dont force ignorance.

the Detroit News published an article today that seems irresponsible. i have emailed this post to the News in response to the article, which has no author.

Your op/ed piece today on renewable energy comes off as written by a coal company executive. In a day when it is widely accepted that the climate is changing and resources are dwindling, advocating for antiquated coal power is irresponsible.

Renewable energy, like wind, solar, and hydroelectric, are essential in moving forward. Bashing our state government for pushing a progressive agenda that reduces pollution and the tax on resources is not only counterproductive, but also ignorant. No, the wind doesn't always blow everywhere. No, the sun doesn't always shine in Michigan. But streams and rivers always flow. No, a power grid in isolation in Michigan cannot function on such sources alone. No grid functions in isolation. But most of the US and Canadian grids are connected.

Perhaps you missed the black out a few years back. Your coal/nuclear power grid wasn't so stable back then. Had large wind farms, hydroelectric, and solar generation been in place, they would have continued to provide at least some power when the more traditional plants went down. Perhaps then we would not have had to boil water and trash all our food. Even if there were still outages, I don't believe that they would have been as wide reaching or long lasting.

Yes coal must still play a part in our energy needs, but lets not start building more dirty coal plants. Nuclear also has a role, but no nuclear plants have been built in the US in decades. Concerns over safety and nuclear waste are real, and big deterrents. I would prefer to have a seagull or a duck meet an unfortunate end with a misguided crash into a windmill(i cant believe that happens all that often, most birds are pretty agile, and the blades are the size of tour buses) than have Chernobyl right here at home. (Thats hyperbole, by the way)

Michigan legislators are on the right track with setting modest renewable energy goals. It sparks innovation and what could be a new industry to bring some jobs and wealth back to the state. Coal's role in our power needs going forward must be balanced against the pollution that it puts out. We should never allow any new coal plants to be built that are not gasification plants, as the pollution is drastically reduced and efficiency is greatly increased.

Efficiency gains are another benefit of coal gasification. In a typical coal combustion plant, heat from burning coal is used to boil water, making steam that drives a steam turbine-generator. In some coal combustion plants, only a third of the energy value of coal is actually converted into electricity, the rest is lost as waste heat.

A coal gasification power plant, however, typically gets dual duty from the gases it produces. First, the coal gases, cleaned of impurities, are fired in a gas turbine - much like natural gas - to generate one source of electricity. The hot exhaust of the gas turbine is then used to generate steam for use in a more conventional steam turbine-generator. This dual source of electric power, called a "combined cycle," is much more efficient in converting coal's energy into usable electricity. The fuel efficiency of a coal gasification power plant in this type of combined cycle can potentially be boosted to 50 percent or more. (source)

I applaud my home state's push toward green energy. I hope other pass similar mandates and goals. I hope under a new president we get leadership on a national level and funding for R&D to push further green power options.

Our energy use in the US dwarfs much of the world and we lead the industrialized world in polluting. Check out this website to see how well, or more accurately, poorly we do compared to the rest of the world.

Lets not bash anyone for taking steps to lessen our impact on the Earth. We should all do what we can.

DST

really, whats the point? to me all daylight saving time ever seems to do is fuck with everybody's schedule twice a year. the spring is always worse, as you lose that hour and it feels like getting up an hour earlier. probably because we are getting up an hour earlier. and instead of getting up along with the sun in the morning, i am at work by the time its up for another month or so.

then in the fall, all the sudden we lose that hour of daylight in the evening, so that we get to use up all the daylight being indoors at work. it sucks to leave in the morning and its dark, then return home in the evening, and its dark.

i cant understand why it is that we dont just stick to DST all year. its not like our time ever reflects what the sun does, time zones put an end to that long long ago. so what else keeps us going back during the winter? that the world uses GMT as the base. who cares? why not just do what is more comfortable for people, which means not fucking with the clocks every spring and fall.

oh, and the extension of DST by a month a couple years back was designed to save energy by not needing to use lights. and that may be the case, but what about the need for extra cooling during the summer by arriving at home an hour earlier and cranking up the AC. they also claim its safer, you can complete your commute in the daylight. but if youre at all like me, you woke up well before dark and the sun came up as you arrived at work. kids are waiting at bus stops and walking to school in the dark, too. so maybe the afternoon is safer, but the morning cant be. i think its about time to just pick a time and stick with it. ben franklin's idea may have worked well back in the 18th century, but i think its time has passed.

sure its not really that big of a deal, but if congress can waste their time with this, then so can i. the freep has an article on it too, so im not the only one.