Comments on SmallMeadow Farm: It's o.k......as long as it's not in my backyard

I spent many years living in a coal mining communi...

2009-01-20T01:05:00.000-05:00

I spent many years living in a coal mining community, and it's not okay. Coal is not clean. The mining of it, in itself, is incredibly destructive to both the people who live in those communities and to the land itself. That's what I tell people who tell me that coal is the answer. It's not. It's not even "an" answer, and we should abandon dependence on it sooner rather than later.

And I agree with you on the nuclear topic. Not in my backyard ... but not at all - even better!

The commenter on your previous post was correct - use less. That's the answer, and if we ALL use less, then we'll be that much closer to being able to have enough with more "gentle" energy sources, like wind, solar, biogas (which uses "waste", like sewer sludge and animal wastes to create methane - not the same as biofuel ;), and hydro power (including the wave power plants you posted about).

The government can build the infrastructure, if we insist that's what we want, but first, we all have to see the need to cut back. That's wherein the problem lies - convincing people to ditch the four television sets and beer refrigerators in the garage.

So few people are willing to come out and say cons...

2009-01-15T17:15:00.000-05:00

So few people are willing to come out and say conserve. But its really the only answer.
How anyone can think that burdening hundreds of generations with nuclear waste is a solutions is beyond me. Have you read Joanna Macys thoughts on this subject?
Eva

Great post, Monica.You are right about nuclear pow...

2009-01-14T20:18:00.000-05:00

Great post, Monica.

You are right about nuclear power. It isn't the answer. I get tired of all those nuke supporters telling me how safe it is -- I'll think they buy their own BS when they are willing to have a nuke power plant in their neighborhood.

Not likely, of course. The by-products of nuclear power are a burden for other people's children.

It is amazing to me that we still don't have any serious conservation efforts in this country. The potential savings from negawatts (energy not used) is enormous.

It's strange, but our society is spiraling deeper ...

2009-01-14T09:12:00.000-05:00

It's strange, but our society is spiraling deeper and deeper into a total disconnect. We're trying to change things here at our place, but we have a long way to go and prefer to implement things slowly. We're wanting to return to a past lifestyle many generations removed, yet we're very spoiled. I had a conversation with a gentleman yesterday who spoke about the difference between his generation and his grandchildrens' today. Your comments on gasoline made the same point...society at large today is not willing to reverse the fundamentals...the fundamentals affect our ENTIRE life, not just one area such as energy usage. We're finding we're actually scorned for not "keeping up with the times," as if having every new technology is somehow an indicator of quality of life and being integral to this "new society." Baloney. I think part of our path is going to be to pull the plug, my husband and myself. Maybe to the next generation this will look so weird, we'll be considered as separate as the Amish.

And I'd really consider that a compliment at this point.