[lug] Anyone else hate to get rid of old equipment?

[Bear Giles]

It can be hard to figure out which is the big problem and which is the
little one.

A good example - the homeowner who wants to put in a little solar panel that
will let the house take care of most of its own electric power and will pay
for itself in, e.g., 15 years, and the electric utility that realizes it
needs to put in three major power plants in the next 20 years to cover
increased demand.  More CO2 from coal or natural gas lines, or endless
fights for nuclear plants, etc.

But they're actually two faces of the same problem.  Other countries
(Germany, according to Thom Hartmann) have required utilities to offer
low-interest (or interest-free?) loans to customers for those solar panels.
The utilities sell less power... but they also need to produce less power.
Over time those little dinky panels eliminate the need for multiple power
plants.

CFL bulbs won't cut it.  They're better than nothing but that's not saying
much.  But those little solar panels can make a big difference.  IF you can
get them into people's hands.  Companies that must answer to stockholders
demanding ever higher returns can't do it alone.
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