smokey

Straight Talk from Warren Buffett

You are so right, Pauly B about greed. It is really quite funny really -- Buffet is right too about "dumb money." It may sound cruel -- but it is just natural law at work. Natural law (to me) is that when I was a kid, and I put my finger on a hot stove to see what it felt like, I got burned. It didn't matter that I was a good kid, or that even that I was intelligent -- I still got burned. Hearts may go out to those who get so burned, and mine does for many of those in trouble . . . but it is limited, because it is based on the motivations of those who have been screwed.

The same can be said for the so-called "energy crisis." I bet those 600 homes that were abandoned were not built intelligently, either. That is, a home can easily be designed to maximize energy savings (and thus $avings) -- and I'm talking about more than simply stuffing more insulation into the walls and attic. As a recent article in the UK's Guardian pointed out, so-called "revival" Tudor homes of recent construction were shown to be far less insulated than those of orignal vintage (this from a university study). Likewise, homes that integrate solar panels in grid-tie setups have been moving much faster in the marketplace in California and other areas than similarly priced homes without solar setups. But are developers and governments listening, yet? For the most part, they're still dragging their feet as always.