lithium battery recycling will become very popular once we have enough batteries to sustain an industry. Also suspect that it will be cheaper and require less energy to extract rare earths from spent batteries than from the dirt.
I agree with Juice that oil cannot be beat. Put a quart of gas in a snowblower and just watch how much work it does. It is a lot of stored energy in PORTABLE FORM, and will be needed a long time for transportation until something better is found which has not happened yet. Using oil to heat a home is a crime and a waste as there are other ways to do that. Also, states and insurance companies should allow standard plates to be used as “dealer plates” so one can own multiple cars, one for a commute to work and yet own a truck to do work around the house on weekends without having to pay an extra fee for each.
Why did the US tariff solar panels from china?
In addition – large scale power plants can leverage carbon sequestration technology to reduce overall carbon emissions. This is something that would be near impossible to implement in a car.
Its a cool day in Hades because I agree with Michael.
Irrespective of whether or how much fossil fuel (and other) pollution affects the planet, I consider it a worthy pursuit to minimize it to the extent practicable. I am willing to incur some (i.e., reasonable and proportional) cost for this.
I depart from the left in that they are all stick and no carrot. I’m always looking to dovetail it to investment (e.g., efficient lighting and appliances that save me money). Corporations do this as well and are seeing that green can mean green (as in money!). This should be incentivized and rewarded. More carrot and less stick and you will see results.
Oh, and the federal gas tax is too low.
Put a quart of gas in a snowblower and just watch how much work it does. It is a lot of stored energy in PORTABLE FORM, and will be needed a long time for transportation until something better is found which has not happened yet.
Bad analogy – wildly inefficient and nearly ancient technology – carburetors, no catalytic converter, no variable timing, most of these engines are running poorly tuned and burning oil.
re: # 9 – Grim – I am including the carbon emissions from manufacturing the vehicle, not just carbon output from the power plants and charging etc. Either way I will concede over time if manufacturing improves and they get off the lithium cycle completely then electric cars over a life cycle from manufacturing until retirement and recycling will output less carbon.
What I have to say more importantly is there is a pretty good chance we will lose the ability to drive our expensive heavy on inefficient dinosaur fueled vehicles as oil becomes less plentiful. The future holds that green energy will never meet the needs of the American driver, since green energy just cannot compete with the amount of stored energy in dead dinosaurs. Our descendants somewhere down the line will be taking mostly the bus and train and if they are lucky perhaps a moped. That may be a good thing, since they will get back something we are all missing in our hectic lives which is time to smell the roses. They will look back at history and wonder why we used to speed around 80 MPH in our 4,000 lb dinosaur burning SUVs and why we were always in such as rush.
Butanol, if they can figure out how to keep it from killing the bacteria.
I wonder what amount of carbon will be kicked up if there is a WW III over fossil fuels? The developing world is getting quite thirsty for the dead dinosaur go juice after all.
The other major benefit of transitioning to a higher percentage of electric cars is that you can abstract the fuel from the vehicle. Today – cars need gasoline, and gasoline comes from oil.
With electric, the fuel can be any kind of dead dinosaur, or even dinosaur farts (nat gas), but also nuclear, solar, dead bird (wind), etc. Kilowatts are fungible.
This creates an amazing amount of flexibility that doesn’t exist today. Every time an idiot in the middle east starts yammering, the cost to drive a mile goes up.
This could create a scenario where high-energy density fuels could be more strategically used where necessary – for example – long haul trucking – vehicle operations in remote areas – boats, etc.
http://www.nj.com/passaic-county/index.ssf/2014/02/suspended_paterson_cop_accused_of_sex_assault_on_prisoner_could_receive_70000_payout.html
Oh, the garden state
14 Grim,
Not a bad analogy, although I agree that snowblowers are inefficient as you pointed out.
People rarely push a car. But they do shovel snow. And heavy packed snow at that. I find you realize the power of something when you can relate to the amount of work it puts out. Maybe it’s just me but I can really see the energy a few ounces of gas has when it is throwing slush from the end of my driveway and I gain a respect for it as it is clearly visible to me.
Add your point of inefficiency and it gains more respect.
Grim – assuming we put a windmill and solar panel on every roof there would be enough power to charge the battery.
However what is really needed is a non lithium exchangeable liquid battery fluid/fuel. The latest research is in rechargeable fuels like magnesium/antimony. Imagine pulling into a pumping station and filling your electric car, but in this case exchanging the battery liquids with a liquid that is fully energized. A quick replacement and you are off for another 100 mile drive.
Then again, you have idiots in Ridgewood complaining that they are scared of the power lines. I suspect from an infrastructure build-out perspective, nothing will change until we have no choice but to change.
15 Juice
“They will look back at history and wonder why we used to speed around 80 MPH in our 4,000 lb dinosaur burning SUVs and why we were always in such as rush.”
Simple, it’s because we can afford to. Just because you can do something does not mean you should, yet some do. The future generations will have to come up with solutions to problems that we create, just like we are dealing with lead paint, asbestos,etc.
They had an idea these were going to be problems also. I’m sure there were warnings. It’s not about doing the right thing, it’s about profit. Always was, always will be.
Let’s not forget about conservation/efficiency. LED’s for example. Less energy required will mean less energy having to generate.
It would cost me about $10k to outfit my roof with enough solar panels to completely cover my daily driving miles. Not terribly expensive. I’d essentially drive for free.
Compared to my SUV – payback would be about 4 years.
Which raises an interesting question about solar payback. When you look at solar compared to grid – payback stretches into 20-30 years. Compare with gasoline, and like I say above, payback drops to about 4 years.
Grim,
Home solar payback is actually cheaper. I’ll give you some calcs:
If you are a smart, entrepreneurial type of guy who knows how to work with contractors and the like and can do some of your own work , you can have solar panels installed as low as 2 bucks per watt. That’s how far its gone down in price, from about $5 in about 3 years. So lets say you spent $30k on solar installation of nominal 15kw. That actually means you are outputting 15*1.15 =17.25 kw. The $30k cost gives you a fed tax credit of $9k. That leaves you with $21k of cost. Now, for that 17.25kw, you will receive as non-taxable income, at an average SREC rate of $140 per KW = about $200 monthly. On top of that, using my personal consumption numbers, I would save $200 bucks a month average on electricity bills, so total monthly savings is $400. Times 12= $4800 annually. 21000/4800 = 4.38 years payback. Anything after that is gravy.
This does assume a best case scenario, but the numbers are close.
X [26];
Widely variable results. I’m in a wooded area, on a north-facing side of one of many Morris Co. hills. There’s some southern exposure, as a few neighbors have satellite TV dishes (those always point towards an equatorial geo-synchronous orbit). Even so, I can’t imagine I’d get much bang for my buck operating the panels themselves, never mind the cost of deforestation. There are a few solar installations in my neighborhood, but those are differently situated.
On the other hand, calling it a “green” solar project might be just the ticket to grease the tree-removal permits through the township offices.
Small displacement diesel – like the Honda CRV sold in the UK.
In Europe, Volvo sold their small wagon w diesel and it was getting over 50mpg highway.
1.6L turbodiesel w 8 speed transmission would address the auto portion of our environmental issues quickly.
26.
What would be the payback time without the tariffs?
28
When I was in Europe, I saw less traffic lights and more roundabouts. Idling at traffic lights nets zero mpg.
(30) Not worth it without incentives. NJ went nuts on solar several years ago when SRECs were over $600 and businesses could write off entire cost in 1 year plus get the tax credit. They overbuilt and the market plunged. It’s all cyclical.
I’d need to cut down 2 more trees to get a clear southern line of sight.
Rear of my house is only a few degrees off from ideal.
Very valuable, entertaining, objective and current…
Chicago Booth Economic Outlook Lunch…note recorded January 8th…
Austan Goolsbee’s speech….
check minute 7:30-9:00 regarding housing
check minute 14:55 regarding healthcare
Although I suggest watching the whole thing…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9b7YtMjKdE
Chi…from yesterday.
I have been to Percy Street BBQ and it was a fun little place with extremely reasonable prices. The BBQ is better than Super Dave’s, but not quite up to Dinosaur in quality, though similar. Really awesome draft beer list where you will find a great sampling of different varieties of craft beers. Though, Kraftwork is still the best in Fishtown when it comes to rare kegs. And the Coconut Club Sandwich at the Memphis Taproom is probably the most unique and tasty (healthy) sandwich I’ve ever had. Their hotdog truck with canned beers is a sweet deal too, and a fun place to watch Philly sports teams play. They project the video on a brick wall painted white outside. Though it’s too cold during the winter. The best beer place ever, though serves only Belgians (the best), is Eulogy. They have many beers that you can’t get outside of Europe. Some, not even outside of Belgium. Check out this beer menu. http://www.eulogybar.com/
Ugh. Strike that. Haven’t been to Percy. Confused it with Khyber Pass. Worth a drink at for the bacon grease popcorn alone.
Both are pretty close to each other. Neither are fishtown.
Stu: How about this for a concept?
We only sell three things: handmade donuts, P.T.’s Coffee, and Korean-style, twice-fried chicken.
http://www.federaldonuts.com/FederalDonutsMenu.pdf
Just one of those little, funny, reminders that, like the Matrix, so much of our life is programmed or shaped by tax considerations. . . .
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/16/abba-outfits-tax-deduction-bjorn-ulvaeus
Fed Donuts: Sounds like they are trying too hard. There’s a really popular food truck that parks outside the ad agencies on Hudson by my NY office. They make Korean tacos. It’s essentially korean barbecued pork on a soft tortilla. Only instead of lettuce, they use Kimchee. The first time I tried it, I thought it was unique. The second time, I realized I was paying $10 for what essentially tasted like kimchee on a tortilla.
Another neat place in Philly where the experience is just a bit better than the food, although its uniqueness makes it worth it, is Pizza Brain. Though be warned. It’s hipster central. Make sure you check out the dark light bathroom.
And Grim…the snowblower analogy is a beauty. The stupid Honda Snowthrower that I own has a .3 gallon fuel capacity which takes you by surprise when you go to fill it. It’s enough gas for me to do three 100 foot driveways.
Nom [38];
Not just taxes, but gov’t regulations writ large.
Last year I worked with a company doing low-flow water turbines for remote power generation: ~5 kW capacity, worked in creeks as shallow as ~3ft. They negotiated to do their testing on Indian reservations, which was necessary to avoid federal permitting on what could be placed in ‘navigable waters’. Tail wagging dog.
Con’t [38];
Besides, that’s not really unique tax policy, is it? A cop’s uniform (and the maintenance of it — read as ‘dry cleaning’) is deductible. My uniform, a suit and tie, and its dry clean maintenance, is not. I always just thought it a little tax code sop to the municipal unions. The tax code is full of those for all sorts of constituencies.
(41) Is that right? 200 amps at 240V out of a small turbine? What kind of water flow is needed to keep that baby humming? What’s a good analogy? creek, stream, etc?
Something like this? Pretty darn impressive they can get 5kw.
http://www.newenergycorp.ca/Products/PowerGeneration/5kWPowerGenerationSystem/tabid/69/Default.aspx
@guardiannews: Observer front page, Sunday 16 February 2014 – Miliband’s stark warning: climate change an issue of national security http://t.co/LcZz3ZxbSf
@GuardianUS: ‘Conservatives’ debt hysteria and climate change denialism are born of a basic distrust of government.’ http://t.co/vvHJEVMg2N
There is a company that has been trying to harness the east river for over decade with turbines, they are the only approved company in the entire USA to do so. How are they still in business?
If you look on the FERC website nobody is investing in this.
http://verdantpower.com/what-initiative/
Fed Donuts: Sounds like they are trying too hard. There’s a really popular food truck that parks outside the ad agencies on Hudson by my NY office. They make Korean tacos. It’s essentially korean barbecued pork on a soft tortilla. Only instead of lettuce, they use Kimchee. The first time I tried it, I thought it was unique. The second time, I realized I was paying $10 for what essentially tasted like kimchee on a tortilla.
Another neat place in Philly where the experience is just a bit better than the food, although its uniqueness makes it worth it, is Pizza Brain. Though be warned. It’s hipster central. Make sure you check out the dark light bathroom.
No place in Philly compares to Paesano’s. If there were a list of the 20 greatest sandwiches to grace god’s earth, Paesano’s would have at least half of them.
40 lib
Glad someone understood my point. I don’t see the 15 gal that goes in my car’s gas tank but do see the quart I put in the blower. Then its man and machine vs nature and town DPW. I respect that quart a little more than most.
Montklair was going to put one of those water turbines in a tiny creek in Edgemont Park. I don’t remember the exact dollar amounts involved, but at the first reading during the town council meeting I quickly provided an ROI which with optimal conditions would have taken nearly 200 years to recoup. This is what happens when your town has an environmental coordinator now sustenance officer on the payroll. Anyone want to look up what he makes? I couldn’t find it. His name is Gray Russell.
“Montclair was one of three municipalities in New Jersey — along with Cherry Hill and Highland Park — to get the national climate showcase community grant. In Montclair, much of the money will be used to pay Russell’s part-time salary for two years.”
Wonderful.
Jesus where did this surprise storm come from? Flying out to Ohio in the morning. Ugh, this is going to be a disaster.
[42] moose,
No, its identical to our rule but the idea was that ABBA had the bizarre costumes simply because dressing that way also entitled them to a tax break. Just an example of how pervasive tax-driven design is in our lives.
Tuesday Sunny, with a high near 81. Light east wind increasing to 5 to 9 mph in the morning.
Tuesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 64. East wind 6 to 8 mph.
Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 83. East wind 6 to 9 mph.
Wednesday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 68. East wind around 8 mph.
Thursday Mostly sunny, with a high near 84. East wind 8 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Thursday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. East wind 9 to 11 mph.
Friday Mostly sunny, with a high near 85. Southeast wind 9 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.
Friday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 69.
Saturday Mostly sunny, with a high near 85.
Saturday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 67.
Sunday Mostly sunny, with a high near 86.
Best Sochi pic yet…
https://twitter.com/SochiProbIems/status/432524860669964288
Probably a fake, they don’t have shower curtains in Sochi.
Today, I went to my daughter’s school as they were having their Valentine’s party today (they lost the holiday due to snow days).
The boy sitting across from my daughter? Graydon!!! I saw his name on his desk and nearly pissed my pants trying to keep from laughing.
Guesses?
#1 China is a command economy and the Chinese companies are pricing below cost for any of the following reasons: (1) China artificially creating industry; (2) China funneling money to crony bureaucrats and the ones they love; (3) predatory pricing against foreign competitors
#2 U.S. is try to protect politically connected companies related to populist rhetoric; U.S. is protecting its own capital invested in industry from loss and/or default.
Phoenix says:
February 17, 2014 at 10:48 am
Why did the US tariff solar panels from china?
I think the most compelling argument against all of this green crap is exceedingly simple……there is not one major hurdle, but rather two…..even if the we openly agree that climate change is occurring – which we do not -…..you still need to prove that all of the time, effort, and money being allocated to solutions are actually effectual…….in other words prove the disease and prove that the cure works, all the while you are unable to measure either……yet bankrupt us all in the process……go f yourself…
Ben says:
February 17, 2014 at 9:25 am
Beyond that, the greenhouse effect is real. How much it is responsible for any temperature fluctuations, that’s up for debate.
The driving force behind this big climate push is stocks. Guys like Gore are holding massive stockpiles of stocks in companies that aren’t even profitable despite heavy subsidies. They want the carbon credit system put in place so their companies that they bought for pennies suddenly jump in value 100 fold as they now have a magical fictitious value added to them through carbon credits.
59- Gore blows!!
Disaster is nigh. Take heed.
Richard Cabela < Vigoda
57 chifi
funny how they never tariff the crap china sells us that we don’t need.
Cheap energy in the form of cheap solar panels would be helpful to us.
No problem getting crappy toys and tainted dog food from China. No one thinks to tariff that stuff.
Guess the correct palms are not being greased, or there are utilities that frown on competition.