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Maybe they are hoping that they will have enough $$$$$$ to escape the toxic wasteland, leaving the poorer people to deal with it....
I guess capitalists are eternal optimists. Or they believe that God is on their side.
Maybe this is the reason why God is mentioned on each coin. The more coins you have, the more God will side with you.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,329 posts, read 54,389,283 times
Reputation: 40736
Quote:
Originally Posted by katzenfreund
I just don't believe until this problem is solved, we should expand and build more nuclear power plants. Solve the problem first, instead of just hoping it will be solved sometime in the future. Of course the taxpayers get to pay for that and also heavily subsidize nuclear power plants, while the owners make the profits.... same as usual.
Nuclear energy was also touted as cheap energy, it has turned out to be VERY expensive energy.
I agree, we should solve the problem first, I just hope we don't stop looking.
I can't remember where I read it but not too long ago I saw some figures of how government research funding had made quite a shift from pure sience to applied(commercial) science, I think this short sightedness and demand for instant gratifcation(profit) will hurt us in the ling term.
Nuclear Energy is a great concept for fixing the energy problems. The biggest problem is finding a large amount of space where you do not have the "Not in MY backyard" influence.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,329 posts, read 54,389,283 times
Reputation: 40736
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kuharai
Nuclear Energy is a great concept for fixing the energy problems. The biggest problem is finding a large amount of space where you do not have the "Not in MY backyard" influence.
The Sun? Delivery included , ours to use in 8 minutes at no additional charge.
How do you think your boat/cars/motorcycles are produced.
From thin air ? Or do you think materials have to be located, extracted, processed, transported, advertised, serviced and disposed of at the end of their lives ?
So, your suggestion is we stop buying these products? Or, stop producing these products?
Please, could you expand on your perspective of how you think the world should function?
So, your suggestion is we stop buying these products? Or, stop producing these products?
Please, could you expand on your perspective of how you think the world should function?
Of course not. BUT I think we should be a little bit more circumspect in what we buy, and make informed choices , choosing the least harmful products.
Nobody needs a new car every year, nobody needs a new tv every year. We don't need all the rubbish we buy and mostly don't even truly appreciate.
Nobody needs a gas guzzling car. A fuel efficient one or one which is hybrid or uses bio-fuels still gets you where you want to get. You don't have to sacrifice that much.
Turning the thermostat by a couple of degrees in your house will not harm you in any way and will save huge amounts of energy. Think before wasting so much water.
Not leaving things on standby will do the same. Walk when you can rather than use the car. Recycle everything you possibly can. Compost all your food waste.
Buy fair-trade products. Lobby politicians and corporations for products to be produced with strict labour laws and under safe conditions, with more environmentally friendly methods and paying its workers a living wage.
I do not advocate stopping to consume,I advocate more responsible consuming. Ensuring for example that we pay more for products for a product which is of higher quality and will last a lot longer. Even if we have to pay more for it.
Products which are not produced simply with the express purpose of being discarded a short while later. Products which do not require people to be exploited or enslaved in their production.
It seems to me , in the West that we allow our goods and our desire to own them to own us rather than the other way around.
I have nothing against buying things. I do however object to waste. To buying things we do not need. Things which are so superfluous it makes a mockery of our lives. Fashion for example is an obscene trade. I'm sorry but there is no other word.
There isn't one solution, there are thousands of little ways and bigger ones which allow us , the individual to push for something akin to a vaguely more responsible ethics in consuming.
It's a combination of many things. Of keeping informed. Of demanding better for everyone down the chain of production. Of not wasting so much.
It always amaze me how selfish people can be and how utterly disinterested they are in the way their goods are produced. As if ignorance will shield us fromt he trth and reality.
Only buy from companies which have a reasonable ethical and environmental standards. Ethical shopping should not be just for hemp smoking, sandal wearing , bearded hippies.
It's about common sense. And about good stewardship of our planet.
The way we consume and shop has repercussions around the world. As consumers we have the ultimate power.
All of us can do our bit. Starting with thinking long and hard when we purchase things.
Nuclear fission plants create more fuel than they use by transmuting non fissionsble materials into fissionable materials. The primary example is transmuting Uranium-238 (U-238) into Plutonium 239, 240 or 241. These can be mixed with more U-235 and U-238 to make mixed fuel elements that can be "burned" in a reactor to create energy and, as a byproduct, destroy the very radioactive and long lived Uranium and Plutonium isotopes by turning them into short lived fission by products. We are already burning up nuclear weapons grade fuel as part of the disarmement deal with the Russians.
There is way too much information on this topic for a short essay. Start by checking wikki for more information and go from there.
Nobody needs a new car every year, nobody needs a new tv every year. We don't need all the rubbish we buy and mostly don't even truly appreciate.
Nobody needs a gas guzzling car. A fuel efficient one or one which is hybrid or uses bio-fuels still gets you where you want to get. You don't have to sacrifice that much.
True - we don't need a new car every year. In our case, we keep our cars two years then turn them in. We don't consider them "gas guzzling" either - 25mpg - not bad for SUV's. When and if the hybrids get to the bigger cars and are more reliable, those might be a consideration for more people. For now though, although Hybrids are increasing in popularity, Americans feel more comfortable in the bigger cars as we do more road miles than most.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mooseketeer
Turning the thermostat by a couple of degrees in your house will not harm you in any way and will save huge amounts of energy. Think before wasting so much water.
Great suggestions. In Arizona, they just announced the construction of a HUGH Solar Array for renewable energy sources. Our new home is almost totally solar powered. IMO, this will also become more popular as the technology becomes more refined and less expensive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mooseketeer
Not leaving things on standby will do the same. Walk when you can rather than use the car. Recycle everything you possibly can. Compost all your food waste.
Composting is not viable in many areas of the US. As for recycling, it is not always available either. And, in many areas where recycling is available, it has not become cost effective enough.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mooseketeer
Buy fair-trade products. Lobby politicians and corporations for products to be produced with strict labour laws and under safe conditions, with more environmentally friendly methods and paying its workers a living wage.
Already being done
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mooseketeer
It's a combination of many things. Of keeping informed. Of demanding better for everyone down the chain of production. Of not wasting so much.
Buy fair-trade products. Lobby politicians and corporations for products to be produced with strict labour laws and under safe conditions, with more environmentally friendly methods and paying its workers a living wage.
This is the sentence where I knew for a fact that Mooseketeer was preaching politics not practicality.
Fair Trade and sweatshops have little to do with the environment. These is where I knew it went from "ways to lessen your impact on the environment" to Left Wing jack fest.
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What good is a job when you can't live in a toxic wasteland?
