tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post579546358594731000..comments2024-03-28T18:11:40.841-04:00Comments on Sightings Over Sixty: Conflicted on EnergyTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08611148987085476580noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-69434065868674609432014-10-26T01:46:09.057-04:002014-10-26T01:46:09.057-04:00I wonder if windmills could be painted to look li...I wonder if windmills could be painted to look like trees. Brown towers, green blades. Im wondering if they would appear to be less intrusive. I pass by a plant that makes them and its row after row of white blades. Im sure the wind would just think the mill is just another tree.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-535052544231166922014-09-27T08:08:56.916-04:002014-09-27T08:08:56.916-04:00Restricting the speed limit made some sense in the...Restricting the speed limit made some sense in the 70's when cars were less efficient and designed to be closer to optimal efficiency at around 55 MPH but modern vehicles are better. So, it would accomplish little to restrict the speed limit today. I tried, back in the 70's, to see how much it mattered on a drive to Los Angeles from San Diego. It took longer and I was much more tired from the trip at 55 MPH. The difference in gas mileage was negligible also (to be fair, I was driving a Chevy Vega at the time)... the difference was maybe 1 MPG better. I wonder how many of those people in those marches in NYC and elsewhere traveled by gas hogs or jet to get to those protests?Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09752593286034877538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-58848336524940716002014-09-27T07:53:10.043-04:002014-09-27T07:53:10.043-04:00I've been thinking over this post, driving at ...I've been thinking over this post, driving at 70 mph, usually, for days now and I have concluded that while individual efforts at conserving are laudable, individual efforts won't feed the ponies in regard to saving the Earth.<br />I've also concluded that I will happily drive 70 mph all the way home if it gets me home from work a few minutes sooner.Junehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11710135137635433217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-5692537709745673342014-09-26T14:34:46.973-04:002014-09-26T14:34:46.973-04:00Thank you for your glimpses into a post-peak vacat...Thank you for your glimpses into a post-peak vacation on Cape Cod. What an inspirational time of the year to road trip in New England. It has been 40 years since I visited Hyannisport and any post-peak vacation appeals to me. Those windmills are plentiful along the Columbia River in the vicinity of Vantage, WA. Every time I drive east on I-90 I think how the windmills fit their sagebrush landscape nicely. Certain you are with your observations of driving 70+ mph on interstates and turnpikes. Cannot be folks are always late, or behind schedule, to be somewhere. Seems fuel is plentiful, the vehicles have the power and it is merely a matter of stopping briefly to fill up to hit the 70+ mph ranges again. During road trips and any time on the interstates, with my cruise control assist I keep it at 60 and an occasional 65, for overtaking purposes. The rewards being I get more mpg per tank full and it is a reasonable speed to anticipate, and defensively react to, adverse situations. I have the safety of traveling the lane the big rigs use because their posted speed limit is 10 mph less. I like the convenience of my own vehicle and I like consciously taking steps to minimize the costs of that convenience, at least where they are still mine to control.Hauolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18107720882281050537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-87171733197963263882014-09-24T18:00:30.188-04:002014-09-24T18:00:30.188-04:00No easy answer here. We've got the wind, we...No easy answer here. We've got the wind, we've got the sun. Makes sense we should harness both. We have come a long though. Remember when every house had a chimney that billowed smoke 24/7 and every car had a huge motor and very little, if anything, in the way of emission control. And factories years ago - won't even go there! Do I want to live next door to a wind farm - not so much. Do I want to see acres of solar panels amongst the berry farms - not so much. Do I want a fracking field destroying our beautiful forest - not so much. Do I use energy every single day - sure do. No easy answers!Joslyn Bouldennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-70616632424488273532014-09-24T10:29:03.133-04:002014-09-24T10:29:03.133-04:00They have those windmills in Rhode Island also (si...They have those windmills in Rhode Island also (sister state to MA). No one told the state that when those windmills break down, it costs over $500,000 to repair them. So, guess what? RI has lots of broken down windmills that no longer work because the state does not have the money to repair them.<br />What a joke!<br />I'm not conflicted. Until China and India cut down on their emissions and pollutions, everyone else is just blowing hot air up the you-know-what. Remember the Olympics in China? The pollution was so thick you couldn't even see the games, swim in the waters or walk in the towns.<br />Give me a break!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-37772373393179378612014-09-24T10:26:09.443-04:002014-09-24T10:26:09.443-04:00I agree with you.I agree with you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-68431697594885048872014-09-23T20:50:35.861-04:002014-09-23T20:50:35.861-04:00Conflicted is my constant state lately--energy, po...Conflicted is my constant state lately--energy, politics, economy, health care. It is just too darn hard to do the right thing because nothing is completely right.Olgahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00692441479616299920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-64316776001839234922014-09-23T20:23:09.854-04:002014-09-23T20:23:09.854-04:00Oh brother, not looking forward to 60 plus if it l...Oh brother, not looking forward to 60 plus if it leads to this type of senility, if you like wind power and you want to drive a Prius, more power to you, it just means that it leaves more gas/hydrocarbon energy for those of us who haven't bought in to the man made "climate change" nonsense (one volcanic eruption releases more climate change gases into the atmosphere than years of man made pollution) but oh well, if it gives you some purpose in your life then I guess it's ok!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-33091764814180587362014-09-23T20:19:30.670-04:002014-09-23T20:19:30.670-04:00We certainly are conflicted aren't we?We certainly are conflicted aren't we?Jonohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18170214396483091419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-23991397551991336452014-09-23T19:04:02.188-04:002014-09-23T19:04:02.188-04:00Ted Kennedy was lauded by many, but I could not st...Ted Kennedy was lauded by many, but I could not stand his hypocrisy. His objection to the offshore wind farm is one example. He got away with murder too. Some liberals are so hypocritical about energy issues. They really think wind and sun can replace fossil fuels...including clean natural gas obtained via frackin. It can't. <br /><br /> This does not mean I object to windmills. As a child, I lived on a farm whose energy was generated by a wind mill. Of course in those days we lived in the Midwest where the wind comes whistling down the plains. Along with tornadoes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-32876446589504386862014-09-23T17:13:14.730-04:002014-09-23T17:13:14.730-04:00In time those windmills will look quaint and pictu...In time those windmills will look quaint and picturesque, like the mills in Rembrandt paintings. I doubt people complained in seventeenth century Holland that they were an eyesore.stephen Hayeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17659054447637207734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-12383961688130827212014-09-23T16:35:42.516-04:002014-09-23T16:35:42.516-04:00We recycle and compost. We drive a Prius. We maint...We recycle and compost. We drive a Prius. We maintain small wardrobes. We don't own an air conditioner and never turn on the one in the car. We keep our thermostat at 68.<br /><br />But we travel sometimes by air and we don't pay extra to compensate for our carbon footprint.<br /><br />I think wind farms are pretty, too. Even if they kill birds.<br /><br />Definitely a mixed bag.Linda Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05706455533282204519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-60709376041020932112014-09-23T16:24:46.102-04:002014-09-23T16:24:46.102-04:00I think life is a balancing act and it's the o...I think life is a balancing act and it's the overall behavior that counts. I drive a mid-sized SUV and never will go back again-once you have a bad knee and have a car at butt level, you realize not all is bad. I also drive fast.<br /><br />One the other hand I use cloth napkins, don't buy paper towels, recycle, use barely any air conditioner, use only cloth shopping bags, and would have no problem with a wind farm. I actually think they are pretty.<br /><br />Germany is probably the most environmentally friendly Euro (maybe even world) country. You cannot wash your car in the driveway, only in a car wash with special drains. A tree ct down has to be replanted. Downtown centers are walking streets, they have steam radiators (cant begin to tell you how much I miss radiant heat) They also make REALLY fast cars and have no speed limit, lol.Barbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195838412173806659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-12529794953813355702014-09-23T15:30:05.891-04:002014-09-23T15:30:05.891-04:00Seems we've always had concerned and unconcern...Seems we've always had concerned and unconcerned citizens (look at the voting statistics). However, as Mom used to say, "You don't have to do what those other kids are doing. Do the right thing."Dick Kladehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11793395712483278104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-67555828383750832822014-09-23T15:19:21.696-04:002014-09-23T15:19:21.696-04:00The premium seems high for life insurance over 60....The premium seems high for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUXwpTFedXs" rel="nofollow">life insurance over 60</a>. I am not getting a good policy although I am looking regularly. Feeling sad.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00980263846297638601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-13407142936126882192014-09-23T08:52:52.795-04:002014-09-23T08:52:52.795-04:00I could have written this. It's all the same s...I could have written this. It's all the same stuff I think about when I drive somewhere. Usually I ride the bus if it's convenient, but on the weekends they don't start running early enough. I try very hard to be a good citizen, but as I said, I could have written this. Very conflicted indeed.DJanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152183871573797791noreply@blogger.com