‘Raise Your Voice’ Archives
The Great Transition
By Peter Molenaar 403 - 221 BC”¦ The newly developed cupola type furnace emerged like so many mushrooms upon the land. Masses were rallied to the stacks”¦all available iron was to be sacrificed between layers of glowing coke (i.e., coal). Such was the Warring States Period in Chinese history. June 1979”¦ I would survive Smith Foundry”'s last “cupola campaign.” After which, under an environmental mandate, the beast was put to sleep. A new electric furnace was to draw its power from a coal-fired plant some distance away. Actually, Mother Earth was seen rolling her eyes and shaking her head. 2015”¦ “When the Clean Power Plan is fully in place in 2030, carbon pollution from the power sector will be 32% below 2005 levels,” so says the EPA. (32%?!) Meanwhile, Xcel Energy has announced plans to cut carbon emissions, by 60%, mainly by switching from coal to natural gas. (more…)
Clean Power?
By Peter Molenaar Tucked in the south-west corner of the Phillips Neighborhood is an impressive facility dubbed the Colin Powell Youth Leadership Center. The Center saw our Congressman Keith Ellison play host to a “celebration of the Clean Power Plan.” Yes, the aggrandizements were well distributed, to be sure. However, my inner voice rudely screamed, over and over: “What”'s the plan for the plan, man, what”'s the plan for the plan?” Let”'s assume, as some people do, that vast wind and solar farms might sustain a modern economy and prevent social disaster. Then, by what source of energy would we arrive at this happy conclusion? Answer: a heavy draw from coal fired plants. (Note: I worked 35 years at Smith Foundry.) Meanwhile, glaciers and icecaps disappear. True, existing coal fired plants might achieve a 30% emissions reduction by switching to natural gas. But, wait. Synfuel, derived from natural [...]
Magic Stone
By Peter Molenaar Apart from the smooth “water stones” deposited by the last glacier was a jagged chunk of glassy black obsidian fused to a layer of grainy brown basalt. Evidently, some billion years ago, there had been a torrential rain in conjunction with volcanic activity. It is the southward path of Portland Avenue which leads ultimately to Pond Dakota Mission Park, and the high ground overlooking the Minnesota River Valley. From this vantage, herds of woolly mammoths once pondered the water bursting eastward from Lake Agassiz. Then came the ancient peoples who paused at the spring fed streams, springs which are familiar to me. Later, the Iowa-Oto people occupied and mingled before they too were displaced (and mingled) by the Dakota”¦ Does the GREAT SPIRIT animate all things? Electrons spin clouds around the nucleus, at about one-tenth the speed of light. I am afraid. (more…)
