[ExI] not that rare earth

[spike at rainier66.com]

From: John Clark <johnkclark at gmail.com> 
Sent: Wednesday, 29 October, 2025 6:27 AM
To: spike at rainier66.com
Cc: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Subject: Re: [ExI] not that rare earth

 

 

On Tue, Oct 28, 2025 at 4:35 PM <spike at rainier66.com <mailto:spike at rainier66.com> > wrote:

 

> We have had generators a few percent less efficient for many decades, long before anyone ever discovered the REE improvement. 

 

>…We need to take advantage of everything we can find just to keep the massive gap between the electrical generating capacity of China and the US from growing…

 

We do that with nuclear power.  Lots of it.  By the time those nuke plants are ready, we can have all the earth element refineries we need.

 

….

 

> Sure, but irrelevant.  Governments don’t generate power. 

 

>…But Stupid decisions by governments can destroy power. For example, on August 22 He Who Must Not Be Named issued a sudden and unexpected stop-work order…

 

Presidents do not issue a stop work order if they don’t fund the project.  They can influence leasing of federal land for wind farms, but that wouldn’t apply here because the land (or water) for the project was already leased.  If the funding is there, then they can continue to build the turbines for the towers which were already in place.

 

If the executive branch of government was funding something on that wind farm, that should have been part of the risk model for the investors, a huge yellow flag.  Bad idea to depend on a government for funding when it is slamming against its credit limit.  A government’s credit limit means something, as we are now seeing.  Lesson: don’t invest in a wind farm or any other infrastructure project which is dependent on federal funding.

 

> Investment capital generates power.

 

>…But stupid decisions by government can steer investment capital away from areas that could be economically and environmentally beneficial, nuclear energy for example….

 

Ja, as we have seen.  Solution: invest in power projects on private land which does not depend on federal funding or is in any way dependent on the whimsical nature of political leadership.

 

 

 

 

>… I remember about a decade ago (maybe closer to two) on this list I went on a bit of a tirade about the idiocy of the linear no threshold assumption, the idea that even the tiniest amount of radiation is harmful….

 

Agree.  Everything is radioactive, if we consider everything.  There is no harm in it.

 

…

 

>…Electrical power affects making money and it also affects getting votes…. John K Clark 

 

 

Ja.  Make the money.  The votes will always follow the money.  Universal truth: follow the money.  Political power follows the money.  He who has the gold makes the rules.  It will always be that way.

 

spike

 

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