Garbanzo Toons

Save the Earth Somewhere Else

It seems that some people don't want wind turbines in their backyard, or in the waters by their homes. According to this article,

A proposal to construct a massive wind turbine farm, capable of producing 1,000 megawatts of power, over 100 square miles of Lake Michigan, a few miles offshore from Pentwater and Ludington, has many residents howling.

At a meeting in Ludington last week, residents gasped and jaws dropped when developers unveiled drawings showing 100 building-size turbines spinning within sight of Lake Michigan beaches.

"Would anyone put these in the Grand Canyon? This is our Grand Canyon, our beautiful spot," said Pentwater resident Mary Stiphany, adding that the hulking turbines would obstruct views and hurt tourism. "It would be such an eyesore."

The response is an indication that making the dream of alternative energy real in a spot as treasured as the Great Lakes may be harder than imagined. The plan also raises questions that have yet to be answered about offshore wind power in Michigan, such as where turbines belong, how leases would work and who would issue permits.

Satellite data show that some of the strongest winds in the country are offshore, including winds over the Great Lakes.

Personally, I wouldn't want all of those wind turbines in my neighborhood either. They're noisy and ugly and they take up a lot of room. Has anybody ever bothered doing an Environmental Impact Statement on these monsters? Way back many years ago in my college days, working for a local suburb, I had to go out and gather data on a city project to extend a sidewalk, so that an environmental impact statement could be prepared. But this 100 square mile, bird-killing eyesore gets a pass? Apparently we now ask no questions of the apparently green.

While I wouldn't want wind turbines in my backyard, I could easily coexist with a nuclear power plant. They take up much less room to put out the same amount of energy. They're much less of a blot on the landscape. They're much quieter. They don't kill birds. They don't put out any of that nasty carbon dioxide stuff, which by government decree has become a pollutant. And according to Yahoo Answers,

By comparison, the Fermi nuclear power plant near Monroe, Michigan sits on a site of about 2 square miles and produces 1,150 megawatts of electricity 24 hours a day for 18 months straight.

They reliably produce the energy we need to run a modern society. Yes, they produce waste. There will always be some kind of waste or downside to any method of energy production. I can't help thinking though, that most of the growing monetary cost to nuclear energy production and waste disposal is due more to political considerations rather than actual cost. Those brilliant scientific minds who have half of the population of the Earth afraid of climate change caused by that new pollutant, carbon dioxide, have also created a climate of fear when it comes to nuclear energy. If there is any scientific validity to that fear, I'd like to see it so that I too, can be among the enlightened.

When it comes to solar power,

At 5 acres of solar panels per megawatt, you need 5,000 acres of solar panels to equal 1,000 megawatts of electricity. Those solar panels only work at peak power levels during the sunny times, so, on average, they only put out about 25% of their rated capacity. That means you really need 20,000 acres of solar panels to generate 1,000 megwatts of electricity per hour, on average. 20,000 acres is 31.25 square miles.

And the greenies don't want solar panels (or wind farms) in their backyards either.

The New York Times reports on Sen. Dianne Feinstein's latest effort to spur block the development of clean, renewable energy facilities:

Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation in Congress on Monday to protect a million acres of the Mojave Desert in California by scuttling some 13 big solar plants and wind farms planned for the region.

But before the bill to create two new Mojave national monuments has even had its first hearing, the California Democrat has largely achieved her aim. Regardless of the legislation’s fate, her opposition means that few if any power plants are likely to be built in the monument area, a complication in California’s effort to achieve its aggressive goals for renewable energy.

So where is the energy to power our country supposed to come from? Maybe The Professor has the answer. Washington and the greenies sure don't.

Labels: Detroit Free Press, environment, hypocrisy

posted by Harry @ 6:43 PM 2 comments

Of Course She Wants It Both Ways

This editorial by Michael Coren needs no comment.

It's the age-old question that all young Canadian university students have to face as they enjoy their publicly funded years at college pretending to receive an education. How do we guarantee a woman's right to abort a Zionist?

The issue is particularly troubling to Gilary Massa, vice-president external of the York Federation of Students in Toronto. She and her friends have introduced a ban on all student organizations that oppose abortion and believe that life begins at conception.

"You have to recognize that a woman has a choice over her own body", said Comrade Massa, presumably hoping to graduate in Hilarious Cliche Studies. "We think that these pro-life, anti-choice groups, they're sexist in nature. Is this an issue of free speech? No, this is an issue of women's rights."

Idiocy aside, there are some problems here with what used to be known as good old hypocrisy. Just a few months ago the same young lady was one of the leaders of a campaign to allow the term "Israeli apartheid" to be used on Canadian campuses. Jewish students and the mass of their non-Jewish colleagues considered the phrase deeply offensive when applied to a democratic country founded by victims of international racism and genocide.

For the record, I don't think the term "Israeli apartheid" should be censored. Yes, it is offensive, stupid, and factually inaccurate, but it does tell us a lot about the idiot who uses it and tries to pass it off as the truth.

If Canadians (and I know this is not true of all Canadians) want to live in a society where thoughts can be considered criminal, and thereby suppressed they are welcome to it, but they shouldn't be surprised if they end up on the wrong end of a thought crime lawsuit. At the very least, they will lose rights once considered sacred in a free society.

P.S. You can find more liberal fascist mental gymnastics from Gilary Massa here.

The student government at York University yesterday voted unanimously to deny "resources, space, recognition or funding" to student clubs or individuals "whose primary or sole purpose" is to oppose abortion.

"Our summer quorum is eight [members], so we surpassed our quorum," said Gilary Massa, vice-president external of the York Federation of Students, who said she did not know how many people actually voted.

"The York Federation of Students respects and affirms a woman's right to choose," the policy reads. "No YFS resources, space, recognition or funding will be allocated to enhance groups or individuals whose primary or sole purpose is anti-choice activities. Such activities would be defined as any campaign, action, distribution, solicitation, lobbying efforts, etc., that seeks to limit the individual's right to choose what they can or cannot do with one's own body."

However,

She said the student body was outraged in March when a member of the Genocide Awareness Project -- a university -targeted poster campaign of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, a privately funded U. S. organization with a Canadian branch in Alberta -- came to campus for a debate hosted by the debating club. The ensuing controversy led to this policy, which Ms. Massa said is not a ban of antiabortion groups, but rather a "limitation of resources."

"They are able to conduct their activity, they just are not able to take advantage of the student union resources," she said.

She said the YFS has democratic processes in place to ensure application of the policy will be fair.

The scary part, of course, is that Massa is not and cannot do this alone. She has the support of the student government at York U. in her quest to destroy freedom in order to save it.

Labels: Canada, censorship, Gilary Massa, hypocrisy

posted by Harry @ 7:47 PM 2 comments