Dumb blonde lines up her brain cell with Myron Ebell
Here is a clip of one of the stupidest TV show hosts, Gerri Willis, aligning herself with Myron Ebell and helping him with his fallacies against another interviewee who had some actual knowledge.
Myron has two conflicting points of view:
Myron Ebell: Well, certainly the federal government can create jobs by throwing taxpayer dollars into creating jobs, but it doesn't show what the total economic effect is, and in this case I think what you're going to see is a net loss of jobs because what the government is subsidizing is forms of energy that are going to raise our energy prices, higher electric rates, gasoline prices. And if we have less money in our pocketbooks because we've got higher utility bills we're going to be spending less money on other things. That measn fewer people are going to have jobs in things like restaurants, travel, all the things that we spend our money on.
Reid Detchon: If you think about how we are going to succeed in this country economically we got to make something. And we know that clean energy jobs are the future. You look at where the price of oil is going over the next ten twenty years. We've got to be prepared with alternatives, invest in electric vehicles and renewable energy like solar and wind.
Gerri Willis: I'm shocked that the government puts money into these companies when it looks like they're big time losers to me. Is the government typically very good at picking winners in any industry?
Ebell: No, and these subsidies go back to the 1970s and we have one failed generation of companies after another that collect these tax dollars. This is seldom a good investment.
Detchon: You know, from the beginning of American history the government has been deeply involved and working with the private sector whether you're talking about railroads, aerospace, telecom, the internet. Every major industry that this country has ever developed has been in partnership with the government.
Dumb blonde: That was a long darn time ago.
Detchon: We would not have the aerospace industry if it weren't for the government. We would not have the telecom industry if it weren't for the government. When you're starting a new industry with new technology you have to have some help, otherwise we'll just be buying all these products from China.
Blonde: Do you buy that Myron?
Ebell: No. Look, China is building one to two new coal fired power plants a week. They're building ten or twelve new nuclear plants a year. They've got this kind of window dressing of oh yes we're building solar panels, but the fact is the reason China is becoming the manufacturing hub of the world is not just that they have low labour costs, it's also that they have lower energy prices than we do. We're installing a lot of solar panels and windmills to raise our electric prices, and in fact these solar panels are being built in countries that rely on coal-fired power because it's so much cheaper. [Dumb blone laughs] So we're going to have all these green energy and we're going to be too poor to build anything because we won't be able to compete with the countries that have have cheap energy.
Blonde: Reid, what do you make of that? It seems like it bites you in the butt. Not only do the companies fail, but they're raising prices on the people who need to have low prices.
Detchon: I wouldn't want to have Myron on my investment team. You know you have to invest in new technologies and bring down the costs so they're going to be competitive with the conventional fuels. Otherwise you're just condemning yourself to the status quo. I think that the point of investing now, as has been shown in Germany and Japan is you bring down these costs very dramatically over time. You create jobs, three hundred thousand new jobs in Germany because of their solar investments, and you're creating an industry that is going to sustain this country's manufacturing base.
Blonde: I think that's debatable.
Ebell: I think Reid is way behind here on the news. Spain has had to drastically cut its solar and wind subsidies because they can't afford them. Germany is talking about the same thing. So is Britain. China is relying on the old technology coal fired power because it's cheaper. The future is not in higher prices. It's not pricing people out of jobs and pricing consumers out of products. It's trying to put them into jobs and make them able to buy products.
Myron has two conflicting points of view:
(1) In the future technology and innovation will improve our lives and reduce our carbon footprint;Marvel at how easily he changes the subject once the other guy points out that every new technological industries in America has come about as a result of massive government investment, while the dumb blonde busily proclaims that that was all in the past.
(2) All new energy technologies must be resisted
Myron Ebell: Well, certainly the federal government can create jobs by throwing taxpayer dollars into creating jobs, but it doesn't show what the total economic effect is, and in this case I think what you're going to see is a net loss of jobs because what the government is subsidizing is forms of energy that are going to raise our energy prices, higher electric rates, gasoline prices. And if we have less money in our pocketbooks because we've got higher utility bills we're going to be spending less money on other things. That measn fewer people are going to have jobs in things like restaurants, travel, all the things that we spend our money on.
Reid Detchon: If you think about how we are going to succeed in this country economically we got to make something. And we know that clean energy jobs are the future. You look at where the price of oil is going over the next ten twenty years. We've got to be prepared with alternatives, invest in electric vehicles and renewable energy like solar and wind.
Gerri Willis: I'm shocked that the government puts money into these companies when it looks like they're big time losers to me. Is the government typically very good at picking winners in any industry?
Ebell: No, and these subsidies go back to the 1970s and we have one failed generation of companies after another that collect these tax dollars. This is seldom a good investment.
Detchon: You know, from the beginning of American history the government has been deeply involved and working with the private sector whether you're talking about railroads, aerospace, telecom, the internet. Every major industry that this country has ever developed has been in partnership with the government.
Dumb blonde: That was a long darn time ago.
Detchon: We would not have the aerospace industry if it weren't for the government. We would not have the telecom industry if it weren't for the government. When you're starting a new industry with new technology you have to have some help, otherwise we'll just be buying all these products from China.
Blonde: Do you buy that Myron?
Ebell: No. Look, China is building one to two new coal fired power plants a week. They're building ten or twelve new nuclear plants a year. They've got this kind of window dressing of oh yes we're building solar panels, but the fact is the reason China is becoming the manufacturing hub of the world is not just that they have low labour costs, it's also that they have lower energy prices than we do. We're installing a lot of solar panels and windmills to raise our electric prices, and in fact these solar panels are being built in countries that rely on coal-fired power because it's so much cheaper. [Dumb blone laughs] So we're going to have all these green energy and we're going to be too poor to build anything because we won't be able to compete with the countries that have have cheap energy.
Blonde: Reid, what do you make of that? It seems like it bites you in the butt. Not only do the companies fail, but they're raising prices on the people who need to have low prices.
Detchon: I wouldn't want to have Myron on my investment team. You know you have to invest in new technologies and bring down the costs so they're going to be competitive with the conventional fuels. Otherwise you're just condemning yourself to the status quo. I think that the point of investing now, as has been shown in Germany and Japan is you bring down these costs very dramatically over time. You create jobs, three hundred thousand new jobs in Germany because of their solar investments, and you're creating an industry that is going to sustain this country's manufacturing base.
Blonde: I think that's debatable.
Ebell: I think Reid is way behind here on the news. Spain has had to drastically cut its solar and wind subsidies because they can't afford them. Germany is talking about the same thing. So is Britain. China is relying on the old technology coal fired power because it's cheaper. The future is not in higher prices. It's not pricing people out of jobs and pricing consumers out of products. It's trying to put them into jobs and make them able to buy products.
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