akirby Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 Just now, Harley Lover said: It will be turned into a 'political issue' ala climate change, and any negatives will be immediately decried as 'non believers'. Bingo. I'm tired of pointing out legitimate flaws with politically motivated proposals or propaganda and being dismissed outright or labeled as uncaring or some other derogatory label. Doing things that don't make sense just because it makes us feel better is stupid and needs to stop. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 29 minutes ago, Harley Lover said: It will be turned into a 'political issue' ala climate change, and any negatives will be immediately decried as 'non believers'. Not saying you’re accusing me of that at all here. On the surface I don't have a problem with wind energy. My issues are the equipment (mainly the blades) is not recyclable and there's a big issue of migratory birds being hit and killed by the rotating blades. The first issue is probably solvable using good old fashioned ingenuity but the latter I have no idea how to solve it short of putting little whistles on the leading edge of the blades and as hilarious of a concept as that is it's obviously not a solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonj80 Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 25 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said: Not saying you’re accusing me of that at all here. On the surface I don't have a problem with wind energy. My issues are the equipment (mainly the blades) is not recyclable and there's a big issue of migratory birds being hit and killed by the rotating blades. The first issue is probably solvable using good old fashioned ingenuity but the latter I have no idea how to solve it short of putting little whistles on the leading edge of the blades and as hilarious of a concept as that is it's obviously not a solution. Birds really are not that big of an issue with Wind energy - those talking points and push came out when they wanted to do the offshore windmills and the people on the coasts and didn't want to look at them. Cats and buildings kill way more birds than wind turbines do. Cats are actually one of the worst things for bird population. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 38 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said: On the surface I don't have a problem with wind energy. My issues are the equipment (mainly the blades) is not recyclable and there's a big issue of migratory birds being hit and killed by the rotating blades. The first issue is probably solvable using good old fashioned ingenuity but the latter I have no idea how to solve it short of putting little whistles on the leading edge of the blades and as hilarious of a concept as that is it's obviously not a solution. The migratory bird issue is real. When I worked, I was on the Kirtland's Warbler Recovery Team. Windmills can be a real problem with migratory birds. I haven't followed this issue closely since I retired, but painting the wind blades black has helped. I believe they're doing this in Norway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonj80 Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 1 hour ago, mackinaw said: The migratory bird issue is real. When I worked, I was on the Kirtland's Warbler Recovery Team. Windmills can be a real problem with migratory birds. I haven't followed this issue closely since I retired, but painting the wind blades black has helped. I believe they're doing this in Norway. Yes painting blades reduces the impact 60%-70%, but even then you're only dealing with 150K-500K. Outdoor cats kill about 2.4 billion birds per year. Buildings are about 600 million, and cars are 200 million. So yes they do kill birds but the impact has been way over played and painting the blades can reduce that number significantly. However painting a single blade black could cause it to expand at a different rate chaining the balance of the blades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 1 hour ago, jasonj80 said: Yes painting blades reduces the impact 60%-70%, but even then you're only dealing with 150K-500K. Outdoor cats kill about 2.4 billion birds per year. Buildings are about 600 million, and cars are 200 million. So yes they do kill birds but the impact has been way over played and painting the blades can reduce that number significantly. However painting a single blade black could cause it to expand at a different rate chaining the balance of the blades. There you go with your common sense and facts again. It's like obsessing over gun control for mass murders that kill a couple dozen people a year while ignoring fast food that kills 600K/yr due to heart disease or cars and alcohol that kills 10K/yr from drunk driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 (edited) 4 hours ago, fuzzymoomoo said: The situation in Texas has set wind energy back decades. Not really, wind energy can be used in snow states, it's just that Texas never winterised their wind generators. From what I understand, gas was diverted from power generation to home heating causing rolling load shedding. Not being connected to the national grid is another issue.... Edited February 19, 2021 by jpd80 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, akirby said: There you go with your common sense and facts again. It's like obsessing over gun control for mass murders that kill a couple dozen people a year while ignoring fast food that kills 600K/yr due to heart disease or cars and alcohol that kills 10K/yr from drunk driving. I dont think its being ignored, its just that the lobby against regulating fast food and alcohol is just too strong. and as far as i can tell, America has done nothing after countless mass shootings because people like guns and no one (in politics) is game to challenge that and lose brutally. Edited February 19, 2021 by jpd80 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, jasonj80 said: Yes painting blades reduces the impact 60%-70%, but even then you're only dealing with 150K-500K. Outdoor cats kill about 2.4 billion birds per year. Buildings are about 600 million, and cars are 200 million. So yes they do kill birds but the impact has been way over played and painting the blades can reduce that number significantly. However painting a single blade black could cause it to expand at a different rate chaining the balance of the blades. Painting blades is a cost but the benefit is significant reduction bird kills that would otherwise happen. There's not much you can do about birds flying into buildings and dying unless it's to do with clear glass... Putting a noisy bell on cats normally stops them catching birds but a lot of owners never think of the simple things. On a different note, I see a common theme in the last few posts of not wanting to do something because other situations are worse but depending on the situation, small changes for the good can sometimes add impetus to make more changes. Change has to start somewhere, make it right, make it sensible and people will get on board. Edited February 19, 2021 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 54 minutes ago, jpd80 said: Not really, wind energy can be used in snow states, it's just that Texas never winterised their wind generators. From what I understand, gas was diverted from power generation to home heating causing rolling load shedding. Not being connected to the national grid is another issue.... I understand but average Joe dumbass doesn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 9 minutes ago, jpd80 said: Painting blades is a cost but the benefit is significant reduction bird kills that would otherwise happen. There's not much you can do about birds flying into buildings and dying unless it's to do with clear glass... Putting a noisy bell on cats normally stops them catching birds but a lot of owners never think of the simple things. This is going down a rabbit hole, but while windmill blades can have a significant negative impact on migratory bird numbers, lighted TV and radio towers are worse. Lighted towers, and guy wires, can really mess birds up at night. You can find significant numbers of dead birds at the base of radio and TV towers if you look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 4 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said: I understand but average Joe dumbass doesn't. I'm sure there will be a thorough public colonoscopy into the events happening in Texas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 2 minutes ago, jpd80 said: I'm sure there will be a thorough public colonoscopy into the events happening in Texas. Half the country will believe it and half won't, just like everything else. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 All of this could lead us back to getting the power grid ready for electric vehicles and maybe involves things like power utilities having more battery storage for when outages are likely to occur. It could be nationally important to ensure that battery manufacturing happens in the US at a level that sustains more than the car industry and stops billions going to China. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 47 minutes ago, jpd80 said: I dont think its being ignored, its just that the lobby against regulating fast food and alcohol is just too strong. and as far as i can tell, America has done nothing after countless mass shootings because people like guns The mass shooting issue is same as birds getting killed by windmills... There are more firearms in the US then there are people in the country and all it takes is one person to do something stupid with them. Why should the other 99.999% of owners who are responsible suffer because of that? There are plenty of laws out there and people slip through the cracks because someone doesn't do there job (see the situation in Minnesota that happened a few weeks back) More laws aren't going to fix the issue and its a right in the US constitution. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 48 minutes ago, jpd80 said: I dont think its being ignored, its just that the lobby against regulating fast food and alcohol is just too strong. and as far as i can tell, America has done nothing after countless mass shootings because people like guns and no one (in politics) is game to challenge that and lose brutally. There is no fast food or alcohol lobby because people in general love both already. Although I guess NY tried by banning huge soft drinks. But the point is that we go overboard on inconsequential things (in the big scheme) while we ignore the bigger problem. As for doing nothing about mass shootings, the root cause of a mass shooting isn't that someone has access to an AR-15. It's that somebody has decided to kill innocent people. The weapon doesn't really matter. You can kill just as many with a handgun or a homemade bomb or a van or an airplane. Banning AR15s won't stop mass killings, but passing a law makes the liberals feel better about the situation even though it won't stop killings. Let's pretend that all mass murderers are planning to use a homemade bomb or their vehicle to kill multiple innocent victims. How do you stop that? Whatever the answer, that's how you stop mass shootings too. Not by outlawing AR15s. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 5 minutes ago, silvrsvt said: The mass shooting issue is same as birds getting killed by windmills... There are more firearms in the US then there are people in the country and all it takes is one person to do something stupid with them. Why should the other 99.999% of owners who are responsible suffer because of that? There are plenty of laws out there and people slip through the cracks because someone doesn't do there job (see the situation in Minnesota that happened a few weeks back) More laws aren't going to fix the issue and its a right in the US constitution. I noticed that you omitted the last line in my post which was, "And no one in politics is game to challenge that and lose brutally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 4 minutes ago, akirby said: There is no fast food or alcohol lobby because people in general love both already. Although I guess NY tried by banning huge soft drinks. But the point is that we go overboard on inconsequential things (in the big scheme) while we ignore the bigger problem. As for doing nothing about mass shootings, the root cause of a mass shooting isn't that someone has access to an AR-15. It's that somebody has decided to kill innocent people. The weapon doesn't really matter. You can kill just as many with a handgun or a homemade bomb or a van or an airplane. Banning AR15s won't stop mass killings, but passing a law makes the liberals feel better about the situation even though it won't stop killings. Let's pretend that all mass murderers are planning to use a homemade bomb or their vehicle to kill multiple innocent victims. How do you stop that? Whatever the answer, that's how you stop mass shootings too. Not by outlawing AR15s. Respectfully it might be for the good of the country but the overwhelming majority of people like guns and nothing, not even any government law is ever going to change that, so mass shootings become an acceptable, recurring loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 1 minute ago, jpd80 said: "And no one in politics is game to challenge that and lose brutally. https://www.wsj.com/articles/bidens-gun-policy-plans-start-to-take-shape-11613135990 its starting to happen. Even though there was 5 million first time gun buyers last year in the USA.. assault weapons bans are stupid-my state has them and its all based on looks, which doesn’t affect how the weapon operates, which if they went that route, they would be banning 75-80% of firearms sold today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92merc Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 Just look at how well banning drugs has worked out. ? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 18 minutes ago, silvrsvt said: https://www.wsj.com/articles/bidens-gun-policy-plans-start-to-take-shape-11613135990 its starting to happen. Even though there was 5 million first time gun buyers last year in the USA.. assault weapons bans are stupid-my state has them and its all based on looks, which doesn’t affect how the weapon operates, which if they went that route, they would be banning 75-80% of firearms sold today. The sad fact is that most gun deaths are suicides, so maybe we should be maybe we should be respectful of gun owners and how they're feeling, we all get sad and sometimes people with access to guns think about things they normally wouldn't... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 46 minutes ago, akirby said: Banning AR15s won't stop mass killings, but passing a law makes the liberals feel better about the situation even though it won't stop killings. Let's pretend that all mass murderers are planning to use a homemade bomb or their vehicle to kill multiple innocent victims. How do you stop that? Whatever the answer, that's how you stop mass shootings too. Not by outlawing AR15s. IMO the people that want to ban AR15s don't understand what an AR15 really is. hint: AR doesn't stand for "assault rifle" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 8 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said: IMO the people that want to ban AR15s don't understand what an AR15 really is. hint: AR doesn't stand for "assault rifle" If you want a laugh on gun control, just look up Jim Jeffries Gun Control on YouTube Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slemke Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 9 hours ago, rperez817 said: Both Ford and Volkswagen are now heading in the right direction with their respective strategies going "all in" with electric vehicles. The collaboration between VW and Ford is a good business arrangement. They are heading in the direction you want them to go. I think Ford needs to still invest in ice powertrains. It is too early for a full switch to bev with lots of profit left to be made. Not investing in powertrains for your core products is short sighted and could be disasterous. Watch FCA rack up record profits selling hemi v8 and hellcats as others abandon the space to chase the green dream. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slemke Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 8 hours ago, fuzzymoomoo said: The situation in Texas has set wind energy back decades. I don’t think so. It will cause some rethinking to occur. It may give nuclear a boost. The wind farms in Iowa and Canada survived. Texas will need to get on the de-icing bandwagon or install more backup power. Wind and natural gas were the cheapest available power sources. Maybe they will install more coastal turbines as those were producing more than planned and offset some of the lost production of the iced turbines. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.