- cross-posted to:
- climate@slrpnk.net
- cross-posted to:
- climate@slrpnk.net
What those lawmakers didn’t plan for was that 50 years later, an Oregon citizen activist would use that same bureaucracy to hinder some of the very energy projects that today’s liberals want: wind farms and the new high-voltage lines needed to support them.
They didn’t plan for Irene Gilbert.
The 76-year-old retired state employee, former gun store owner and avid elk hunter from La Grande, Oregon, is on a mission to keep turbines and transmission towers from blighting the rural landscape. She has filed more challenges to energy projects — 15 in all, including lawsuits — than anyone in the state, according to Oregon’s Department of Energy.
“I kind of have a reputation,” Gilbert said.
I have solar panels on my house and have spent exactly zero petroleum (or carbon at all!) to maintain them. They have also allowed me to disconnect my natural gas connection and heat my house in the winter with electricity.
I hope to do something similar someday but it still cost petroleum to make them. I’m envisioning an alternative. Wind turbines do cost petroleum to maintain. You have to lubricate them. But I don’t see why we can’t lubricate them with something more environmentally friendly
This feels like you’re focusing on a tiny tiny issue of carbon use generated during manufacturing of solar panels while ignoring the massive massive issue of carbon use during operation of nearly every other utility traditional power generation system.
All of the petroleum used to lubricate a windmill over its entire lifetime is likely less than the petroleum used in a single day of a traditional petroleum based power generation system of the same capacity.
Can you explain why you’re hyperfocused on the small consumption while ignoring the massively larger consumption of alternatives?
The ONLY problem about oil is burning it. If we just used it for lubricants and plastics, we’d have enough till pretty much the end of the world.
The exploration for oil, extraction, transportation, pollution from spills, and refining are also problems, but I generally agree that burning it creating CO2 is the biggest problem we have today.
I mean, yeah, but all those happen mostly to burn it.
I disagree. The petrochemical industry is giant and only a part of that results in end product combustion. Lots of other things come out like lubricants as we talked about, solvents, industrial additives, plastics, etc.
Yes I would love to explain that for you. I often become hyper fixated on certain issues but the fun part is that while I’m fixated on it I learn way more about it. Through yourself and others telling me off I’m beginning to focus in on what can actually be a benefit. I wasn’t just trying to be a dumbass. I was looking for ideas
I highly recommend you modify you language in the future then. Your original posts were making statement as though you were authoritative to answer, and that your statements were factual. This immediately makes you lose credibility and a whole segment of people will simply ignore/dismiss/block you because you are clearly wrong and don’t appear to have any awareness of it or flexibility to modify your thinking.
Instead of making likely incorrect statements, why not ask questions? Instead of you saying:
Why not ask the question “How much petroleum does it take to make solar panels vs petroleum consumed from traditional power generation sources?”
Ignorance in search of truth is noble. Intentionally stating misinformation to do so is dangerous. What if someone with fewer critical thinking skills reads your post and starts believing that solar panels are worse than burning oil for power? They may act on that and vote down solar power and opt for oil power instead.
Oh yeah I see that now. I’m not any kinda of authority. Just a crazy person who wants to invent even crazier things. I really appreciate your feedback.
I was expecting you to talk about embodied energy in the steel, concrete, copper, composites, silicon, glass, and the diesel trucks, cranes, and helicopters used for installation and maintenance. Most of those could be greenified once there’s enough renewables around.
Nope. You care about lubricant. They use stuff all, don’t even burn it, and it’s not a particularly impossible thing to replace - I’m sure you could synthesize replacements from corn alcohol though you’d still probably need lithium, molybdenum, or whatever other fancy additives are in use.
They used to use whale fat as lubricant.
Congratulations; dumbest take I’ve seen all year.
Thank you so much for telling me off about this. There are so many ways we can change this for the better and I’ve been very short sighted.