Tag Archives: economics

Stupid Sillies at City Hall Seek Scarth St. Shredding

Did I ever tell you about the time that police detained me on Scarth St.? Of course I did, but that’s a whole other story.

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You Won’t Believe The Price Difference

You might say that owning a car is freedom. If you say that though, you’ve probably never been short on money in the bank. A car is ridiculously expensive to own on your own. Some people obviously do for the status symbol aspect, to show off their wealth. Other people who’d rather save thousands of dollars have a secret. I’ll share it with you.

OK, it’s not a secret. If it is, it’s an open one. Bikes cost a lot less to operate than cars. How much less? Let’s do the math.

Gas has been about $1.75/L lately in Regina.

Assuming you have an efficient gas car that gets 6L/100km that’s 6*$1.75 to go 100km, or $10.50

My ebike I charge every workday, and it uses electricity that costs 15cents/kWh when charged at home. How far can an ebike go on 1000Wh of electricity? Roughly 15Wh/km so that’s 1000/15 = 66km

66km/100km = 2/3

1.33*15cents = 20cents.

It doesn’t take an expert to realize that $0.20 is a lot less than $10.50 to travel the same distance.

Regina’s Energy & Sustainability Framework

In a province where the Premier describes the oil industry as “sustainable”, one can’t have high hopes for meaningful climate action from its capital city. I mean, we should have hopes, except that mine have been dashed one too many times to naively think that Saskatchewan’s primary power holders will permit Regina City Council to take useful steps toward decarbonizing its transportation and energy systems.

When City Council took a basic step to investigate banning fossil fuel ads from City owned properties, the Premier had a meltdown and launched a blistering attack that left one Councillor fired from their other job, and at least one other Councillor writing a yes-man letter that would put to shame the groveling of any sidekick to any Disney villain.

Regina could be #100Renewable in its energy use as promised half a decade ago by the last Council. However, their target for useful action remains 2050. There’s no enforcement beyond me and a few others trying to hold their feet to the fire. Well, the Premier has lost to the Supreme Court too, but didn’t face any personal loss, just a humiliating professional one. That’s absurd in the face of news about what’s happening right now at Earth’s poles. We need dramatic, concrete actions, not more political dickering about taxes, incentives, and gradual market solutions.

chantzy:

“It makes me so upset when leaders make absurd policies that will leave the world a worse place for younger generations.”

Me too, Chantzy.

Sprawl Loses Cities Money

Dear City Councillor:
There’s an interesting analysis available for cities that explains how much revenue a given area of the city is responsible for. You’ll likely find this video of great interest, and if watched at 1.5X speed, it will take only a little more than 7 minutes (and sound amusing at the higher speed).
Suburbia is Subsidized: Here’s the Math