Posted on 08/10/2008 1:39:36 PM PDT by lowbridge
There is little whining here about Denmark having $10-a-gallon gasoline because of high energy taxes. The shaping of the market with high energy standards and taxes on fossil fuels by the Danish government has actually had “a positive impact on job creation,” added Hedegaard. “For example, the wind industry — it was nothing in the 1970s. Today, one-third of all terrestrial wind turbines in the world come from Denmark.” In the last 10 years, Denmark’s exports of energy efficiency products have tripled. Energy technology exports rose 8 percent in 2007 to more than $10.5 billion in 2006, compared with a 2 percent rise in 2007 for Danish exports as a whole.
“It is one of our fastest-growing export areas,” said Hedegaard. It is one reason that unemployment in Denmark today is 1.6 percent. In 1973, said Hedegaard, “we got 99 percent of our energy from the Middle East. Today it is zero.”
Frankly, when you compare how America has responded to the 1973 oil shock and how Denmark has responded, we look pathetic.
“I have observed that in all other countries, including in America, people are complaining about how prices of [gasoline] are going up,” Denmark’s prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, told me. “The cure is not to reduce the price, but, on the contrary, to raise it even higher to break our addiction to oil. We are going to introduce a new tax reform in the direction of even higher taxation on energy and the revenue generated on that will be used to cut taxes on personal income — so we will improve incentives to work and improve incentives to save energy and develop renewable energy.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
“In 1973, said Hedegaard, “we got 99 percent of our energy from the Middle East. Today it is zero.”
This statistic needs to become a worldwide reality and fast.
Yeah, Tommy. We should all aspire to ride our bikes in the rain. That's the liberal idiots idea of progress.
Could we switch to coal, too?
Denmark is just slightly larger than MARYLAND.
About 30 or 40 wind turbines and a couple of coal fired plants probably take care of most of the country.
U.S. coal fired power plants put 25 tons of uranium up the smokestack/year. Not to mention thorium, mercury and other goodies.
I looked for this. Do you have a link to the info?
No doubt there are things we can learn. But, to believe we could replicate what a tiny nation has done on energy is ridiculous. Whats the big deal exactly? 2/3 of Denmarks energy consumption is fossil fuels (oil, coal, gas). Denmark is the second largest oil exporter in the European Union.
We have discussed the problems of wind power here in numerous threads. When we need the energy the wind is not there. Long transmission lines that are not an issue in tiny Denmark.
Bicycles instead of cars. Fine in countries like Denmark where long commutes are rare. Compact and small nations can emphasize bikes. We SHOULD make our cities and suburbs more bike friendly. However, I commute 80 miles a day. I'm in pretty good shape for a 58 year old codger, but 80 miles?
This column is simply another example of US libs desire to become like the social democratic states of Western Europe. Obama and the Dems are certainly on the verge of having the opportunity. Pray for our future.
“In 1973, said Hedegaard, “we got 99 percent of our energy from the Middle East. Today it is zero”
So what!!!!!
In 1973 there were no oil fields producing in the North Sea!!!!
While $10 per gallon gasoline would definitely reduce consumption in the USA, I doubt the voters would be willing to suffer the massive dislocations that would cause.
Suburban housing would plummet in price as people moved to live closer to their work.
Or, downtown real estate prices would plummet as businesses moved closer to their desired employees. Which, in many cities, has happened to a great degree. Look at Cleveland, Ohio for instance. Where are the high-growth areas? Not downtown, but in nearby suburban Westlake, Independence, Strongsville, and Beachwood. People don't want to live in the ultra-liberal inner cities, and businesses don't want to live in socialist regions either.
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