Pickens California Group

Comment

Comment by Richard Barnard on September 3, 2009 at 11:15am

SJC:

You appeared to be a nice person until the name calling. I stated below I’ve been in California for 40 plus years. I bought my first home in Santa Rosa. My taxes were about $200 a year. My taxes are now about $2,000 a year. I’m retired and live on a fixed income. If it wasn’t for Prop 13 I would be paying about $9,000 a year. Thousands like me can’t afford to pay those taxes. The only reason we have Prop 13 was because of what was happening to retired and older people in Hawaii. A little prior to 1978 in Hawaii the cost of housing began to inflate egregiously and older people were forced out of their homes because they couldn’t afford to pay the run away inflationary tax increases. Within a few years their taxes increased ten fold. In a very short period of time the same thing was happening in CA. Thank God for Howard Jarvis because he saw what was happening and stopped it. He saved thousands of retired and poorer people from losing their homes in California. Within a few years after Prop 13 passed we built a new library and Police station in Fremont and our Central Park doubled in size. I still own my home. We were told immediately after Prop 13 passed these things wouldn’t happen. Fremont grew from 30,000 residents to over $200,000 residents in that period.

What caused California to go broke was greed, a bad legislature in Sacramento and a unionized government. Unionized pension plans are breaking the back of every municipality in CA. In addition, Sacramento doesn’t have any money because of State Pension Plans, the huge cost of our unionized prisons and bad laws passed that caused the huge prison population. Our schools are failing because of poorly planned diversity by Sacramento. Our state universities are the least expensive to attend in America. You get what you pay for. They should raise tuition fees. I know I just made some cry foul. The K12 system in CA includes junior colleges that are hurt when municipalities go broke; however, they belong to and are run by government teacher’s unions. When and how did we let unions run California? Most intelligent people know that monopolies are dangerous. Sacramento is a monopoly run by unions. You may be able to change some of this in 2010.

I do hope you aren’t nearing retirement. You sound like you may be fairly young. I hope some of your older loved ones live in areas that don’t have inflationary house prices and taxes.

Best wishes

Richard BARNARD

Comment by SJC on September 2, 2009 at 8:56pm

Richard Bernard,

You can believe what every you want and no one will change your mind, but many experts including Warren Buffet KNOW that Prop 13 is the cause of many if not most of California's financial problems.

Freezing taxes at the1978 rate for millions while pretending that everything does not cost more every year is selfish, greedy and reckless. It is NOT what good citizens do, but it is what people that only care about themselves do.

Comment by Richard Barnard on September 2, 2009 at 10:44am

SJC:

I don't know if you own a home in CA but if you do you benefit from Prop 13. All that are buying $800,000 homes will only be paying the Prop 13 tax when their home inflates to $2,000,000.00. Homes will inflate faster then you think.

I do agree with you that desalination is needed in CA. Government can help with tax breaks for non-government institutions. CA is broke but it isn't because of Prop 13.

Comment by SJC on September 2, 2009 at 8:07am

"Why is there no activity in the government to build a group of desalination plants up and down the coast?"

I will take a guess and say...money. For 30 years we have been told the private sector will provide all we need. Now that we see that is not true, we are too broke to do anything.

Solar thermal can provide electricity and clean water for millions in California, but the state is so broke from Prop 13 that is can not even run the schools. When people are told that government is the problem, they do not work together for the common good and the status stays in place. Good for a few but bad for many.

Comment by SJC on August 29, 2009 at 8:21pm

I would say that it starts with money for new ideas. Most capital comes from groups that want a huge profit in a short time. New ideas that are good for the country may not be hugely profitable, but are necessary.

Comment by Richard Barnard on August 29, 2009 at 12:29pm

California is interesting. I've lived here for 43 years. Started out in Oakland, moved to Santa Rosa, moved to San Jose and then moved to Fremont where I've been for 35 years. I've seen CA go from DOS to Windows, Angela Davis, a moon beam governor, hippies, some of the best rock music in the world, the burning of the City of Angles, gas from 35 cents a gallon to $4,00 a gallon, black panthers, psychedelics, visionaries and extremist.

Where has all the silicon gone in Silicon Valley? Where have all the Aircraft manufacturers gone from Southern CA; i.e., Lockheed, Hughes Aircraft, McDonald Douglas, etc. What happened to Apple, Intel, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, and HP. Where are their new facilities? What happened to NUMMI? Is there any water left in the Central Valley? Has diversity destroyed our schools? How come 50% of our population is at or below poverty levels? Can it be changed? Well managed diversity is good with proper leadership. Where is our leadership? Why isn't the most beautiful state in the union the most prosperous? We have the best weather, universities and agriculture. Why are there so few participants in this group? There is also a Silicon Valley CA group with only a few participants. We have the largest population in America we should have the largest groups on the PP. Is the participation on the PP by CA indicative of what happening in CA?

I love CA – what happened? We won't have a green revolution in CA if we don't change. It took us 43 years to deteriorate. Will it take us 43 years to recover? I would at least like my children see CA prosperous again. Are you despondent CA? If you are knock it off. I remember what CA was. If your new to CA you missed one hell of a ride. The rides not over.

Richard

Comment by Wayne J.R. Bowser, LEED AP on August 6, 2009 at 10:43am

Thank you, John!
This next week, Monday August 10th, John and I will be in Las Vegas for the National Clean Energy Summit 2.0 and broadcasting a special segment of the The Green Revolution Show.

Check us out and join the conversation!

Comment by John Wesley Nobles on July 31, 2009 at 5:07pm

Last week Congressman Brian Bilbray, CA 50 was on The Green Revolution Show and stated he supports Pickens Plan. A thank you letter and pledge form was sent out to him that day. We hope to receive his signed pledge form soon. California is currently lagging behind many states for pledge signers. Maybe this August we will catch up by signing up Mayors, CA & US Legislators, and our Governor. We need a lot more support here in California. If all 50,300 of us in California just called our Mayors and asked for their support our other elected representatives would likely follow. You can listen to Congressman Bilbray by going to The Green Revolution Show.Com.

Thank you

Comment by John Reed on July 5, 2009 at 8:10am

I am a Director of a Company that has been converting diesel and gasoline engines to run on CNG for more than a decade. I can tell you that the biggest hurdle to adoption of CNG technology in the USA has been the turf war between CARB (the California Air Resources Board) and the US EPA over just who exactly is the overlord of exhaust emissions.
These two agencie's unwillingness to streamline, clarify or adjust regulations for new technology is legendary.
My company currently has the product and capability to convert 85% of existing in use heavy duty diesel engines to run more efficiently ( more power, zero PM, 30% less CO2, etc) on CNG or LNG than on any form of "clean diesel fuel" for less than $10,000 per engine, but CARB won't allow it...
In California, thousands of trucking, construction and agricultural diesels must be retro-fitted with Particulate Matter (PM) filtration systems or be moved out of the state by this December. The cost of these systems range from $8,000-$25,000 per engine. This ruling will wipeout entire businesses, and thousands of jobs. The retrofitting of these diesel engines actually causes them to use more fuel for the same work, thereby increasing our dependence on foreign oil, and actually increasing Green House Gas production.
CARB will not allow conversion of these very same engines to run on CNG, even though it pays for itself through decreased fuel costs, eliminates PM pollution ( the target of all this legislation), and decreases CO2 and GHG production as dictated by AB32.
Conversion fulfills all the goals, but CARB won't let it happen.
HOW are they stopping it?
According to CARB, if you convert an existing in use heavy duty diesel engine to run on CNG or LNG, they consider it a BRAND NEW engine, and the converting party must now Guarantee/Warranty the motor as if new. For on road engines, this means for 500,000 miles, and the engine must meet 2012 exhaust emissions standard. Doesn't matter if the engine is 10, 20 or 50 years old.
Additionally, as a BRAND NEW motor, each model/engine variant must be CARB and EPA certified to pass the 2012 standard at a cost of over $350,000 per engine per model per year of production.
What if you sell retrofit Diesel filters instead? You only have to warranty your retrofit equipment for two years, and there is no requirement to warranty the motor at all. If your system kills the engine, too bad for the owner...
Certification of these retrofits involves a simple durability testing, and they can be certified across a Family of motors covering many variants and model years with a single certification..
We actually sell the PM filters to other companies here in CA making retrofit kits, but we pulled out of that business ourselves because it is THE WRONG SOLUTION.
If CARB would simply allow CNG conversion to be treated the same as the retrofit kits, we could convert thousands of AG pumps in the Central Valley, and eliminate a large reason why they are a federal "non-attainment" area in terms of clean air. We could convert the entire fleet of container carriers at the Ports of LA and Long Beach, allowing them to expand operations as they would now fall well below the air pollution cap that has held back expansion. This creates JOBS.
So if you really want to "INVEST" in the Pickens Plan, invest some time in calling California Legislators and tell them to clean house at CARB...namely to throw out Mary Nichols and "Dr." Eggert.
Oh wait, these are the same idiots that still can't pass a budget....
Dr. John Reed
Omnitek Engineering

Comment by Wayne J.R. Bowser, LEED AP on July 3, 2009 at 9:42pm

Happy Independence...Energy Independence!
There will be a day when your grandchildren will ask, "What was it like without windmills, Grandma? Tell me about those big smoking trucks you used to drive, Grandpa."

Mr. Pickens has started something we are in support of because we believe in American Liberty. It's what drives us and it's our values that cause others to hate us. We're free, proud and independent and one of the many things that set us apart, is we welcome others to join us. Join us in the liberty to pursue greatness.

We are many; we are one...e pluribus unum - Out of many, one!

The Pickens Plan is about Energy Independence from dictators that hate us for our values of freedom, liberty and justice for all. Together we will take back this country and become one...One nation under God!

Help me bring Mr. Pickens to the airways every week and back to The Green Revolution Show! Want a place to chat with Boone? We can share ideas and hear first hand what the Pickens Army is up to from the Pickens Army. Let Boone know that you want to hear from him weekly and have a opportunity to converse.

Your grandchildren will be asking you, "What was it like being in the Pickens Army and talking to Mr. Pickens, himself?"

Happy Independence, Pickens Army...Energy Independence!

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