My friend and fellow blogger, Ryan Adams has posted Salem's Power Plant: Bye Bye? that will hopefully lead to the death of a dirty coal-fired power plant.
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The most glaring omission in the discussion has been MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL, the current method of coal production, the most devastating environmental disaster in US history that has been largely ignored and Big Coal's dirty secret.
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The comments appearing in the article are indicative of the willingness of many to label others without addressing or understanding the surrounding issues. While the comments seems articulate and intelligent, many fail to grasp that by accepting think tank rhetoric, much disservice is accepted.
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We don't often consider our homes as energy consumers, but an average home uses about as much energy as 2 vehicles. While we're complaining about the cost at the gas pumps, reductions in household energy consumption are easily achievable if one accepts some personal responsibility and begins making modifications.
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It has been estimated by energy experts that 20-30% of household and municipal energy consumption can be eliminated easily with minor changes. About 10% of that can be achieved by installing CFLs (compact fluorescent lights) and electrical power strips that allow the shut off of energy VAMPIRES -- the consumers of energy when not in use, like the tv, vcr, dvd player, computer. The power strips are inexpensive and the total payback in savings is months.
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For those unfamiliar with this blog format, there is a search feature at the top that will provide information about energy conservation, dirty coal, or alternative energy.
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Energy is a complex issue and a great deal of exciting new technologies are entering the marketplace. Instead of clinging to the old solutions of the past, we need to be willing to accept the forthcoming changes and the new ideas, like tidal/wave generation that holds great promise. And we need to listen to proposals of folks like T. Boone Pickens, Al Gore and others that bear merit. By maintaining an open mind, we just might hear sensible solutions.
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If Wal-Mart and Home Depot are conserving energy to improve their bottom lines, shouldn't we, as consumers, also do the same?
Please sign the petition: Stop the Plant Now!
1 comment:
Whatever happened to our grate New England frugality? I'm a cheap yankee and refuse to pay a dime more than I have to, municipal company be damned! Its wasted money with nothing to show. I hang my laundry out and don't have a dryer. Those sguiggly bulbs make sense and most of the other stuff. You make good cents. We're adding to the attic again this year. Already insulated, but I hear more is better and it's cheap. We done other things that made cents. Built our own hot water heater years ago. That Selectman who said he pays so much for heat we didn't vote for. No cents. Wont vote for him next time either.
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