WSJ: Registered Cars in Wisconsin Drops---surprise?

Click on the post for the story in the Wisconsin State Journal. Recent stories have indicated some surprise that people are actually conserving---less cars, less water, less purchasing, less....I thought that was the whole idea.

Tonight at the Evansville Public Works committee meeting, discussion will be whether there should be a rate structure that actually promotes conservation, by rewarding and not punishing low volume users of water. The inital rate filing by the Evansville City Engineer had reversed a long standing tradition of having a low fixed amount billed and then relying on the variable to pick up the rest of the revenue. The federal stimulus aid has modified some of the initial alarm, but the filing is still in place and was a hike from 2.40 per month as fixed to about $24.00. Stay tuned. Common Council will decide in September or October on the final mix between fixed and variable. The Mayor and the members of the Public Works indicated they wanted options to consider.

The notion that we can fund a project to be "conservative" and "save" on windmills, and then turn around and create a rate structure that harms the person who conserves makes a mockery of "green" and makes us the laughing stock of all. Stay tuned.