[extropy-chat] FWD (SK) A skeptical look at green technology

[Mike Lorrey]

--- Damien Sullivan <phoenix at ugcs.caltech.edu> wrote:

> On Fri, Sep 30, 2005 at 08:01:28PM -0700, Terry W. Colvin wrote:
> 
> > And finally, when cars are the polluters, the pollution is spread
> across 
> > all the roads. When it's a power plant, though, all the junk is in
> one 
> > place. Nature is very good at cleaning up when things are not too 
> > concentrated, but it takes a lot longer when all the garbage is in
> one spot.
> 
> On the flip side, a large stationary central source can afford better
> filters
> than a small mobile source.  Modern cars may be pretty clean now for
> random
> pollutants, but CO2 sequestration would probably work better at the
> coal
> plant.
> 
> And I could see cases where a concentrated dump would be preferable
> to having
> stuff spread out; one place to avoid, vs. having everywhere become a
> bit
> worse.  Depends on the pollutant, but having all the DDT or mercury
> or lead in
> one place would probably be an improvement... heavy metals don't
> really clean
> up well.

Who says they need to be cleaned up? Heavy metals are toxic at a
required concentration. Concentration is the key word here. Spreading
it out means unconcentrated. Incidentally, where do you think those
heavy metals came from? Transmutation? They came from nature, and occur
in nature. My state sits on massive natural arsenic deposits in the
granite bedrock. It is dilute, spread out, unconcentrated.

Toxic waste sites come from the EPA telling manufacturers to
concentrate their wastes in 40 gallon barrels and sticking them
somewhere together.

Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
Founder, Constitution Park Foundation:
http://constitutionpark.blogspot.com
Personal/political blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com


		
__________________________________ 
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 
http://mail.yahoo.com