AW: [ RadSafe ] RE: Turn off nuclear power, environmentalistsurge

Tue Apr 17 09:41:40 CDT 2007

Ouch--it always hurts when someone refers to the concept of allocation
of scarce resources. That definition of economics is probably the
primary reason that 95 percent of Americans who reach the age of 65
can't write a check for $250. I believe that it was Buckminster Fuller
who said that there are enough resources on the earth for every
individual to be a millionaire many times over.

I have two seminars on my schedule right now to give to people who in
one case should have planned better for retirement, and who in the other
case want to plan better for retirement but need direction. And no, I
won't be talking about mutual funds and life insurance. Nor will I be
talking about just getting by. It takes on average 5-7 years to become a
millionaire, so if you're not dead yet, it's not too late to start. But
you also need a net worth of about $3M to retire comfortably in the U.S.
(and I'm not necessarily recommending retiring here either).

Nor am I saying that we shouldn't conserve--we should be wise stewards
of all of our assets. About 95 percent of lottery winners are broke
within five years because they don't understand that. But those
resources don't disappear--they just go to someone who knows better how
to manage them. I don't charge for these seminars, BTW, and I don't
benefit from any actions they take afterwards--I believe that it's
important for people to change their paradigms. Our limits are
self-imposed.

As for inflation, you might want to look at it before and after the
Federal Reserve was created for a better understanding of its source.
New technologies don't have to cost as much as they do, but as long as
there are groups of people opposed to technology in general, and who
believe that third world countries should be kept without the comforts
of life, litigation will also continue to drive up prices.

Jack Earley
Health Physicist
509.372.9532

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On
Behalf Of ROY HERREN
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2007 10:39 PM
To: radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject: Re: AW: [ RadSafe ] RE: Turn off nuclear power,
environmentalistsurge

Jim et al.

     Check out
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/4212848.html and 

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/home_improvement/4215199.ht
ml

  and http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=revisions.cfls_spec

     Interestingly enough the manufacturer of the Compact Fluorescent
(CF) light bulbs that I purchased, Feit Electric, see
http://www.feit.com/main.html, isn't listed on the Popular Mechanics
survey.  To be fair I think most of my problems I experienced were due
to utilizing some of the bulbs in a steamy bathroom and using others in
a vibrating ceiling fan.  However, to give CF's a fair chance the next
batch of CF bulbs I purchase will be from one of the manufactures off of
the Popular Mechanics list.  We have some CF bulbs in a walk-in cold
room at work and they have held up remarkable well.

     So is this discussion "on subject"?  I think that it is because it
deals with the issue of energy usage.  Humanities future is dependent on
continued development of means to support an ever growing population on
a planet with finite resources.  These finite resources should be
jealously guarded to yield the greatest usage possible with an eye
toward eventually developing a completely sustainable energy situation.
For the foreseeable near term future we do not as yet have a sustainable
energy solution on our horizon.  So how will we meet our energy needs?
Clearly all of the various potential components for a solution need to
be on the table for discussion purposes.  Conservation should be an
integral part of any future solution!  Given all of the issues and
complexities I don't think any of us reasonable think that we could get
to a near term solution solely through Nuclear Power!  Even if it were
possible for developed nations to rapidly build dozens upon dozens of
reactors what about the energy needs of developing and third world
countries?

     Clearly many technologies, i.e. conservation, solar power, wind
power, are currently very expensive.  If these technologies are ever to
be affordable to the poorer countries of the world it will only be
because the wealthy countries lead the way towards affordability by
purchasing enough units to drive down the manufacturing costs.  This has
been accomplished with a myriad of consumer products, i.e., clothing,
motor bikes, automobiles, electronics, computers, etc., so this model
for pushing new technologies shouldn't come at too steep of a cost,
rather it appears to be the natural progression of free competition. 

  -----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On
Behalf Of Jim Hardeman
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2007 12:57 PM
To: Gary Damschen; radsafe at radlab.nl; Jack N Earley; ROY HERREN
Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] RE: Turn off nuclear power,
environmentalistsurge

Roy et al. --

How about getting somebody to make LED lightbulbs -- which use about
1/100th the energy as an incandescent bulb with the same light output --
and which also don't generate (waste) heat, which has to be removed by
HVAC equipment? I've seen several manufactuers come out with them in
"small" sizes (such as nightlight bulbs or perhaps replacements for
halogen spots -- only not as bright). I use CF light bulbs for limited
applications (such as porch light, where the bulb burns 24/7), but the
ones I can obtain locally can't be dimmed, and for me that limits their
usability. I'd LOVE it if I could replace every bulb in my home
(affordably) with an LED light bulb -- it would save on lighting and A/C
expenditures.

Jim Hardeman
Jim_Hardeman at dnr.state.ga.us 

>>> ROY HERREN 4/16/2007 13:48 >>>
I am struck by the articles line, "That means an average yield of about
100 megawatts, enough to supply about a quarter of the Tri-Cities'
power needs". Perhaps those who are pushing for conservation aren't
completely out of line after all... I for one am not too happy with
Compact Fluorescent (CF) light bulbs, they don't last nearly as long as
they are supposed to last and they are too expensive. However, perhaps
through the use of emerging technologies we can curb our energy usage. 
A good example is the use of the newer flat panel monitors, LCD?,
instead of Cathode Ray Tubes. The new monitors use about a quarter of
the energy of the old monitors and no doubt by converting to the new
monitors it helps to lower the cooling needs for large office buildings.
We need to use our limited resources as wisely as possible. This means
that we need "real" leadership to get people to voluntarily conserve
energy. 

Roy 

"Earley, Jack N" wrote: 
Here's an article from 2001 you should enjoy. They had to cut back the
size to avoid endangering ground squirrels.

http://www.tri ( http://www.tri/
)-cityherald.com/news/2001/0724/story2.html

Jack Earley
Health Physicist
509.372.9532

_______________________________________________
You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list

Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood
the RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
http://radlab.nl/radsafe/radsaferules.html 

For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings
visit: http://radlab.nl/radsafe/ 

---------------------------------
Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell?
Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.
_______________________________________________
You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list

Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood
the RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
http://radlab.nl/radsafe/radsaferules.html 

For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings
visit: http://radlab.nl/radsafe/
_______________________________________________
You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list

Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood
the RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
http://radlab.nl/radsafe/radsaferules.html

For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings
visit: http://radlab.nl/radsafe/
_______________________________________________
You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list

Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood
the RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
http://radlab.nl/radsafe/radsaferules.html

For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings
visit:
http://radlab.nl/radsafe/

Roy Herren

---------------------------------
Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell?
 Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.
_______________________________________________
You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list

Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood
the RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
http://radlab.nl/radsafe/radsaferules.html

For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings
visit: http://radlab.nl/radsafe/