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Notes -
Energy related:
Force roof top solar for all new builds. The panels are cheap (even with the tariffs, which aren't a bad idea if you want tor ramp domestic production capacity) and the roofer is up there anyway. This directly results in drastically lower energy costs for the lifetime of the roof. Consider cheap government loans for rooftop solar on existing roofs.
In addition/instead force the utilities to do dynamic/real-time pricing for electricity. Force them all to follow a standard, so AC units, heat pumps and EV chargers can be "smart" with minimal effort.
Close the light truck/SUV loophole in the CAFE standards and the Energy Tax Act for new cars. 90%+ of big cars are a fashion fad, and people have to be forced to spend less on gas. Closing the loopholes also might result in some long overdue innovation for ICE cars. There's absolutely zero reason why any 2026 ICE car doesn't come with a Toyota Synergy Drive-style drive train and an automatic 30%-50% better fuel economy.
Agreed.
Also, the government should encourage and subsidize "smart homes" that are more resilient and energy efficient. And once the deficit starts reducing and economy improving, invest in nuclear power for the long term...except it seems every nuclear plant takes 10+ years and $billions+ over budget, so only if they can at least avoid past mistakes and make that unlikely.
Coal towns and fracking companies, just buy out: give every townie free solar and pay them to do whatever instead of mining, and pay the companies to transition into solar or nuclear energy, since coal and oil are dying anyways (and I've heard more expensive than solar).
Yeah, I didn't even touch that one. The government is 95% of the reasons for those cost overruns. They could just approve a unified reactor design for the entire nation (or a few hundred suitable locations across all states), no exceptions, no special permits or assessments, done. China builds reactors this way, and they repeatedly got <6 years from breaking ground to max power to grid. And since those projects run 60 years, 70 years or maybe even longer, maybe the government should take on financing as well. Projects running over generations aren't really suited for private enterprise...
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