Going Green, facts and fiction

Okay, I have to write about this topic as it is really beginning to frustrate me.  A lot of people in the media and the general public (where I live) in the Portland, Oregon area talk about being “green” and  having as small of a carbon footprint as possible.  Many of these people are ecstatic about the possibility of zero emission electric cars, and getting away from using fossil fuels.  Biofuels are also being touted as solutions. 

Some local politicians even talk about cars as “evil” and they glorify public transportation and bicycles.  If you drive around much in the metro area, you will see that about every 4th car is a Toyota Prius. 

Here is my take:  I am a reasonable, logical and mature adult, capable of making my own decisions and using my mind to figure things out.  I am, and always have been in favor of protecting the environment (long before it became popular).  I turn off running water in public restrooms, turn out lights when leaving a room, recycle at home, etc.  But (as with any new fad) this global warming and being green movement really hasn’t thought through the entire issue. 

If you are in favor of electric cars (which I am for local, urban commuters), then where do you think the electricity will come from to power all of those new electric vehicles?  “Well, I just plug it in and it charges the batteries.”  O.K.  Do you know where the electricity comes from that you are using to charge your batteries?  The VAST MAJORITY of electricity comes from burning fossil fuels, such as coal.  In fact, 49% of Americas electricity comes from burning specifically coal.  63% of fossil fuel electricity comes from burning coal, 29% from burning natural gas and 9% from burning oil.  The combustion of fossil fuels supplies over 40% of the electricity the entire world uses.  That’s the fact. 

There are other ways to make electricity- hydro-electric (dams and tidal forces), nuclear fission, wind power, photovaltaic panels, geothermal power (steam coming out of the ground), etc.  But, combined they pale in the ability to generate electricity next to burning combustible fossil fuels.

 So, what if you said, (starting tomorrow) we are all going to drive zero emissions electric cars, what would happen?  Well, for starters you would have to burn A LOT more fossil fuels to CREATE the electricity that all these electric car drivers would demand.  After all, where does electricity come from?  Buring fossil fuels. 

Another major problem with all of these proposed electric cars is the batteries.  Talk about environmental damage.  Producing batteries is highly toxic, and one of the MAJOR sources of pollution in the world today.  If we all were forced to suddenly start driving electric (battery driven) cars, battery production would skyrocket.  So would pollution, mining for nickel, acid rain, etc. 

So while I agree that to conserve is wise, I also know there are a lot of unintended consequences to everyone jumping on this “Green” bandwagon.  The solution is just not as simple as many people would have you believe. 

After saying this, I think it is wise to conserve fuel, drive less when possible, use the air conditioning less when possible, conserve water, don’t be a wasteful person.  Hey, even our Dadsworld.com website has a black background that takes less electricity than a white background.  That’s all good.  But to somehow think that you are better than everyone because you drive a Prius or ride a bicycle is a ridiculous and ignorant position to take.

I don’t even want to start talking about bio-fuels, but I will say this.  Bio-fuels at the present incarnation, DO NOT WORK.  They add a small percentage of ethanol to our gas now.  So, the cars get worse gas mileage because ethanol is not as efficient.  So we burn MORE gas to go the same distance.  Tell me how this helps the environment???  We also pay more money for that less efficient gas.  Nice trade-off, don’t you think?  Should’t we pay less money?  After all, the E85 (85% gasoline, 15% ethanol) fuel is around 17% less efficient than straight gas, so it takes 17% MORE gas to go the same distance.  Are we getting a 17% discount at the pump?  I think you know the answer to that.

How about unintended consequences of using ethanol?  Well, corn has more than tripled in price in just a few months.  How many foods can you think of that are made with corn???  A LOT.  All of those foods have to go up in cost too.  We are having food shortages because farmers (who used to grow food) are now growing fuel for our cars.  They are getting subsidized to do so (given money) because the technology won’t stand on it’s own in the marketplace.  It is a dead end.  Who is subsidizing the farmers?  Your government that is almost completely sold on the whole “Green” bandwagon.

Listen, I am not saying I have the answers to the energy and pollution problems we face.  I don’t.  I do know some things that will NOT work though, and it’s time people started using their brains to come up with better solutions than the ones being used now.  They are NOT all solutions in the long run.

Be reasonable, contribute your time and efforts when you can to helping clean up the world around you, and do your best to not be wasteful.  I helped with a cleanup of several local rivers done by the flyfishing club I belong to.  Over the course of a few weekends we visited several popular flyfishing rivers and cleaned up along the banks.  You can not imaging the junk we found, filling pickup trucks full in just a few hours.  It made me sick how some people apparantly think the world is their garbage can.  People need to be more conscientious and courteous.  Take care of the planet, but don’t go crazy off the “green end,” condemning others for driving cars or using oil.  COMMON SENSE.

Only time will tell if all of this envrionmental talk will be a fad like the opulence and extravagance of the 1980’s.  Somewhere in between is where the true solution will probably be found. 

Tags: batteries, dad, dadsworld, electricity, energy solutions, envrionment, fossil fuels, geothermal power, green, hydro electric power, photovaltaic panels, world