The beginning of the end?

Citing a Lack of Usage, Costco Removes E.V. Chargers

I feel the only way alternative energy systems, be it solar PV, wind generation, electric vehicles, etc, are going to be successful, is during a strong and growing economy OR when oil & gas prices skyrocket.

With this many people unemployed, and 3 out of 5 of those working unable to pay their mortgage paments, the last thing people are thinking about is the environment.

Good or bad, right or wrong. A "green" lifestyle will always be an alternative to the 'norm'....

I don't know, Bryan. I'm not disagreeing with you but I can remember being green about 35 years ago. All of us neighborhood kids were outside running around, playing army men, or hide and seek, I can remember my mother bringing a basket of clothes outside and hanging them up one by one on the line. We had an old-fashioned clothes line like the one shown in this picture:

Retro clothes line

Imagine how ahead of the time my Mom and so many others were, who had the vision and foresight to use both SOLAR energy and WIND energy to help SAVE THE PLANET FROM UTTER DESTRUCTION...

Don't get me wrong - I'm not against "green." It's just that my paying an extra 4 bucks on my rental car bill really doesn't mean a hill of beans when it comes to helping the environment. Does anyone remember what we all learned in 2nd grade - that TREES can absorb carbon dioxide? A single mature tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 lbs./year and release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support 2 human beings. This entire notion that the planet and humans are separate and distinct entities which clash is simply, in my humble opinion, rubbish. We are just as much a part of the ecosystem here as anything else. Live. Use your resources. Give back when you can. Plant a tree. We don't need new, "green" taxes to do what trees can do.

I believe that we must be good stewards whilst we are here on this earth. But I also believe that the planet is NOT in utter ruin. Even if it were, the fact that some people think that WE can change the weather on a planetary level or have an effect on a planetary level is just so vain that it exemplifies the utter arrogance of men in this age.

To get back on point, I don't see wind or solar happening until the benefits (in dollars $$$ and cents) exceed the cost. It's just economics 101. It may never happen. We will have to keep an eye out for more signs like what Costco is "not doing."

This is a funny coincidence. I was reading your response while sitting in a Building Officials Association of Florida Energy Class presented by John England.

He asked the class if we have ever heard of a 2-pole, 4-wire, solar clothes dryer. Having an electrical background, I was picturing all sorts of configurations in my head trying to figure out how this was electrically possible.

Well, the joke was on us. He showed us a picture of a clothes lin note like the one your picture shows, but with 2 poles and 4 wires and clothes dried by the sun.

It was funny and funny you brought up the same thing....