On the flip side, what if we considered pollution a threat. It's not that big of a stretch. Chemical weapons are considered a threat aren't they? What if our real enemies aren't human? What if they are Chemical or...? What if we cared about the quality of every human life more than money? What if we thought about the future of humanity more than our own future right now? Would we make different choices?
Can we look at the coal industry holistically? Can we seek a zero pollution future for our children and still use coal? If you were to kill the coal industry what would you do with the thousands of people who work them? For the most part these are not city people. They live in places like the Appalachia Mountains or Wyoming, and Montana. You can't just get them new jobs out there. They would have to leave more than just the mines. Who in the cities understands the culture of these people? Or what you threaten to take away when you discuss killing the coal industry?
What if it is in the best interest of this country to defend our people differently than we are defending them now? DARPA is a department of the US government dedicated to creating better technologies for our defense. DARPA spends millions on drones, robots, and who knows what all to help the military stay on the cutting edge of defense. That's important. But perhaps a little narrow in view. What if we spent just a fraction of that money to help create technologies that would clean up our act? Which is a bigger threat to our children? I don't wish to debate that question. I just want us to think about all threats with equal fervor.
Consider these threats just to name a few.
- Pollution
- Homelessness
- Poverty
- Social breakdown and violence
Look at coal in light of these issues. It highlights the problem doesn't it? Coal, if burned, pollutes. Eliminate coal and ZAP! No pollution. But, then there is an increase of poverty, homelessness and perhaps violence because of it. There is a connection between our choices and the quality of people's lives. These are people, and people are valuable! And yet what are the consequences of allowing pollution? Perhaps health issues, which again can cause poverty, that again creates... Let's try again
What if, we used a different technology to extract the energy from coal? We are starting to use plasma arc technology to turn garbage into electricity. A plasma arc consumes garbage at such a high temperature it isn't burned in the traditional sense, it is reduced back to it's basic elements while at the same time generating electricity. There is no smoke involved, no pollution. It actually eliminates sources of pollution by preventing ground leakage and methane production. This is a great technology. It works!
The problem is, garbage isn't always the best of fuel sources. There's stuff in garbage that doesn't burn well. It does work, but it could work better. Perhaps the solution is to add coal to the mix. Still no smoke, no pollution, only electricity, CO2 (less greenhouse gases created than prevented), water, basic elements like gold, aluminum and silver and clean (no heavy metals) silicon sludge that would make great bricks for building.
The problem is, garbage isn't always the best of fuel sources. There's stuff in garbage that doesn't burn well. It does work, but it could work better. Perhaps the solution is to add coal to the mix. Still no smoke, no pollution, only electricity, CO2 (less greenhouse gases created than prevented), water, basic elements like gold, aluminum and silver and clean (no heavy metals) silicon sludge that would make great bricks for building.
My argument is this; work together with the idea that no one is expendable. I'm not an engineer, I'm sure my ideas are simplistic. But people build the Panama Canal with ropes, pulleys, and donkeys. If we set our minds to it, a holistic solution can be found that will not compromise humanity.
Got any good ideas?
Got any good ideas?
