[The Practician]

Part of the problem here, I think, is that we are so frickin' far from a rational, sustainable economic system that you can't just say "oops", jack up the price of energy 1000%, and expect everything to work its self out. Patio heaters? yeah, they're insanely wasteful and all, but so is just about everything else, so a patchwork bans and regulations, mostly affecting the poor and middle classes, are not going to help. We should have started being more cautious about energy and resource use a long, long time ago. Then maybe we wouldn't all be sitting here pontificating on the morality of outdoor patio heating.

[dolanbaker]

Yes, lifestyle & convenience gadgets are just the tip of the iceberg and any tinkering of legistation here is really a bit like saying what the passengers on the Titanic can wear while they re-arrange their deckchairs.

It was just a hypo... The biggie is almost everything else in our energy intensive lives.

[The Practician]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dolanbaker', 'Y')es, lifestyle & convenience gadgets are just the tip of the iceberg and any tinkering of legistation here is really a bit like saying what the passengers on the Titanic can wear while they re-arrange their deckchairs.

It was just a hypo... The biggie is almost everything else in our energy intensive lives.

[Marktaylor]

An overwhelming majority of EU MPs this week voted for a ban on patio heaters, calling on the European Commission to set a timetable for the withdrawal from the market of these and other "very energy-inefficient items of equipment." But despite what you might read in the popular prints, there are just a few obstacles standing in the way of the immediate death of these planet-wrecking engines of doom.

For starters, what is it about patio heaters that is energy-inefficient? The question is neither frivolous nor jesuitical, if one considers the context. The MEPs were voting to adopt a report on energy efficiency as part of a process initiated by a Commission document, Action Plan for Energy Efficiency. This document proposes a series of measures intended to save over 20 per cent in EU annual energy consumption by 2020, via improvements in insulation, energy use management and the efficiency of energy-using devices.

No spam please

[cephalotus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('geezer', 'I')s this the world we want?

[cephalotus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The Practician', '.')..so a patchwork bans and regulations, mostly affecting the poor and middle classes, are not going to help...

[cephalotus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '
')
Do you really want to live in a society where the police to go around arresting people who "waste oil" by using leaf blowers and patio heaters?

[Cloud9]

If the rich want them they will have them, but none for the plebs.

[KingM]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'I')f the rich want them they will have them, but none for the plebs.

[Lore]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KingM', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'I')f the rich want them they will have them, but none for the plebs.

[KrellEnergySource]

Is this much different than the requirement for low-flow toilets and restrictive shower heads?

Brian

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Expatriot', 'S')hould the govt. limit what individuals can do with energy that they pay for at market price?

[Lore]

The government already limits a lot of things that can or could be purchased at market price, such as, hookers, drugs, alcohol, cigarets, buildings where ever you want them, foreign workers, weapons of mass destruction and the list goes on and on. Which is why governments are formed in almost every society on the planet because business, by nature, doesn't consider the common welfare.

[Serial_Worrier]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dolanbaker', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Expatriot', '
')You could turn that question on it's head and say "Should we ban the manufacture of products that are not essential for daily life, and what products would you list?"

[Serial_Worrier]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', 'T')he government already limits a lot of things that can or could be purchased at market price, such as, hookers, drugs, alcohol, cigarets, buildings where ever you want them, foreign workers, weapons of mass destruction and the list goes on and on. Which is why governments are formed in almost every society on the planet because business, by nature, doesn't consider the common welfare.

[Lore]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Serial_Worrier', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', 'T')he government already limits a lot of things that can or could be purchased at market price, such as, hookers, drugs, alcohol, cigarets, buildings where ever you want them, foreign workers, weapons of mass destruction and the list goes on and on. Which is why governments are formed in almost every society on the planet because business, by nature, doesn't consider the common welfare.