Posted on 02/26/2014 8:56:24 PM PST by ckilmer
Not saying it's right, but if I am not mistaken, are their not *thousands* of other companies receiving government subsidies in one form or another? Are you suggesting Tesla should refuse them, while their competitors take advantage?
You’re in the Phil? Good. My sis-in-law is a Cebuana. When my bro’ was married, we noticed a lot of that cheap Pajero’s around which costs close to nothing, even at bare bottom prices. I just don’t have respect for these actors who part-time their jobs into politics like the current governor of that province..
In fact, if I am not mistaken, private companies in the U.S. receive about 100 billion in direct and indirect subsidies....Or more.
But suddenly when a company comes out with a rather new product, that you don’t happen to like, it’s a terrible bad thing?
Are you saying you have never used services or products from companies that receive government subsidies?
“Get the U.S. Off of oil, let the Arabs drink their black juice. ... Al Qaeda will end up walking.”
Nice thought, won’t happen. Even if we imported no oil from the Mideast, the Chinese and other countries will step up to buy anything we refuse.
Although lithium is widely distributed on Earth, it does not naturally occur in elemental form due to its high reactivity. The total lithium content of seawater is very large and is estimated as 230 billion tonnes, where the element exists at a relatively constant concentration of 0.14 to 0.25 parts per million (ppm), or 25 micromolar; higher concentrations approaching 7 ppm are found near hydrothermal vents.
Estimates for the Earth's crustal content range from 20 to 70 ppm by weight. In keeping with its name, lithium forms a minor part of igneous rocks, with the largest concentrations in granites. Granitic pegmatites also provide the greatest abundance of lithium-containing minerals, with spodumene and petalite being the most commercially viable sources. Another significant mineral of lithium is lepidolite. A newer source for lithium is hectorite clay, the only active development of which is through the Western Lithium Corporation in the United States. At 20 mg lithium per kg of Earth's crust, lithium is the 25th most abundant element....
One of the largest reserve base of lithium is in the Salar de Uyuni area of Bolivia, which has 5.4 million tonnes. US Geological Survey, estimates that in 2010 Chile had the largest reserves by far (7.5 million tonnes) and the highest annual production (8,800 tonnes). Other major suppliers include Australia, Argentina and China.
In June 2010, the New York Times reported that American geologists were conducting ground surveys on dry salt lakes in western Afghanistan believing that large deposits of lithium are located there.
I assume the lithium and neodymium mines will have the treehugger stamp of approval.
.......
the real problem is getting those mines up and running. the chinese killed the USA rare earth mining business 10 years ago by undercutting prices. Now they’re hoarding their rare earths. So the USA and everyone else is scrambling for new supplies.
No, I am saying that sans government (actually from competitors) subsidies this publicly quoted company would still be in the red, which completely changes the valuation for them. It also means in reality we would be calculating their run rate on capital and mounting the death watch. Basically, their model is predicated on this and the clock is their enemy
Alright. Please name companies that are not in the “Green” racket where customers get subsidized by taxpayers for buying their products. Buy a Tesla and you’re looking at a $7500+ rebate paid by taxpayers.
http://insideevs.com/2014-budget-proposal-ups-ev-credit-to-10000-point-of-sale-rebate-thru-2018/
I’ve been in business for more than 20 years and I don’t get jack from the government. Only taxes and regulation.
The wealthy get a new shiny toy that’s subsidized by the rest of us.
And just for the record, I think Telsa’s are very well engineered very cool machines. BUT, their business model shouldn’t be based on me subsidizing their products both at the manufacturing end and the point of sale end.
Also, note, I have nothing against wealthy people, I’d like to be one. I don’t like laws where I have to subsidize a select group that buy favored toys.
Case in point - much of the world has a 100% tax on gasoline and diesel. In effect, they are forcing their consumers to pay 200% of world prices for motor vehicle fuels. We are buying the excess supply that they don't consume at a lower price than we would if that 100% tax did not exist. Their hair shirt policies are benefiting us at their expense, just as any hair shirt policies we adopt will benefit the rest of the world, at our expense.
Again, not saying this is right but are you saying you’ve never used services or products from companies that receive tax paid based government subsidies?
No, I never said that.
And what does that have to do with anything?
Just how far does it have to go before you get outraged? Or does “they all do it” cover all sins? And they don’t all do it. This particular case is pretty exceptional.
The simple truth is that we don’t begin to have the necessary alternative sources of energy to replace oil regardless if every car in the country were electric or not. If they were all electric we’d be burning oil to generate the electricity needed to power them all. Electricity is simply a means to move energy - it isn’t a source of energy. Oil is a source of energy and therefore not even remotely the same thing. Electric cars do not negate the need for oil energy.
My capacity for outrage is full up...
Feel free to jump around, wave your arms and take up the slack.
Okay, that was funny - and I understand...
It just irks me when billionaires get to risk taxpayer money instead of their own for the down side of their venture and then get all the reward if it does work out. And then on top of that their business model is based on taxpayers subsiding their customers for about 10% of the cost of their product. A product only the wealthy can afford. So I get to help pay for new toys for the wealthy while making me poorer less able to enjoy things myself... That simply sucks - and it is wrong.
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