France is on a ROLL! This is how a Progressive Country operates.

[RiverLover]

Not only did they ban cancer-causing RoundUp, make it illegal to waste food, & make it unconstitutional to cut off residents' water due to being poor & unable to pay, they are also...

France Will Give Residents €10,000 if They Switch Their Diesel Vehicle to a Hybrid
6/14/15



Citizens of France can now receive a “conversion premium” for reducing their carbon emissions.

We love France. First it passed legislation banning stores from purposefully wasting food, then Arash Derambarsh, the instigator behind that movement announced his ambitions to take similar efforts global. And all that was after France decreed all new roofs in the country to host either solar panels or oxygen-producing plants.

But if that’s not enough to make you fall in love with the eco-conscious country, it recently implemented a new initiative to financially compensate car owners who trade in a diesel vehicle, aged 13 years or more, for a fully electric vehicle or a plug-in hybrid.

That’s right, citizens of France can now receive a “conversion premium” for reducing their carbon emissions.

The campaign comes from France’s former presidential candidate, Ségolène Royal, who is now the head of Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy. The intention is to target older cars which are heavily responsible for a disproportionate percentage of greenhouse gas emissions.

http://bullhorn.nationofchange.org/france_urging_residents_switch_diesel_vehicle_to_hybrid

USA needs to take some lessons on how to lead the world in ways that matter. Maybe scale back on all the bombing for oil & follow France's lead.

I'll try to stop bragging on France now. Its hard though, they are so damn good lately!! Wish I could say the same for US!!

[newfie11]

1. That's awesome

Give us another20 years and maybe we might think about it. Can't upset the oil companies ya know.

[RiverLover]

5. You know it, gotta keep the fat oil cats happy.

[Baitball Blogger]

2. The only thing I didn't like about Europe was its water efficient toilets.

I get that they have different button options to push depending on what you plan to deliver down the chute, but what really annoyed me was that the commodes are all built for the loudest impact sound. What was up with that?

[RiverLover]

6. That's really interesting.

Having never been, that's news to me. Its really loud to flush, eh? I guess that's the trade off.

[Baitball Blogger]

13. Well, no, I'm no talking about the flushing sound.

[RiverLover]

14. LOL

ew

[MADem]

9. Even the old school ones over there were like that.

Not sure if it's the abundance of TILE or marble in many crapper rooms, which bounce the sound around, or a process of cavitation that causes the noise...but you're right, then and now, they've always seemed louder.

[MADem]

3. This is not dissimilar to Cash For Clunkers. I'll bet they got the idea from OBAMA!

Increase vehicle efficiency and improve the carbon footprint.

Keep in mind, though, that electricity is cheap (relatively) in France. Why? The country is studded with NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS. They have almost as many operating nuclear power plants as we do (they have 59, we have 61), and we're a darn sight larger than they are. Post-Fukishima, though, they're in the process of rethinking, and electricity prices are going to go up, which might make plug-ins--as depicted in the photo-- less of a bargain.

It's all fun and games until something goes wonky....


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_France

Électricité de France (EDF) — the country's main electricity generation and distribution company – manages the country's 59 nuclear reactors.[4] EDF is substantially owned by the French Government, with around 85% shares in government hands.[5] EdF has said its uncompleted third-generation nuclear reactor European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) project, the Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant, will be delayed until 2016, due to "both structural and economic reasons," which will bring the project's total cost to €8.5 billion.[6]
As of 2012, France's electricity price to household customers is the seventh-cheapest amongst the 27 members of the European Union, and also the seventh-cheapest to industrial consumers, with a rate of €0.14 per kWh to households and €0.07 per kWh to industrial consumers.[7] France was the biggest energy exporter in the EU in 2012, exporting 45TWh of electricity to its neighbours.[8] During very cold or hot periods demand routinely exceeds supply due to the lack of more flexible generating plants, and France needs to import electricity.[9][10]
France's nuclear power industry has been called "a success story" that has put the nation "ahead of the world" in terms of providing cheap energy with low CO2 emissions.[11] However, following François Hollande's victory in the 2012 Presidential Election, there may be a partial nuclear phaseout in France, with his Socialist party in favour of closing the oldest 24 reactors by 2025.[12]

.....

Following the 2011 Fukushima I nuclear accidents, the head of France's nuclear safety agency has said that France needs to upgrade the protection of vital functions in all its nuclear reactors to avoid a disaster in the event of a natural calamity, adding there was no need to close any plants. "There is a need to add a layer to protect safety mechanisms in reactors that are vital for the protection of the reactor such as cooling functions and electric powering," Jacques Repussard, head of the IRSN, said.[24] Opinion polls show support for atomic energy has dropped since Fukushima. Forty-percent of the French "are 'hesitant' about nuclear energy while a third are in favor and 17 percent are against, according to a survey by pollster Ifop published November 13".[24]
In February 2012 President Sarkozy decided to extend the life of existing nuclear reactors beyond 40 years, following the Court of Audit decision that this is the best option as new nuclear capacity or other forms of energy would be more costly and available too late. Within ten years 22 out of the 58 reactors will have been operating for over 40 years.[25] The court expects EDF's projected investment programme in existing plant, including post Fukushima safety improvements, will add between 9.5% and 14.5% to generation costs, taking costs to between €37.9 and €54.2 per MWh. However generation costs from the new Flamanville EPR reactor would be, depending on construction outcome, at least in the €70 to €90 per MWh range.[26] Academics at Paris Dauphine University forecast that domestic electricity prices will rise by about 30% by 2020.[27]

[RiverLover]

7. I grew up near a nuclear power plant, here in the US. I guess we've just been lucky so far?

[MADem]

8. The Three Mile Island neighbors would disagree!

That's just the best known "situation," but there have been many, many others.

At least 56 nuclear reactor accidents have occurred in the USA. Relatively few accidents have involved fatalities.[2] The most serious of these U.S. accidents was the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station has been the source of two of the top five most dangerous nuclear incidents in the United States since 1979.[1]
The United States General Accountability Office reported more than 150 incidents from 2001 to 2006 alone of nuclear plants not performing within acceptable safety guidelines. In 2006, it said: "Since 2001, the ROP has resulted in more than 4,000 inspection findings concerning nuclear power plant licensees’ failure to fully comply with NRC regulations and industry standards for safe plant operation, and NRC has subjected more than 75 percent (79) of the 103 operating plants to increased oversight for varying periods".[4] Seventy-one percent of all recorded major nuclear accidents, including meltdowns, explosions, fires, and loss of coolants, occurred in the United States, and they happened during both normal operations as well as emergency situations such as floods, droughts, and earthquakes.[5]

We really need to get beyond nuclear, if we can. We need to get beyond fracking, too--the two, together, have potential for a perfect/ugly storm.

[RiverLover]

10. I couldn't agree more, MADem

We really need to get beyond nuclear, if we can. We need to get beyond fracking, too--the two, together, have potential for a perfect/ugly storm.

Wouldn't it be nice if the US led in this?>>>

Ditching Fossil Fuels and Switching to 100% Renewables No Problem, Says Stanford Study
http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/06/12/ditching-fossil-fuels-and-switching-to-100-renewables-no-problem-says-stanford-study/

[MADem]

11. I really like the POWER WALL idea....it is wonderful for places where storage is tight.

And it is attractive, too...


http://www.teslamotors.com/powerwall

[RiverLover]

12. Wow, that is fantastic.

Thanks for the link.

[Historic NY]

4. Wait the US is now embracing European made diesels......

that normally we wouldn't be importing.

[Sherman A1]

15. Cool!