The Fascist Green Police Super Bowl Ad Is Stuck In My Head

And that’s the point, I guess. Watch this ad for a “clean diesel” car by Audi, and good luck getting this slightly modified version of the Cheap Trick classic “Dream Police” out of your head. I couldn’t get it out with a lobotomy. It’s been playing off and on in my brain since it first aired during the Super Bowl.

But beyond the diddy, I also can’t get the vision of a fascist “green” future out of my head — even if it’s portrayed with a heavy dollop of of “Reno: 911“-style cop-show parody. Good comedy has to have a grain of truth in it to work, and this spot has plenty. It’s not just a peek at a ridiculous future, but a look at our “be green or else” present. An overreaction? Tell that to the chief of America’s Green Police, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, who Tweeted:

“Ok .. That ‘green police’ Audi commercial hits home..”

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Tags: Al Gore, audi, big environment, California Air Resources Board, California Energy Commission
Posted Feb 10th 2010 at 6:59 am in Environment, Media Criticism | 72786285 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/jlakely/2010/02/10/the-fascist-green-police-super-bowl-ad-is-stuck-in-my-head/The+Fascist+Green+Police+Super+Bowl+Ad+Is+Stuck+In+My+Head2010-02-10+14%3A59%3A41James+G.+Lakely

Renewable Energy: The Myth of Germany’s “Grün Energie”

On May 27, President Obama remarked to an audience gathered at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada that Americans, “pioneered solar technology, but we’ve fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in generating it, even though they get less sun than we do.  They certainly get less sun than Nevada.”  Today, Vice President Biden and a handful of Cabinet secretaries releases the Recovery through Retrofit report that will extol the virtues of green jobs and energy savings to be had if only the government had its way.

Observers of national policy may want to look at other countries’ experiences to see how they have fared with efforts to improve environmental policies.  Previous research on green jobs policies in Spain showed that costs were high and benefits short-lived.  But what of the President’s example of Germany?

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Tags: energy production, environmental regulation, Germany, green energy, green jobs
Posted Oct 19th 2009 at 7:00 am in Economics, Environment, News, Obama, Politics | 1764669 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/ptuohe/2009/10/19/renewable-energy-the-myth-of-germanys-grun-energie/Renewable+Energy%3A+The+Myth+of+Germany%27s+%22Gr%C3%BCn+Energie%222009-10-19+14%3A00%3A14Patrick++Tuohey

ReasonTV: Light Bulbs v. The Nanny State

In September, the European Union banned the sale of 100-watt incandescent light bulbs, with lawbreakers facing up to $70,000 in fines. Over the next few years, bans on lower-wattage bulbs kick in. In the United States, similar legislation comes into play in 2012. The idea is to kickstart the market for compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), which use less energy than conventional incandescents. Although CFLs present any number of problems (even beyond a much higher initial cost), governments all over the globe are determined to make them the new standard.

Invented in its modern form by Thomas Edison in 1879, the light bulb became synonymous with a brilliant idea. Now, it seems, it’s just one more symbol of a nanny state that increasingly dictates more choices in our public and private lives.

“Light bulbs vs. The Nanny State” is produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie. Approximately two minutes.

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Tags: compact fluorescent lights, environmental regulation, European Union, incandescent light bulb, Meredith Bragg
Posted Oct 6th 2009 at 7:07 am in Culture, Environment | 1329065 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/ngillespie/2009/10/06/reasontv-light-bulbs-v-the-nanny-state/ReasonTV%3A+Light+Bulbs+v.+The+Nanny+State2009-10-06+14%3A07%3A07Nick+Gillespie