How Green is Green?



Whatever your position on the proposed pipeline, there should be care in the alternatives that are mentioned in the conversation of the pipeline. Green energy and the so called renewables. Solar panels appear to be popular but where do they come from? They certainly do not just fall from the sky. They have to be made and this requires energy such as electricity.


The manufacturing process seems to be close to computer chips, which from what I read, is a very dirty process ( in many ways). Raw materials have to be mined, can you say open pit mining? Required is quartz sand for silicon cells, metal ore for thin film cells. These materials require manufacturing processing that results in more air pollution, heavy metal emissions and they consume large amounts of energy, which in most cases produces more air pollution, heavy metal emissions and more green house gasses. Remember Al Gore going about warning us about the inconvenient truth while flying alone in a very large jet while making a very large sum of money. (where is Al today with his message?)


And where do these panels go when they no longer work? I can see solar panels becoming more efficient and cheaper to produce as the years go by. I wonder if this will result in a glut of old panels similar to todays electronics. So, what will become of all these old panels? I would think the story is the same for wind generation. One other thing is the use of precious water resources to cool the very large solar farms in the dessert. Renewable electricity while diverting one of the most precious resources, water.  That alone makes me wonder where are all the progressives speaking out on this issue? Never mind the deposit, why is there not a push for more water fountains and where is the outcry of the selling of municipal water to private industry which is then sold all over the world for a profit. Coca Cola buys vast amounts of Atlanta, GA municipal water and then sells it all over on the open market. Those big bad companies of wall street. If you want a good return on investments, buy stock in Coca Cola. While in Afghanistan, we drank water bottled in country under the coca cola brand!


What I take away from this pipeline protest is; it is  emotion driven, those so called clean renewables are not so clean and emission free, solar panels can be a doubtful choice for regions where the sun is not prevalent and these options are more costly than what we have now.  We are now enjoying low gas prices, comparative to what we have had in recent memory. I wonder if these low prices have anything to do with fracking and the sudden rise in oil and gas production in the USA? I know the Saudis did not lower the price of a barrel of oil out of the kindness of their hearts.


Fortunately for those who oppose the pipeline, we have a solar panel manufacturer close by at the old Fort Devens location, oh wait, they took the Massachusetts tax dollars and went to China where they have little or no regulation and no unions and they will sell them back to us.  Good move by the one party rule where we don't have the gridlock like we have in DC!


So, our strategy is to pay the health care costs of smoking by taxing the hell out of cigarettes, then trying to make them illegal and we will pay for our roads and bridges by a fuel tax while we encourage cutting back on usage of fossil fuels and more electric cars. Never mind our failing electric grid, no public transportation to speak of and no push to create a state wide network either. Yes, we have a great strategy here in the peoples democratic republic of Massachusetts. As long as all our elected folks keep taking the bribes from special interest groups from the NAACP, to AARP to the big bad oil companies and those very bad banks, that is the way it will be so we should deal with it.  We should ask Ms. Warren and Mr. Markey when are they going to fix the tax code and when will they deal with the lobbyist?


Jeff Bennett