Posted by:
CSRAJim
at Fri Feb 12 00:30:39 2010 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by CSRAJim ]
Brad,
>>Have you seen the movie "Conspiracy Theory"?
Yes, how did it end?
>>All of these policies/agencies are connected because we live on a planet where everything-geology, climatology, biology, energy use, consumption, production, invasive species, and myriad others are-you guessed it-CONNECTED
Agree somewhat…You’ve made too many “connections”…Part of what you said are system mechanisms of the earth itself and the other parts are exclusively man made.
>>Jim, I can't eat more than a certain number of meals per year of fish from our local waterway. Why? Mercury contamination caused by fossil fuels. Mercury in the glades makes both the burms and most fish totally inedible. For the same reason-fossil fuels-many of my favorite lakes in the Adirondacks are to this day too acidic for brook trout (my personal favorite fly rod quarry).
>>So to me I don't really care about global warming (although I fully accept the verdict of the international climatological community on that score)-reducing fossil fuel use is a GREAT idea nonetheless. It's time for us to grow up as a species and clean up after ourselves.
As an environmentalist myself, I agree with what you said regarding mercury contamination…Not good for living things and certainly an environmental issue worthy of reduction. The problem is how far do you go? 100% elimination is out of the question (as is the case with virtually all of the metals in most of the things we use on a daily basis) so, unless you’re prepared to live your life without metals (or energy)…It’s a part of the industrial process to manufacture “things”. And with all manufacturing processes there is a product and a waste (some far more hazardous than others). As a part of that manufacturing process, energy is usually required (with the product being the energy itself and the waste generated during the process). So, again, what lifestyle changes are you prepared to make to accommodate what “they” have in store when “they” fully implement their ECO agenda? I guess horses and candle light were good enough for our ancestors…Perhaps it’s time for a comeback. I wonder if congress will propose additional legislation to accommodate the changes in their employees’ lifestyles (what took 30-60 minutes by car will take much longer on horseback).
Let’s start with electricity…It used to takes an average of 10 years (no idea how long now) to go through the site selection and permit process (federal and state bureaucracy review) for nuclear power and that does not include any lawsuits from pro-bono lawyers to support an ECO group nor does that include the actual construction time to build the plant. New hydroelectric power, well that used to take up to five years for the grant supported “experts” to complete their study to comply with the ESA (hopefully, an endangered species will not be found as that will end the project) prior to constructing any new dam. Water turbine technology is promising provided the river you plan to use doesn’t have any endangered aquatic species (again, ESA required). The same applies to the use of tidal water velocity in the seas or oceans.
Solar power does exist but not to the capacity necessary to provide power for even a city of 50,000 much less for a city of several million based on the sun itself. Any idea of how many cities in the US meet that size criteria? Clouds (no scientific solution for this one) seem to have a negative effect on solar power and can you imagine the footprint of the solar collector array (another ESA required along with numerous other permits from several other federal and state agencies to clear the land for construction). In addition, the FAA will be involved in this site selection process due to the reflected light back into the sky, which might negatively effect air travel. And what about the “battery” storage requirements used to store the generated power for those cloudy days. You'll need to obtain an EPA ID number for the hazardous waste generated when maintaining those batteries (USEPA) because if you don't, you might go to prison but will most certainly pay a very large fine for improperly disposing of the said generated hazardous waste. Speaking of the batteries, they contain metal (as well as plastics - oil product OMG) which requires some form mining/manufacturing operation as most of the metal that has been mined/manufactured, is either still sequestered as manufactured products currently in use or has already been buried in landfills as solid waste.
Fuel cell technology is in its infancy and based on current cells, can only supply enough power for small business or residential housing occupancies. Even here with fuel cells, metals are required for manufacturing them and hydrogen and oxygen must be obtained from the atmosphere to supply the fuel to generate the electricity (emits water vapor is a waste product (very good for the environment). Unfortunately, electricity is required to extract the pure oxygen and hydrogen from the atmosphere (not good for the environment). I wonder if the ECO movement will factor in that electrical consumption into the equation for those power plant air permits if fuel cells become the rage in neighborhoods.
So guess that leaves wind power, provided you can find sites where the wind will provide enough energy to turn the blades continuously…Just one problem though, this will require another ESA and you’ll have to deal with Bird issues (including migratory bird treaties) and some windy places in America happen to be along the coast…Which introduces another environmental consideration called “Wetlands” (adopted from the UN's Ramsar conference in Iran).
So I guess what I’m saying here is that though there are some promising technologies being developed (e.g. plasma energy-still in laboratories), they do not currently exist on the scale necessary to keep America in its current level of lifestyle. I suppose we could regress back to a previous century to cut back – which is great for a hunting or fishing trip – I just wonder how most American would like living primitive on a permanent basis? Hey, that might be funny to visit Capitol Hill and see the politicians “sweating” for a living…Ha! Ha! As things are right now, the most inexpensive energy source on the scale that we use it is fossil fueled steam plants to turn the turbines to generate the electricity.
I used to work in environmental consulting and performed ESA’s and the requirements now are even more stringent than back then. I suppose horses could work but, I wonder what they’ll do in the big cities with the mountains of horse manure generated on a daily basis…And since the USEPA is regulating methane gas (as part of global climate change), what a quandary that would create…And then when it rains, under the Clean Water Act, all of the surface manure contamination would wind up in the navigable waterways…Man, virtually every city in the US would not only be classified as a non-attainment area (methane gas), but they would have to hold congressional hearings to create a new “Superfund” site criteria for the manure in the water via the city’s storm sewer system. You see, it was the mass production of the internal combustion engine that solved those early environmental disasters that our forefathers created (but didn’t know about)…Oh yeah, candles and oil lamps caused massive fires in several major cities (I wonder if they used all of that released carbon into the atmosphere as East Anglia) so, while mercury is a chronic hazard, fire is an acute hazard. Oh yeah, this light source would also be regulated by a fire marshal at either the state or municipal level.
Back to fossil fueled electricity…One of the reasons that we as a nation use more of it is because of the ban of R-12 refrigerants (CFC’s)…You see, because of its high cooling efficiency, the condenser coil units did not work as hard (consume as much electricity) for our AC units, refrigerator/freezers, etc…Which meant that most every home, school, business, industry, cars, etc, did not use as much electricity to keep us cool. Now days, the “approved” refrigerants are not as efficient and therefore more fossil fuels are being consumed…So save the earth for CFC’s effects on O3 and they created new environmental problems. Oh, before you mention the energy efficiency ratings of those AC units, did you upgrade the R insulation factor for your home (the energy ratings are determined using some “approved” assumptions)? If not, that AC unit is going to run more often because of its less efficient refrigerant based on how you set your thermostat…And by keeping your house warmer inside, your refrigerator and freezer coils will run more often to keep the food inside it at the temperature setting you set it to. I guess the “grant” funded experts sort of left that out of the equation…Or perhaps they intended it to be that way…It surely seems to keep more and more of them employed to retirement (so we can pay for two of them to do the job-the one currently performing the work and the one that’s retired). Finally, because EVERY fossil fueled power plant is operating under an Air Operating Permit (from the USEPA) as energy is used, more fossil fuel is required – up to a point. That point is determined by the USEPA (it’s basically a %) and if the plant exceeds it’s permitted allowance, well the USEPA fines them. Only it’s not the power plant that actually pays the fine – We do. You see under the terms negotiated with your state’s public service commission (PSC), the agency that regulates the power plan within the state and permits these “fees” to be passed on the consumers. One final note, the PSC and the USEPA must approve the upgrades to the said power plant…Which may take years.
Perhaps “naïve” was more accurate than I thought…
Later,
Jim.
PS: ESA = Environmental Site Assessment performed for due diligence purposes to defend yourself in court as by disturbing the land, you are not in violation of some state or federal regulation later on (ownership is nine tenths of the law and if you discover something during construction - well, YOU now own the problem and any subsequent dollars that goes with it). For instance, I'll be willing to bet that your state either requires (or soon will) a land disturbance permit (in my state that trigger is one acre). Only by public law, this is NOT something you can do yourself (the law says you must have training).
Are you beginning to see the current state pervasiveness of the government, from federal, state and local levels in our lives right now? The items I mentioned above don't even come close to what it actually is in reality. And keep this in mind...Generally speaking, it takes two employees to do government work, one to do the job and one retired employee who used to do the job. And the current employee has a workplace (building) with utilities, etc...If you'll go read just one federal appropriations bill, they NEVER ask for less money as they continue to find and/or create more problems, which requires more employees...Will the circle be unbroken?
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CSRAJim
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RE: "Python Wars" - CSRAJim, Fri Feb 12 00:30:39 2010
