Flare Sci-Fi Forums: Conservation schmonservation

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Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :

Or Drill, Drill, Drill....

Dick Cheney's 10 energy-saving tips!
A few sensible ways not to end up like those losers in California.
By Tom McNichol

May 10, 2001 | As vice president and head of President Bush's task force on energy, people ask me all the time, "Dick, what can I do to conserve energy?" First, I tell them that conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis, all by itself, for a sound, comprehensive energy policy. We can't simply conserve or ration our way out of this energy crisis, but there are some simple ways we can use power more efficiently, without having to do with less. Here are 10 ways we can all be better energy consumers:

Dick Cheney's 10 tips to conserve energy

Tip No. 1: Replace incandescent bulbs with much brighter incandescent bulbs.
A 250-watt bulb burns brighter than a 100-watt bulb: a lot brighter. Don't listen to the "dim bulbs" who insist that lower-wattage light bulbs are somehow more energy efficient. There's nothing efficient about staggering across a dark room bumping into furniture. Also, remember that 30 percent of the energy consumed by a light bulb is expended when the bulb is switched on. Keeping your lights on all the time is a simple but effective way to conserve energy.

Tip No. 2: Turn the air conditioning down to "medium" when you're not in the room.
By simply turning the air conditioning down to the medium setting (about 62 degrees) before you leave a room, you'll reap significant savings, while you and your family stay comfortable. You can further keep costs down by closing off sections of your house to trap cool air in occupied areas. At my ranch in Wyoming, for example, I like to blast the AC in the living room, family room, parlor, rec room and den, while keeping the AC set to "medium" in the library, conservatory, antiques room and aviary.

Tip No. 3: Wrap your hot water tank with "jacket" insulation.
More than 20 percent of the heat from your hot water tank escapes into the surrounding air. Wrap your water tank with a suitable "jacket" insulator. An old mink coat or chinchilla wrap is ideal.

Tip No. 4: Keep your SUV well-maintained.
SUVs are already incredibly energy efficient, meeting or exceeding federal mileage standards for large trucks and buses. But a little TLC for your SUV can make your mobile home-away-from-home even more energy-friendly. Keep power windows and locks well oiled, slow down to 75 mph on freeways, switch into two-wheel drive whenever practical and consider replacing the in-dash stereo system with a more efficient multiple-CD changer.

Tip No. 5: Replace old appliances with really big new ones.
Small appliances mean big energy bills. Think about it: By using an extra-large capacity washer and dryer, you'll only have to do laundry half as often, a 50 percent savings. Replace your current washer, dryer, refrigerator and dishwasher with the largest models you can fit through the door. Don't forget to upgrade minor appliances such as electric knife sharpeners, automatic can openers, juice squeezers, ice cream makers, bagel slicers, golf ball washers, etc.

Tip No. 6: Upgrade your hot tub.
Natural gas hot-tub heaters use less energy than electric heaters, cost less to operate and heat water faster, so you won't have to wait as long for the water to warm up. A low-cost motion detector (available at most hardware stores) connected to an appropriately licensed firearm (available most everywhere) will help keep out unwanted guests, further reducing your tub's energy consumption.

Tip No. 7: Be an energy-smart landscaper.
Cut down any trees on your property that block the sun, an important source of light and heat. Apply generous amounts of fertilizer and pesticide to your lawn weekly, or instruct the Mexican gardener to do so. Be sure to have your lawn watered at least twice a day. Remember, a green lawn is a "Green" lawn.

Tip No. 8: Don't fall for solar or wind power promises.
So-called renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power are, in fact, unreliable and even dangerous. During a typical 24-hour period, the sun is "off" 50 percent of the time, while oil, gas and coal still burn brightly. Wind power is practical only when it's windy, and a windmill's revolving blades pose a danger to unsuspecting children and pets. By contrast, there's an almost limitless supply of safe, clean-burning fossil fuels, provided we adopt sensible energy exploration policies.

Tip No. 9: Take control of your power needs.
America needs to build 1,300 new power plants over the next 20 years, or one additional plant every week. But don't expect the politicians in Washington to get off their keisters and make it happen. Instead, consider drilling for oil or gas in your own backyard. Many oil companies (including my old shop, Halliburton Co.) offer a Home Drilling Starter Kit, which provides everything you'll need to explore for energy right in your own backyard. Don't let the scaremongers convince you that a natural gas well in your yard is unsafe for children -- statistically, it's far less dangerous than a swing set or a jungle gym.

Tip No. 10: Make your voice heard.
Even the best conservation plan won't matter if our country doesn't adopt a coherent long-range energy strategy, one that includes oil and gas exploration in national parks and wildlife refuges, relaxed fuel efficiency standards and "fast-tracking" new oil, coal and nuclear power plants. We can all make a difference. The single greatest contribution you can make to America's energy independence is at the ballot box. Vote Republican.

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I'll kill you, you bloated museum of treachery!
~ C. Montgomery Burns

Posted by Gaseous Anomaly (Member # 114) on :

quote:
During a typical 24-hour period, the sun is "off" 50 percent of the time, while oil, gas and coal still burn brightly.

Deadly

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At that point, McDonald fired his gun three times in the air to emphasize his point. The crowd, estimated at 350,000, loudly cheered the new candidate.

"Let me make this clear: I am the law! I am your ruler! And you will have fries with that, motherf*cker!"

Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :

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Star Trek Gamma Quadrant
Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted)
***
"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
-Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
***
Card-Carrying Member of the Flare APAO
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"I think this reason why girls don't do well on multiple choice tests goes all the way back to the Bible, all the way back to Genesis, Adam and Eve. God said, 'All right, Eve, multiple choice or multiple orgasms, what's it going to be?' We all know what was chosen" - Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 23, 1994.

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

Not very good.

I mean really, this is like that crap about the arsenic. These people need to grow up.

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The government that seems the most unwise, oft goodness to the people best supplies. That which is meddling, touching everything, will work but ill, and disappointment bring. - The Tao Te Ching

Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :

Oh fuck, here we go. Can't everyone just accept such things as a joke and forget about it? The Republicans will always be seen as having a shite conservation record, and putting big-business interests ahead of the environment - even if they change their ways, even if they change their name to the Green Party. Politics is bullshit. Anyone who takes this so seriously, that any ridiculing of their chosen political party is seen as a deep personal insult that must be redressed immediately, really needs help.

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Phasers

Posted by The Talented Mr. Gurgeh (Member # 318) on :

"Money talks and bullshit walks", as far as they're concerned.

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"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen"
Samuel Adams

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

I don't mind that the Republican party gets ridiculed in the press, on TV, et cetera ad nauseum.

I mind that the Democratic party DOESN'T.

Parker and Stone would never have gotten "That's My Clinton" on the airwaves.

Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :

No, why make a TV show about a guy who isn't in office anymore? They did, however, have "That's My Gore" ready to go if Al won the election. They sold the show to Comedy Central quite awhile before the election, and the pitch was essentially to lampoon whomever won the White House.

[This message has been edited by JeffKardde (edited May 16, 2001).]

Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :

The Democrats don't get ridiculed? I must re-read my PJ O'Rourke collection then, because I must have been hallucinating first time round. Bit like PJ, in fact. 8)

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Phasers

Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :

Gore has been ridiculed for starting the election brouhaha.

Clinton, as far as I know, has been ridiculed with countless jokes as to the Lewinsky story.

So it's equal play. Whoever is in power gets the barbs. Democrat or Republican.

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"Intelligence People. You guys are unbelievable. You dump a mess like this (that you created) on my lap, and then you come to me whining "Where is our funding"? Well I'll tell you where your funding is. Can you say Health-Care"
- The President of the United States of America, The Long Kiss Goodnight

Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :

Lee:

The Republicans will always be seen as having a shite conservation record, and putting big-business interests ahead of the environment

Lee, has it ever occured to you that there are entities OTHER than the EEEVIL "big business" that would benefit from our having enough energy to run this country? Here's one: ME! And for 280 million others, every other person in the USA! Except, of course, the Democrat politicans, who NEED crises like this so they can lie to you and blame Republicans for their mistakes.

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"How do you define fool?"
"I don't attempt it. I wait for demonstrations. They inevitably surpass my imagination."
- CJ Cherryh, Invader

Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :

I blame those pissant fuckmonster so-called "environmentalists."

If those uppity pussy motherfuckers didn't get so cunty over nuclear power & looked at the big picture. we could've been through the whole messy (& very necessary) nuclear fission stage & been well on our was to nuclear fusion. Cheap, clean, & easily affordable.

They don't like it? Fine. fuck them. They can get windmills & water wheels & generate their OWN shit. Get the fuck off my power grid, cockknockers!

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"Boinky ensued, and a great time was had by all." --Book of Nigel, Chapter 4, verse 32

Posted by USS Vanguard (Member # 130) on :

Don't like "That's my Bush"? well tough shit, that's what the first amendment protects. So rather than bitch and whine about how one party gets made more fun of than another, just thank your lucky stars that the government doesn't come and rip off your genitalia for making fun of them.

dumb spoiled americans.

note- i'm not saying that ALL americans are dumb, for i am one myself. i'm just saying you could have it a lot worse than a few "dumb" jokes about the president.

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Signatures are for losers

[This message has been edited by USS Vanguard (edited May 16, 2001).]

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

Actually, upon further consideration, my opinion of "That's My Bush" would be about the same if it WAS about Gore.

The show is full of tired cliches, and not up to the level of "South Park," which was at least some good two-sided satire.

Incidentally, though, why does BUSH get the responsibility for mandating conservation? Can't states (and PEOPLE, for that matter) do that THEMSELVES? Have the folks on the left grown so weak-willed that they have to have the government tell them to do EVERYTHING?

Or do, as has been suggested before, the people on the left believe that everyone else is so despicably EVIL that they need the heavy hand of government to FORCE them to do the right thing?

Me, I've been conserving energy for YEARS. My car gets good mileage (I can't afford a hybrid), I turn out the lights and keep the thermostat low. If PA had more sunshine, I'd have a solar collector on my roof. If the hill I live on was at all reliably windy, I might have a windmill. If the EPA would let me, I might build a little hydro project on our creek (We actually looked into it once, since we have all-year running water from a freshwater spring.)

I don't need the feds to force me into something I already DO.

Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :

But what about the people who don't?

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

Like who?

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

In a related note, This is from the REAL Bush energy policy.

Renewable Energy:

--Provide tax credits to encourage development of energy plants that use organic waste, or biomass.

--Continue tax credits for wind energy generation.

--Give tax credit of 15 percent for homeowners who purchase solar panels.

Conservation:

--Give tax credit for purchase of high-mileage, hybrid gas-electric vehicles.

--Provide tax benefits and regulatory relief for co-generation plants that produce both heat and electricity

--Expand federal Energy Star program to include not only businesses but schools, homes and hospitals.

Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :

Nowhere have I seen such promises made in and after the election. Can someone point me to the source?

Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :

Wait.

How was he going to give people a 15% tax cut, when he was planning on eliminating taxes for the lower classes? Um, hello? 15% of zero is still ... zero.

THAT'S fuzzy math.

Posted by USS Vanguard (Member # 130) on :

wait...wha? That's My Bush is full of "cliches"??????

The whole point of "That's My Bush" is the cliches. It's not even really a jab at the president per se (though i know many conservatives at school who'd like to think so, they get really angry at it). Its a satire about the stupidity of sitcoms in general...hence the "cliches" (i.e. stupid husband, sarcastic maid, etc, etc, etc) you speak about. THey just used the white house as a medium to show just how silly these "situations" in sit coms actually are.

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Signatures are for losers

Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :

How was he going to give people a 15% tax cut, when he was planning on eliminating taxes for the lower classes?

A) That's probably 15% of the price of the solar pannel.

B) How many low-income families do you expect to blow money on solar pannels? They may save you money in the long run, but they take a significant amount of capital to begin with.

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"How do you define fool?"
"I don't attempt it. I wait for demonstrations. They inevitably surpass my imagination."
- CJ Cherryh, Invader

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

Should we change the tagline of this Forum to a definition of the word "joke"?

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Lister: "Drop dead, Rimmer."
Rimmer: "Already have done."
Lister: "Encore."
-Red Dwarf, "Kryten"

Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :

More satire: "A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit."

Still, seeing those poor picked on conservative types getting their undies all in a bunch makes it worth while though.

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I'll kill you, you bloated museum of treachery!
~ C. Montgomery Burns

Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :

Do try to pay attention to what people say instead of getting in a strop because someone's dared to say something contrary to your own twisted little worldview, Omeychops. I SAID, the Republicans will always be seen as behaving that way. I didn't commment on whether they actually ARE that way, whether or not they SHOULD be that way, or if they will always BE that way.

In actuality I wouldn't vote for either of your parties, they seem equally useless. Said it before, say it again: politics is bullshit. I'll just confirm my opinion now by reading up on the latest UK election news. . .

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Phasers

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

Tahna: that information came DIRECTLY from MSNBC's report of Bush's energy plan, the conservation section.

I notice the Dems are now scrambling to come up with their own plans. Guess they WERE twiddling their thumbs the last eight years, or they'd have something already.

Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :

Link Please.

And I'd like to see some report on Bush ACTUALLY following through with these promises. So far, all the reports I've heard say otherwise.

Like all politicians, saying things is one thing, actually doing these things is another.

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

Gee, try http://www.msnbc.com/msn/571669.asp

Go down to "Bush Energy Basics" and click on the menu for "Conservation." try the one for "Environment" while you're at it.

As for follow-through... HOW can one follow through on a plan JUST proposed?

How much he can actually push through a Congress made half up of enemies, I don't speculate.

Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :

I'll give him credit if he tries.

Now this is a laugh: Under International, it states that Bush plans to Review economic sanctions policies against Iraq, Iran and Libya, three major oil exporting nations.

On nuclear power, studies are advised on whether to revive the idea of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel. Reprocessing, in which plutonium is chemically salvaged from used reactor fuel to be used again in a reactor, was abandoned in the 1970s because of nuclear proliferation concerns, although it is still embraced in Japan and Europe.

I like this.

Oil and Gas: Allow drilling on more federal lands, including 2,000 of the 19 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Offer new tax incentives to encourage production.
Order federal agencies to consider the impact on energy supplies when writing regulations.

This is the section that I do not like one bit. Especially the Tax incentives one. My opinion is that a shortage is perhaps the best opportunity to find great and cheap alternative energy in a timely matter (when push comes to shove, you move, fast). Prolonging the usage of traditional energy sources means that the Alternative energy research gets thrown into the backburner. I will admit that Bush does have some ideas, but we shall see.
Looks like the Democrats have some good ideas too, so don't discount them yet. A good plan will involve the ideas of both parties.

[This message has been edited by Tahna Los (edited May 17, 2001).]

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

One of the things I noticed was the true extent of the plan to "ravage the Arctic Wildlife Refuge."

I mean, 2000 acres out of 19 MILLION? what is that in percentage terms? .0001052%

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

Incidentally.. has anybody asked the Inupiat (the main Indian tribe that owns land in the ANWR) how THEY feel about opening the refuge to drilling?

(Here's a hint: I already know the answer.)
http://www.anwr.org/

Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :

Any form of drilling can set a dangerous precedent.

For now, it is 2000 acres.

Next time, it could be 20000 acres.

Then 200,000 acres.

And soon, 2 million acres.

What next after that?

Such ignorance will be the downfall of the environment. And so far, I have seen plenty.

(side note, Burn's Slant Drilling refinery oughta do the trick, putting the rig OUTSIDE the reserve)

[This message has been edited by Tahna Los (edited May 18, 2001).]

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

Ah, the 'slippery slope' argument.

The same one that you folks LAUGH at when anybody ELSE uses it... like when the NRA uses it to say that registration could lead to confiscation.

So excuse me if this time I laugh and call YOU paranoid.

Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :

The difference is that Gun control is regulated by the government and the people who control them. Too bad the government is doing quite a sloppy job of things.

And the Government does not control the oil sector. Private business interests do, who have no care about the environment other than what profits it can bring.

[This message has been edited by Tahna Los (edited May 18, 2001).]

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

AH, but the government DOES control the ANWR and who gets to drill on it and where and when. Therefore, it controls the oil sector to that extent, which happens to be what we're talking about here.

Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :

It all depends if there are people pulling the strings from the Government, and whom.

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

and once again, that's true of EVERYTHING the government gets its hands in.

All the more reason to keep it OUT of as much as possible. When a problem is small and localized, it's far easier to step in and take corrective measures than when the problem becomes Federalized. When things are Federalized, one small interest group in one location (D.C.) can influence policy across an entire country. When things are run on a local level, it takes much more effort to pull said strings.

Which is why we should let the Alaskans decide whether to drill or not. They're a lot closer to the situation than some toss-off lobbyist (for the oil company OR for the environmental lobby) who's never been outside the Beltway.

[This message has been edited by First of Two (edited May 18, 2001).]

Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :

Point. And I'll leave it at that.

You mentioned that the local inuit doesn't mind the drilling. Fine. That supports your point.

But the government should be weary of who to choose as its allies: the people, or the business interests. And Personally, I don't like governments who pander to business interests, like the government here in Ontario.

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"Intelligence People. You guys are unbelievable. You dump a mess like this (that you created) on my lap, and then you come to me whining 'Where is our funding'? Well I'll tell you where your funding is. Can you say Health-Care"
- The President of the United States of America, The Long Kiss Goodnight