tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post5766849823607145725..comments2023-12-17T19:35:07.459-08:00Comments on Bouphonia: An Environmentally Sensitive StatePhilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15849261651028725772noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-38379208577797257112009-09-02T23:03:57.648-07:002009-09-02T23:03:57.648-07:00One thing's for certain: the Right's suppl...One thing's for certain: the Right's supply of straw men is well-nigh inexhaustible.grouchomarxistnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-28584511420992190402009-09-02T21:57:00.904-07:002009-09-02T21:57:00.904-07:00Thanks for linking to the story about Mountain Pas...Thanks for linking to the story about Mountain Pass and its checkered past. I live in the Mojave Preserve, and the mine (and Interstate 15) break the continuity between Clark Mountain and the rest of the park.<br /><br />I had heard about some of the past pollution problems and it was great to learn about their extent (and the efforts to turn things around).<br /><br />I daresay it would be much harder for us to conduct our enviro-nazi research into the hugability of desert trees without our rare earth laden computers and fluorescent light bulbs.<br /><br />Though, while driving through the pass, I do often think, "aw hell, let's just close the Preserve and reopen ALL the mines... future here we come!" so, you know, maybe Pollowitz is on to something.donmateohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15361411928215907541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-60325299695431687002009-09-02T18:23:29.894-07:002009-09-02T18:23:29.894-07:00Geeze. Come for the enviro-rant, stay for the voc...Geeze. Come for the enviro-rant, stay for the vocabulary enrichment.<br /><br />Or is it uranium that gets enriched?<br /><br />Anyway, if neodymium batteries can't simply be willed into existence through Thelemic sex ritual, then fuck it, I say.<br /><br /><i>Reminds me that I need to change mine....</i><br /><br />Well if you're thinking green, remember the Estonian trees and trombone playing lizard are already spoken for.<br /><br />JzB the ritualistically Thelmic trombonistJazzbumpahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07337490817307473659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-28202418099030979442009-09-02T15:43:17.902-07:002009-09-02T15:43:17.902-07:00Nice avatar, by the way!
Reminds me that I need t...Nice avatar, by the way!<br /><br />Reminds me that I need to change mine....Philahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15849261651028725772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-55211219792325427842009-09-02T15:36:37.700-07:002009-09-02T15:36:37.700-07:00It's possible to do these things in environmen...<i>It's possible to do these things in environmentally responsible ways.</i><br /><br />Sure. And my understanding is that they had to clean Mountain Pass up a lot, and upgrade it a lot, to get the permits. <br /><br />But beyond that, the idea that "the left" is going to sour on cleantech because it requires reopening and upgrading a 60-year-old rare earth mine is really not very realistic. <br /><br />Next week, Pollowitz will probably learn that bicycles are made of metal, and wonder how anyone who rides them can dare to complain about SUVs.Philahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15849261651028725772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695598.post-10736028290504119422009-09-02T15:16:11.549-07:002009-09-02T15:16:11.549-07:00It's possible to do these things in environmen...It's possible to do these things in environmentally responsible ways.<br /><br />Sillamäe was a uranium- and rare-earth-processing plant in Soviet Estonia. They made rather a mess, which <a href="http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/energy/?doc=6363" rel="nofollow">has been cleaned up</a> in a ten-year project. The processes in the plant have also been upgraded so that there is no effluent, but I can't find links to that.<br /><br />Here's <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=hkTGV56jbI0C&pg=PR9&lpg=PR9&dq=okosil&source=bl&ots=4rzvgZ9U9L&sig=y7oo5jtCHHIVAYQpBspxLT9gAF4&hl=en&ei=seueSv73JInusQOJ1pT-DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9#v=onepage&q=okosil&f=false" rel="nofollow">what we were thinking</a> when the project started. That's pretty much the way it turned out.<br /><br />Oh, and that tree I'm using as an avatar? It's in south Estonia.Cheryl Roferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11082102629165547210noreply@blogger.com