Alt. Op. #49. The oldest fossil fuel and why it is NOT a green energy sorce

            Dang, it’s happened again.  I recently heard an otherwise intelligent, knowledgeable person say something I see as totally ignorant. Maybe he really doesn’t know. Maybe he just doesn’t realize the full parameters of what he said.

            “Okay, Montgomery,” I can almost hear some of you sighing out there as you ask the question you know you’ll likely wish you hadn’t. “What did this poor fellow say that got your tree hugging underwear in a wad?”

            To which I would reply: “Gee, I didn’t know underwear could hug trees.” At which point you would glare and I’d get back on track.

            What the fellow said was: “Nuclear reactors give off no pollution.” Oh, I wanted to jump on that immediately but was in a public meeting (Not to mention the glare I got from the guy in charge of that meeting).

            Now I’m guessing that there are those of you out there who just might agree with this guy. Even I must admit that if you look at it from just the right direction you could say he was absolutely right. A nuclear power plant does NOT give off carbon dioxide, smoke or anything else. All you see coming out is just white billowy steam from the cooling towers.

            I heartily disagree that nuclear power plants are non-polluting (pardon my snicker). The first part of the pollution they, and all other fossil fuel powered plants cause is the process of getting that particular fuel, be it coal, oil, gas or uranium. Yes. Uranium is a fossil fuel. It is one of the oldest fossil fuels in fact being left over from the formation of the planet. Yes, there is a good deal of Uranium here in the states. It just happens to reside in formations about half way up some mountains in the North West US that are sacred to the Native Peoples of that area. The most economic way to get at it is to just rip off the tops of the mountains. So what, you may have just shrugged and thought. Let’s put it this way. How would YOU react if, being a Christian, you were told they’d discovered that the material used to build the corner towers on several of those big churches in New York had gold in them and the government was going to let a company rip the tops of those towers off to get at it. Oh, they’d put a roof over what was left and make it all pretty again, sort of, so that should be alright, right? Yeah, I know. You can’t even imagine such a sacrilege. Other than that, out west there would be the complex and really unfixable environmental damage not just from the mining of the uranium but from the refining of it into fuel rods for the power plants.

            As I said above there is no nasty Carbon dioxide produced by a nuclear plant but there is a waste product. Waste even by my broad standards (Waste = a product that hasn’t got a use). That waste is the used up fuel rods. Nope they have no real use once used except to be wrangled over about where they will be stored until they stop being radioactive and how to keep them out of the hands of terrorists, etc.

            Speaking of radioactivity; what do we do with the old, no longer safe to use, outdated nuclear power plants anyway? There’s all that big area, that huge building that really can’t be used for anything else because, duh, it’s radioactive in a lot of spots.

            That’s the pollution we face from nuclear power plants that don’t have any problems. These plants can have problems because they were built poorly. Trouble can come from poorly trained or inept operators. Problems can also come, as we know, from the plant being situated near earthquake zones, placed where it could be hit by tsunami or threatened by wild fire. Add all of that in and we have a whole lot more to worry about.

            Nuclear power plants are non-polluting my, ah-hem, tree hugging underpants.

Alt. Op. #48 Fire Departments, Mention of South Fulton, and some history

            My goodness! Aren’t we all glad we don’t live in South Fulton! Saw this on the Yahoo page and wondered what the heck happened until I read the story. Seems that if you live outside of South Fulton and don’t pay the $75 yearly fire protection fee to the South Fulton fire dept. they won’t put a drop of water on your burning property or do anything unless a life is in danger.  The Mayor of South Fulton defended his city’s position by pointing out that if they did go ahead and put out the fires of those who hadn’t paid the fee then there would be no incentive for folks to pay the fee that helps with the up keep and maintenance of the city’s fire equipment. I’m guessing it also goes a way’s toward paying the firefighters, their health insurance and other such as well.

            Believe it or not that’s the way a lot of fire departments were set up back when they were first being organized. Later the insurance companies got in on the deal to. In fact those insurance companies actually funded some of the fire brigades and those brigades were not allowed to fight fires on property NOT insured by their ‘boss’. Back then a lot of commercial buildings especially, had big emblems painted or bolted on them to indicate which insurance company covered them and thus, which fire brigade could save them.

            Later someone got the idea of paying fire brigades for fighting fires. Then you’d have the sight of two or even three different and competing fire brigades showing up at a fire and fighting each other rather than the fire! But that was then and South Fulton is, thankfully, THERE!

            Here in Hunt County we have several all volunteer fire Departments as well as two different paid departments. One of which is in Greenville and the other in Commerce. The department in Commerce is aided by the Commerce Emergency Corp which is also an all volunteer group. There are even volunteer fire departments in neighboring counties that will respond into Hunt County if one of the Hunt County Departments needs help or, for some reason can’t respond themselves.

            Some of you may ask: “And just what would keep an all volunteer department from responding to a fire or medical emergency call!” Not, thankfully, that you didn’t pay your fire fees! Not here! Here the problem is often simple man (or woman!) power. Here, depending on the time of the incident, there just might not be any one in town who can respond! The members of the various fire departments, being volunteers, must also work for a living as well as do other things like mow the lawn, do the dishes, cook supper, take the kids to school, go to school functions, go shopping or even, just kick back and enjoy a well earned beer. Now, if they’ve just taken one sip of that beer and a call comes in, they can’t respond! That is for their and your safety! Then there is the problem caused by the fact that most folks work on first shift. That means there are few folks handy for anything during those hours. Just those who are off work for some reason, work for themselves, don’t have a job, or work on second or third shift.

            “Say!” you may think about now. “What’s the alternative opinion in this article?” Well, It’s not really alternative at all, I suppose.My opinion is that it would really be nice if we had some second or third shift workers on the Lone Oak Fire Department. Heck, retirees who are still active enough to get out there and beat down a grass fire would be good to!

            Of course if finding out about the South Fulton fire department makes you feel like  maybe you should send some cash to your local volunteer fire department. I’m sure they’d appreciate the donation. It’d sure help pay for gas to get to any emergency's.

Alt. Op. #47 What-cha gonna do when the well runs dry?

            My fingers are cold as I type this.

            No, the power is still on or I couldn’t be keyboarding this into the computer. No, I haven’t turned the central heat off. In fact its set at a temperature that lots of folks considered comfy this summer if maybe a little warm.  I set it at 66. So I’m used to seventy or so! I usually had the central air set at 75 during the day and 69 or 70 at night during the summer. Most of the spring and fall I didn’t even use it.

            Problem is this cold snap has got me to thinking troubling thoughts. This nice house of mine, while I appreciate it and am grateful to have it, has its draw backs. While it is well insulated it isn’t oriented so that the longest side faces south so that I could catch the winter sun for extra warmth. The Law said, I was told when I requested that orientation, the front of the house had to face the nearest public road. That road runs north/south so now the longest sides of my house face into the morning sun and the setting sun. Not a good thing during the summer. I am trying to think of ways I can afford that will capture that passive solar energy and use it to good purpose. Right now I’d love it if I had a small narrow green house on the south end of my house.

            The most troubling thought I have about this house is that it is an ALL ELECTRIC house with central heat and air. Yes, I do like the central heat and air. I remember all too well my old house where the temperatures during high summer and low winter would make it nearly impossible to use the kitchen and made the bathroom seem more like an outhouse. (Ever set on a really cold toilet seat?) Why does the fact that my house is all electric bother me? It’s great now, but what do I do if the power goes off for some reason? And stays off for a long time? I know there are some of you out there shrugging and saying, “Pack up some clothes, your dog and cat, and go stay with relatives or friends.” So, what do I do if I can’t for some reason? A blizzard for example, or a region wide power loss due to ice, wind, or some other weirdness that can and has happened elsewhere could keep me in place for a long time without power.

            I know others of you out there are just grinning and shaking your heads. “Silly girl!” you say to yourselves, “If it worries you that much just go buy a nice big generator.” To which I reply, “So how will I pay the ridiculous cost of the gasoline or diesel to run that generator?”

            By now you are all rolling your eyes and thinking, “Give us a break, Montgomery!” To which I tartly reply. “NO. I will not. I want YOU to think about how you would live if the electricity went away.” I mean that. How would you cook your food? So you have a grill outside. All well and good, but then what do you do if it’s raining out and you don’t have a covered patio, deck or some other safe place you can use such a thing. Don’t even think of bringing it inside the house, you’ll kill yourselves! Speaking of inside the house, how will you stay warm if it’s cold, or survive the heat if it’s hot out or even open food cans with no power opener?

            My point is houses should not be built with only one source for power, for heating, cooling, cooking and keeping food. Yes, electricity is convenient and easy. But it is also easy to interrupt and often hard to reconnect. Think about it.