Voice
HYDROPOWER
It is not even a close call. Cheap. Renewable. Sustainable. Small footprint. Carbon/combustion free. No waste to dispose or clean. Instant on and adjustment for power grid management. Stops river erosion and flooding. Creates steady and sustainable water supplies for man, beast, and plants.
Oh. And the salmon? A manufactured problem with lots of effective solutions. The Endangered Species Act is fake science, a fraud.
None of this is new. It has been known for a long time. The fundamental problem is we are electing, hiring, and promoting people who don’t know what they are talking about, yet they are making the decisions.
Politicians should not overrule experts in their fields. Politics should not replace facts with emotions.
From Annie:
Individuals, activists, business organizations, and government officials are becoming willing to have honest dialogue. Can we now properly talk about environmental and other costs of all sources of energy? The links cited below suggest that we can.
Given the current state of knowledge and technology, hydropower looks like the one closest to being clean and green. Perhaps now we can take an honest look at the cost/benefit ratio of various sources of power. This would entail deciding what mix of power types combined are worth the financial, environmental, geopolitical, and social costs to produce a high quality of life.
One important aspect of cost is the negative environmental impact of mining:
• Extracting and processing of raw materials for new sources of energy and its transmission require mining. All mining is destructive to the local environment. I include photos below of mining in alphabetical order of the mineral/metal.
• Some sources produce more energy than others per cubic foot of earth, per amount of water used, and per hours of labor required.
• To extract and refine the desired materials, most processes require sulfuric and hydrochloric acid, arsenic and other environmental toxins. Coal requires less processing than most of the others.
Peter Zeihan – This Is Much Worse Than You Think – YouTube 8 minutes duration
Mark Mills: The energy transition delusion: inescapable mineral realities – YouTube 47 minutes well worth investing the time to listen
Socially responsible investments could hinder clean tech
https://www.pressreader.com/usa/houston-chronicle/20230221/281767043408059
Revealed: how US transition to electric cars threatens environmental havoc | US news | The Guardian
Republicans look at security risks of clean energy, with eye on China (msn.com)
40-ton problem weighing on $100B offshore wind industry | Fortune Since early December, close to two dozen large whales have washed up on or near beaches on the US Atlantic coast…It’s unclear what exactly is fueling the deaths, but an unlikely coalition of wind opponents, local environmental groups and conservative talk show hosts have zeroed in on offshore wind as the culprit.