Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Gaia's revenge on Renewable Energy Policy

Not too long after our own little local 1-turbine Windy Power For the Masses experiment up on Gebbie's Pass was destroyed by a 'sudden change in wind direction', we hear of another Windy Irony.

As the inimitable Mark Steyn notes, who says Gaia doesn't have a sense of humour?

With a history like this, the insurance premiums on exposed turbine farms alone will be a significant chunk of operating expense. After all, it's like having a dam washed away...noooo - don't say that's happened too?

See this for a quick if irreverent survey of the current NZ state of play in Energy Policy.

Monday, June 06, 2005

A healthy (EU) Constitution

Telegraph | Opinion | A healthy Constitution is a succinct, pointed and thoroughly deserved riposte to the bloated, anti-democratic Pan-European effort termed the 'EU Constitution'. The old Constitution was decisively rejected by France and by Holland: this new effort should be the first of many alternative proposals. One detects the influence of the US Constitution, too, in the Telegraph's efforts - funny, that. After all, the US has been a democracy a couple of centuries longer than Germany, and substantially longer than France (where it took a good chunk of the 19th century to wriggle free of the Second Empire...). And it's (the Telegraph's effort) is - gasp - readable! The commoners will be able to understand it! Second gasp. Why, this will never do.