Rick Perry: I've changed my mind about the Energy Dep. - Polidicks

[URL="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/19/rick-perry-hopes-head-agency-he-once-forgot/96732676/"]http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/19/rick-perry-hopes-head-agency-he-once-forgot/96732676/ [/URL] [QUOTE]WASHINGTON — Rick Perry, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Energy secretary, said Thursday he has changed his mind about abolishing the agency. “My past statements made over five years ago about abolishing the Department of Energy do not reflect my current thinking,” Perry said in prepared remarks planned for delivery at his confirmation hearing. “In fact, after being briefed on so many of the vital functions of the Department of Energy, I regret recommending its elimination."[/QUOTE] Despite my distaste for Perry, he seems genuinely recalcitrant about his past comments, which I can appreciate. Education goes a long way.

It's good he's changing his stance but it was an embarrassing and ignorant stance to have in the first place.

During the hearings, Bernie Sanders got Perry to say that the climate is changing "naturally" and through human activities, and claimed a record as Texas Governor of reducing carbon and other emissions. We've reached an era where [I]Rick Perry[/I] is more reasonable and open to change than our next President. [QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51694672]It's good he's changing his stance but it was an embarrassing and ignorant stance to have in the first place.[/QUOTE] Ignorance is a side effect of being misinformed. The good thing is that in light of being informed, he changed his opinion. Many politicians would just dig in. Hopefully Perry is open to changing his opinion in light of facts on more issues. To that, ignorance itself isn't bad, it's what you do when presented with the right information that is important. People all too often equate ignorance with stupidity, but the reality is, stupidity is willful ignorance in light of the facts. We were all ignorant about everything at some point. It's just too bad it took Mr.Perry this long to see the facts. Better late than never I suppose.

Nominee for head of department no longer wants to abolish said department. This is great and all, but the fact that he was even considered for the position is ridiculous.

Damn, I was hoping he would resign.

[QUOTE=OvB;51694697][B]During the hearings, Bernie Sanders got Perry to say that the climate is changing "naturally" and through human activities[/B] [/QUOTE] Holy shit this is huge Thank fuck

[QUOTE=OvB;51694697]During the hearings, Bernie Sanders got Perry to say that the climate is changing "naturally" and through human activities, and claimed a record as Texas Governor of reducing carbon and other emissions. We've reached an era where [I]Rick Perry[/I] is more reasonable and open to change than our next President. Ignorance is a side effect of being misinformed. The good thing is that in light of being informed, he changed his opinion. Many politicians would just dig in. Hopefully Perry is open to changing his opinion in light of facts on more issues. To that, ignorance itself isn't bad, it's what you do when presented with the right information that is important. People all too often equate ignorance with stupidity, but the reality is, stupidity is willful ignorance in light of the facts. We were all ignorant about everything at some point. It's just too bad it took Mr.Perry this long to see the facts. Better late than never I suppose.[/QUOTE] Considering that renewable energy is an incredibly rapidly-growing business sector in Texas, it isn't all that surprising. Texas Republicans are shifting far more in favor of renewable energy now that they're seeing the growth it can provide. Hell, Texas [URL="http://www.voanews.com/a/texas-leads-us-in-use-of-renewable-energy/3565024.html"]leads the entire country[/URL] in use of renewable energy, [URL="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601221/texas-and-california-have-too-much-renewable-energy/"]right alongside California[/URL]. We have massive, massive gains in wind power, and solar is growing quickly because it's sunny as fuck here too. Renewable energy is starting to reach the point in Texas where electricity prices are [I]negative[/I] because of massive renewable energy growth. Germany has this "problem" - and they export their excess energy to other countries [I]for profit[/I]. You're going to see a marked shift in how Texas Republicans in particular talk about climate change and renewable energy over the next few years - because more than anyone, they're recognizing the positive economic effects that accepting renewable energy can have.

[QUOTE=Ltp0wer;51694715]Nominee for head of department no longer wants to abolish said department. This is great and all, but the fact that he was even considered for the position is ridiculous.[/QUOTE] [URL="https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1549278"]It's because [I]he didn't even know what the Department of Energy does until he was lined up to take it over[/I].[/URL] He thought it was responsible for oil and gas, and abolishing it would happily let the big energy corps have their monopoly. Then he discovered that the DoE's portfolio is [B]America's entire nuclear machine[/B], which is to say research labs, operating reactors, and weapons stockpiles.

Did someone in the DoE exorcised Rick Perry?

[QUOTE=TheLonelyDonu;51694658][URL="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/19/rick-perry-hopes-head-agency-he-once-forgot/96732676/"]http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/19/rick-perry-hopes-head-agency-he-once-forgot/96732676/ [/URL] Despite my distaste for Perry, he seems genuinely recalcitrant about his past comments, which I can appreciate. Education goes a long way.[/QUOTE] Perry's an [I]absolute[/I] scumfuck, no question, but compared to the scumfuckery of McConnell, he's practically a saint. He's an old-fashioned social conservative who dislikes LGBT rights and wants to restrict abortions as much as possible - all bad, sure. But he's spoken in favor of Wall Street regulations, despite criticizing Dodd-Frank on community banks. He said "there's nothing too big to fail" about the bank bailout during the financial crisis. He changed his opinion on drug treatment in 2015 after discussing it with a state judge, accepting that treating addiction as a disease to be cured (rather than a crime to be punished) would "give new hope" to struggling Texans. He's outspoken against the EPA's "overreach," yet he supported a $5,000 incentive for plug-in hybrid vehicles to promote emerging technology. Perry, more than the hard-partisan greedy selfish opportunist asswipe cunts like McConnell, has shown more than once that he's at least [I]somewhat[/I] willing to change his opinion when confronted with specific evidence. He's no McCain, and I disagree with him on practically every policy position he holds, but I'm not gonna criticize a man for changing his opinion when he realized his mistake. [editline]19th January 2017[/editline] Hell, Perry was [I]proud[/I] of the bipartisan support he got while governor in reducing repeat drug offense rates in Texas. Even though it was probably just part of a long-term trend, the state did [URL="http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2015/feb/03/rick-perry/rick-perry-says-changes-drug-laws-led-lowest-texas/"]close three prisons[/URL] by implementing local "drug diversion courts." Recidivism decreased. Not necessarily as a result of his (pretty weak) adjustments to drug prosecution, but still - shows he's at least willing to cooperate and see another perspective. I just realized I'm sitting here defending Rick fucking Perry for [I]changing his mind and admitting he was wrong[/I]. At least he was pretty level-headed and reasonable about the whole Jade Helm military takeover FEMA camp freakout, unlike Greg Abbott, the little dipshit. The fucking world we live in where I'm calling Romney and Perry reasonable and level-headed. Good god.

To be fair, if you accosted me on the street regarding the DoE, I would probably not consider the vast nuclear resources it presides over. Most folks would probably think it has something to do with electricity or oil. Perry is just uninformed, like most politicians, and it's nice to see him open up a little. I wonder why he was uninformed in the first place though?

"Hey Parry, we got you the job" - Day rick perry changed his stance

[QUOTE=Chonch;51694993]To be fair, if you accosted me on the street regarding the DoE, I would probably not consider the vast nuclear resources it presides over. Most folks would probably think it has something to do with electricity or oil. Perry is just uninformed, like most politicians, and it's nice to see him open up a little. I wonder why he was uninformed in the first place though?[/QUOTE] Yea but nobody's going to ask you to head the DoE either.

[QUOTE=elixwhitetail;51694834][URL="https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1549278"]It's because [I]he didn't even know what the Department of Energy does until he was lined up to take it over[/I].[/URL] He thought it was responsible for oil and gas, and abolishing it would happily let the big energy corps have their monopoly. Then he discovered that the DoE's portfolio is [B]America's entire nuclear machine[/B], which is to say research labs, operating reactors, and weapons stockpiles.[/QUOTE] ya pretty much, the majority of the DoEs budget, like 80% is towards nuclear infastructure and maintinence

[QUOTE=Chonch;51694993]To be fair, if you accosted me on the street regarding the DoE, I would probably not consider the vast nuclear resources it presides over. Most folks would probably think it has something to do with electricity or oil. Perry is just uninformed, like most politicians, and it's nice to see him open up a little. I wonder why he was uninformed in the first place though?[/QUOTE] But unlike him, you don't campaign to remove the DoE. You'd think that at some point during that whole thing, he could've like googled it or something.

[QUOTE=joshuadim;51694771][B]Holy shit this is huge Thank fuck[/B][/QUOTE] [B]lmfao [/B] RP is only one redeemable in a massive swamp of deplorables. the most deplorable being at the top

[QUOTE=sYnced;51695550][B]lmfao [/B] RP is only one redeemable in a massive swamp of deplorables. the most deplorable being at the top[/QUOTE] It's huge in that he said it on record, so if he goes against that it can be used to grill his sorry ass

This, along with the fact that he actually did serve my state pretty decently as governor makes me at least somewhat optimistic now. At least compared to when he was first announced for this role.

[QUOTE=Chonch;51694993]To be fair, if you accosted me on the street regarding the DoE, I would probably not consider the vast nuclear resources it presides over. Most folks would probably think it has something to do with electricity or oil. Perry is just uninformed, like most politicians, and it's nice to see him open up a little. I wonder why he was uninformed in the first place though?[/QUOTE] Fun fact, the [URL="http://genomicscience.energy.gov/program/timeline.shtml"]DoE was one of the major early players in genetic sequencing[/URL]. We were trying to figure out how to grow our own oil so we wouldn't have to deal with OPEC and someone realized that the tools we were using on plants, bacteria, and fungi could also be used on humans. We have the DoE in part to thank for the advances we've made in modern medicine as a result.

[QUOTE=thelurker1234;51695865]This, along with the fact that he actually did serve my state pretty decently as governor makes me at least somewhat optimistic now. At least compared to when he was first announced for this role.[/QUOTE] He was a step above Greg "the US military is gonna take over Texas and kill everyone at walmart" Abbott, for sure.

We're going from a Nuclear Physicist to Rick Perry watching over this department.