Guess which state is opting out of energy-savings rebate program because it’s ‘woke’
Homeowners, which of these consumes more energy in your house: space heating or water heating? Either way, Uncle Sam is ready to help you pay for some energy-efficient upgrades.
The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Biden a year ago, created two energy-efficiency rebate programs that could pay some, or even all, of the costs of buying Energy Star-rated appliances, adding insulation or otherwise making your home more efficient.
The rub: States will administer the programs, and each one must apply for its share of the $8.8 billion in federal funds earmarked for the rebates. And some states may opt out.
…
One state has already indicated it probably won’t participate. Lawmakers in Tallahassee voted to apply for Florida’s allocation — which, at roughly $346 million, is the third-largest in the country, behind California and Texas. But Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the measure as “woke.” The DoE has not been officially notified, so DeSantis could still change his mind.
Here in Florida we like our appliances as inefficient as possible! I only wish I could pay more in utility fees or pollute more to offset the other states involvement in yet another woke conspiracy to save energy! /s
Gotta figure out how to make AC roll coal.
Florida's all about that methane
Conservatives exist to maintain the status quo = funnelling as much profit into fossil fuel oligarchs as possible.
We were driving the 70-or-so minute drive to my mom's house and we were stuck behind some asshole rolling coal so much that it literally impaired the vision of the people behind them from all the black smoke. It was so fucking disgusting. Why the hell do people do that? Just to pollute out of spite? I don't even get it.
I had to google rolling coal because I never even heard of it.
So people pay money to modify their vehicles just to fuck the environment. Holy shit that's stupid.
Same here, and I immediately got to question its legal status and found out that it is apparently not illegal in many states despite US Environment Protection Agency saying so 😢
I just can't believe people would do that out of, I dunno, spite? Like breaking an arm to spite your parents or something
Such meaningful acts of harming others directly or indirectly is what makes me lose faith in humanity sometimes
You can pry my gas-powered blender from my cold dead hands!
Mine burns coal to boil the tears of libruls and power the turbine.
Your running gas? Hell, mine runs on incinerated trash!
I'm sure those inefficient air conditioners in Florida that cost people a fortune don't need replacing. Why bother?
Can Air conditioners really get more efficient than window units or central? There are heat pumps which are better, but other than that the majority of better efficiency comes from better wall and window insulation to keep the cold in.
My understanding is mini-splits are pretty efficient, specifically because of the small hole poked in the wall.
In addition, technology improves. A newer AC is more efficient than an older one.
I imagine heat pumps are fantastic down there as well, since most (all?) of Florida occasionally needs heat, but it never gets cold enough to keep heat pumps from working at their best
I'm from North Carolina, and heat pumps are plenty sufficient here. I grew up in a house with a heat pump, we stayed plenty warm. I'm SURE you don't need a furnace in Florida.
I am betting there are a lot of ancient ACs in Florida that could use an upgrade too.
EEV > TXV > Capillary tube, the evolution of expansion valves and pressure control in refrigeration units has been significant. The lower compression ratio you can run, the higher the COP.
Cap tubes are what you find in basic and old window shakers, completely passive and only work well at one power point, TXVs control superheat which is a big improvement and are common in "ordinary" central units, EEVs allow full control of high and low side pressure and compression ratio and are seen in modern inverter drive/heat pump/mini split systems.
Inverter drive compressors are a huge improvement too.
I feel like there is an outsized asshole population in FL
Well the state is actively encouraging it now with pro-asshole policies.
That's hilarious.
Funding for national disaster? "woke".
Energy rebates? "Woke".
Undercook chicken? "Woke".
Overcook chicken, you better believe it. "Woke".
We have the dumbest population imaginable, all because of woke.
I mean "woke" conveys being aware of something. Therefore anti-woke is being against awareness. Being ignorant.
So yeah anti-woke is about being ignorant and proud of it.
No, other way around, because "woke" is just the current term, the right wing propaganda masters likes to switch terms out once in a while to make it appear fresh.
The population have been dumb long before that, and back then the words for the same nondefinite "everything I don't like"-term were social justice warrior, political correctness, bleeding heart, commie etc.
Yep. Also, they are always looking over their shoulder and under their beds for these mystical "antifa".
I know, but it was a joke referencing the original line from Parks and Rec. Except we were replacing jail with woke. https://youtu.be/eiyfwZVAzGw?si=-l28V0TlJFSDF16D
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/eiyfwZVAzGw?si=-l28V0TlJFSDF16D
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
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Getting hit by more frequent and violent hurricanes? "Woke."
On the other side of the country, we were shocked to see a hurricane. Admittedly it was pretty tame here in San Diego, but further east and north had some real flooding issues.
Perfectly cooked hamburger? Probably Woke
To be fair, what type of renewable resources could you even use in the sunshine state, or along the windy beaches of Daytona. The state just isn't a good fit.
They don't need it. They'll just get new appliances with the insurance money after a hurricane destroyed their last house.
Not gonna be long before that's impossible. Home insurers are leaving Florida.
I really want Floridians to roll that around in their minds. The insurance industry - the most craven, most money-hungry industry in existence - is leaving Florida because it's becoming too risky to insure homes there.
This is your canary-in-a-coal-mine moment, Florida.
They'd just berate the canary for being a pussy. After all, their boss said it was perfectly safe. Would he lie?
Need more free-er canaries
Coal fumes and methane are just the smell of FREEDOM!
Coal canaries? Heeeel yea!
Unsurprisingly, it's kinda difficult to get flood insurance in Florida, so they're probably screwed down that avenue. They voted for the fucker, though, so... Karma?
It's actually difficult to get any form of home insurance in Florida now. Many major insurance companies have left the state because they felt it was too risky.
Flood insurance is provided by the NFIP, mostly, which is a federally run program by FEMA. The cost may be prohibitive in some areas due to the frequency of flooding unless mitigated but they will write anywhere.
That said communities can choose to not participate in the NFIP and as such flood insurance with the NFIP will be unavailable. (Maybe this is what you are referring to?) There are also some coverage limitations as far as maximum amounts, $250k building & $100k contents, they will cover that can require you to seek excess flood insurance from private companies.
There are private flood insurance companies as well but nearly everyone gets at least the first layer of coverage from the NFIP and uses private companies for excess.
I.e., taxpayers nationwide have their income tax dollars diverted so that people can have their homes rebuilt indefinitely on a glorified sandbar in a known high risk hurricane area.
The real problem was actually people with homes along the Mississippi River as it was well known to flood fairly regularly. But never the less people would rebuild their homes exactly as they were before every single time just for them to flood and be a total loss again. Eventually private insurance companies deemed flood an uninsurable risk and refused to cover it. This is in turn drove up the reliance on federal assistance for those affected by flooding.
(It's important to note that all states in the US have been affected by flooding, either cyclical or flash, at one time or another.)
Once it became virtually impossible for people to get flood insurance the US government, when it was reasonable, stepped up and created the NFIP under FEMA to provide flood insurance to the public. The NFIP is designed to be a sustainable, not necessarily profitable, insurance program on its own and as mapping and modeling for things like floods improves it's rating gets more in line with the risks it insures. That said it does get hamstrung by the government that created it by only allowing certain percentage amount rate changes for renewing customers and such but it is functioning like an actual proper insurance company.
Also, like all insurance the more people the NFIP insures the better off it is as it spreads it's risk over a larger number of risks. Sadly flood insurance isn't required everywhere so most of it's risk is concentrated in high risk flood areas which is why it has the coverage limitations it does.
But to get back to original point what you are actually bitching about is FEMA not the NFIP. FEMA comes in and helps people regardless of what insurance they have.
Edit: And Citizens Property Insurance in Florida as well since the population of Florida pays to prop it up when its losses get to big. So you could bitch about that as well. Or the lack of regulations to force people to retrofit and build more wind resistant structures. Lots to bitch about other than the NFIP.
All I know is that the pointless waste of coastal rebuilding goes hand in hand with coastal states like NC literally outlawing using actual data to support their coastal policies. Instead of climate adaptation it’s epic waste and denialism.
Excellent info. Note I said it was difficult to get, not impossible. I'm including prohibitive costs in that difficulty since, if you can't pay for it, it's as good as not being available anyway.
Whoa! Big spenders with their fancy Floridian homeowners insurance.
Honestly if Florida does opt out the Biden admin could absolutely score big on PR.
Open: A children’s birthday party, a bunch of kids milling around, each wearing a shirt with a state flag. Florida flag kid is throwing a tantrum. The Florida child has Ron DeSantis’ face shittily deepfaked onto a child’s body. Florida: [screaming] “THERE’S NO CAKE”
Parent enters the scene carrying a big cake. “Alright everyone! The cake is here!”
[Other children all happily get cake and start eating.]
Florida: [Still screaming] “I WANT CAKE!”
Parent: “Here you go Florida, here’s your cake!”
Florida: “NO! Not THAT Cake! Not YOUR Cake! I WANT CAKE!” [Florida begins to throw a full on kicking and screaming tantrum, screaming at the other kids who are enjoying their cake about how he wants cake but not that cake.]
Parent to Camera: "Under the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction act, Florida is eligible for more than $350 Million in energy efficiency incentives. That’s money that would be easing consumer’s financial troubles in this difficult time, but Governor Ron DeSantis refuses to allow it. Florida is the only state that won’t get their fair share, because Governor DeSantis thinks it’s more important to make a scene than it is to make a difference.
See, you're thinking about this from the point of view of a rational person. The type of person who reads an article in a science journal and goes "oh, that's interesting".
You're dealing with people who think that microchips can go into a liquid vaccine, that Jews are setting America on fire with space lasers, and that Dems eat babies. You're not dealing with normal people.
It’s the normal people that worry me more than the crazy fringe. Extremists come to power with the implicit consent of the political middle. Frankly, I see a centrist as a bigger threat (and opportunity to change a mind) than an anti-woke nutjob.
I had always assumed the microchip thing was silly just because of the scale issue. Totally forgot that vaccines have water in them, because of course they do, we are like 80% water anyway, a little more wont hurt us.
Is this more petro-masculinity?
I think for most of the rabid right wing, declaring something is "woke" is akin to calling someone a "p---y" or "g-y" or something else that is considered emasculating.