This is a topic in hot debate at the moment by government officials. For me, it's a no brainer. The United States has fallen so far behind in the area of public transportation that it is causing massive economic problems.
I've read a few blogs recently that offer some creative, and common sense, methods of helping offset the costs of revamping and upgrading America's public transportation. The biggest method is setting aside dedicated wind and solar power sources for public transportation. No fossil fuels required... Not to mention the maintenance costs are fairly low on those types of power generation. As long as it is done using a little intelligence.
I love cars. The idea of riding on a train everywhere is a little outputting. Seriously. But. I am not so stuck in my ways that I refuse to take note of a problem. Recently, I have been researching different areas of Japanese culture. I would bet most people would be shocked to find out that every real estate listing in Japan gives walking time to the nearest railway stations. Whether people have cars or not is beside the point. Whether people live in town, or not, is beside the point. Even in rural areas there are railway stops. Yes, it would cost a lot of money to set up this type of transportation system, but the benefits would far outweigh the costs.
In today's American economy, people are having to live further and further from their place of employment in order to make ends meet. Myself, prior to losing my job, I was driving 45 minutes one way to work. The price of fuel is so high I have had to get advances on my pay in order to just continue going to work. If there were a reliable public transportation system set up, those costs could be cut dramatically. With millions of people in American currently commuting from rural areas and from across town, the benefits to the American public, would be massive. I understand that most areas in towns and cities do not have the space set aside for stations. The space needs to be found regardless. This country is so far behind in public transportation, it rather makes me sick to consider the tax payers money that has been wasted. Instead of pulling up tracks over the last 30 years, the railway companies should have converted the old freight lines to passenger use.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Recycling?
You hear people preaching about recycling everyday. I will agree that it is a great concept. The only thing I don't really understand is why they don't go further with it. Well, they will only recycle the items that are worth a substantial amount for the recycling company. ... OK. Scratch that last comment. I do understand it.
That being said, lets look at a few worthwhile items to recycle that most people don't know you can recycle. Plastics. Yeah, yeah. "We recycle that all the time." Bullpucky! You send it to someone that grinds it up and makes park benches and milk jugs. Awesome... How much plastic still hits the landfills? Forget reusing the plastic once, as is typical. Were you aware that plastics are made of, primarily, oil? Yes, oil. There is only one company, that I am aware of, currently reclaiming the oil from plastics. (Keep in mind, I don't do a whole lot of research. This is what I've read in random magazines.) Why isn't there a huge growth in this area of recycling? Depending on the type of plastic, up to 60% of its make up is oil. There is a lot of plastic just sitting around in landfills...
Here is one that I consider recycling, but that isn't. I consider it recycling, because it is reusable. Indefinitely. Two things, actually. Wind and solar power. Yes, it costs money for the equipment, but why not lower the costs of some of these things so everyone can make use of them? Seriously. I believe that every house and building with a roof, should have solar panels. Not the stupid little black boxes with water pipes like were popular in the 1980's. Actual working, efficient, high output, solar panels. Every building would contribute to cutting down fossil fuel usage.
Spit in the eye of every "naturalist" and put windmills in every area where there is a constant source of wind. Yeah, I said it. I don't care if they are ugly. So is that Prius you're driving. It's about saving the planet, right, tree hugger? Build windmills that require less wind to generate more power, but that can handle higher wind speeds to generate "boosts" of extra energy for storage for later use.
What happened to the big push for electric cars? Make batteries or an energy storage unit that is more efficient. That way, we can have cars with built-in generators that produce enough energy to recharge the batteries and still run the stereo, a/c, head lights, etc.
On that note, why not use nuclear byproducts? The spent fuel from power plants, for instance. Does it produce enough energy to power a car? They say it lasts forever... When you buy a new car, use the power supply from the old one...
I can't believe I am the only person thinking about this. Let's put some government spending into this type of stuff. I am no green freak. I just don't see the sense in all this waste. We need to stop letting the oil companies run this county the way the Big 3 did. This county is focused on money, greed, corruption. How rich would the United States of America become if we did away with our dependence on fossil fuels? If all power were supplied by renewable sources, that cost nothing more than the windmills repair/replacement, solar panels repair/replacement... We would have a bunch of money in our pockets to spend on other stuff.
Inflation is "controlled" in this country to promote growth. My opinion is that it needs to be drawn back a great degree so we can start recycling more. Should the government allow the people of this country to build wealth without raising the costs of living we could flourish with a focused mindset. If we reclaim/recycle/reuse every available resource without using it up, we will be healthier, richer, and hopefully, smarter. If we invest, seriously, in renewable electric power supplies, we could become the country we once were, minus the corruption of the oil companies. ... As long as the companies building the windmills and such are allowed (forced) to keep costs down while maintaining a profit. It is possible. Remember when milk was only $1/gallon? Wasn't that long ago and I believe there is no justifiable reason for our current cost of living in this country.
Where the hell is our railway system? We need to build a nationwide electric railway system. It can be done cheaply... Ya know, considering the size of it... Just keep greed out of the equation and prosecute the bastards harshly that cross the line.
I think I could go on forever on this topic. Recycling isn't about turning newspapers into insulation your attic. It is about making the more responsible use of what you have available. Keeping in mind that "Special Interest" groups are all idiots. If proper steps are taken to reduce the impact on nature, within reason, just do it. The overall benefit to nature will out weight the harm. Zero pollution....
That being said, lets look at a few worthwhile items to recycle that most people don't know you can recycle. Plastics. Yeah, yeah. "We recycle that all the time." Bullpucky! You send it to someone that grinds it up and makes park benches and milk jugs. Awesome... How much plastic still hits the landfills? Forget reusing the plastic once, as is typical. Were you aware that plastics are made of, primarily, oil? Yes, oil. There is only one company, that I am aware of, currently reclaiming the oil from plastics. (Keep in mind, I don't do a whole lot of research. This is what I've read in random magazines.) Why isn't there a huge growth in this area of recycling? Depending on the type of plastic, up to 60% of its make up is oil. There is a lot of plastic just sitting around in landfills...
Here is one that I consider recycling, but that isn't. I consider it recycling, because it is reusable. Indefinitely. Two things, actually. Wind and solar power. Yes, it costs money for the equipment, but why not lower the costs of some of these things so everyone can make use of them? Seriously. I believe that every house and building with a roof, should have solar panels. Not the stupid little black boxes with water pipes like were popular in the 1980's. Actual working, efficient, high output, solar panels. Every building would contribute to cutting down fossil fuel usage.
Spit in the eye of every "naturalist" and put windmills in every area where there is a constant source of wind. Yeah, I said it. I don't care if they are ugly. So is that Prius you're driving. It's about saving the planet, right, tree hugger? Build windmills that require less wind to generate more power, but that can handle higher wind speeds to generate "boosts" of extra energy for storage for later use.
What happened to the big push for electric cars? Make batteries or an energy storage unit that is more efficient. That way, we can have cars with built-in generators that produce enough energy to recharge the batteries and still run the stereo, a/c, head lights, etc.
On that note, why not use nuclear byproducts? The spent fuel from power plants, for instance. Does it produce enough energy to power a car? They say it lasts forever... When you buy a new car, use the power supply from the old one...
I can't believe I am the only person thinking about this. Let's put some government spending into this type of stuff. I am no green freak. I just don't see the sense in all this waste. We need to stop letting the oil companies run this county the way the Big 3 did. This county is focused on money, greed, corruption. How rich would the United States of America become if we did away with our dependence on fossil fuels? If all power were supplied by renewable sources, that cost nothing more than the windmills repair/replacement, solar panels repair/replacement... We would have a bunch of money in our pockets to spend on other stuff.
Inflation is "controlled" in this country to promote growth. My opinion is that it needs to be drawn back a great degree so we can start recycling more. Should the government allow the people of this country to build wealth without raising the costs of living we could flourish with a focused mindset. If we reclaim/recycle/reuse every available resource without using it up, we will be healthier, richer, and hopefully, smarter. If we invest, seriously, in renewable electric power supplies, we could become the country we once were, minus the corruption of the oil companies. ... As long as the companies building the windmills and such are allowed (forced) to keep costs down while maintaining a profit. It is possible. Remember when milk was only $1/gallon? Wasn't that long ago and I believe there is no justifiable reason for our current cost of living in this country.
Where the hell is our railway system? We need to build a nationwide electric railway system. It can be done cheaply... Ya know, considering the size of it... Just keep greed out of the equation and prosecute the bastards harshly that cross the line.
I think I could go on forever on this topic. Recycling isn't about turning newspapers into insulation your attic. It is about making the more responsible use of what you have available. Keeping in mind that "Special Interest" groups are all idiots. If proper steps are taken to reduce the impact on nature, within reason, just do it. The overall benefit to nature will out weight the harm. Zero pollution....
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