Monday, August 29, 2005
Pollution...
Stranger and stranger is the world of environmental regulation. As if the regulation of cattle flatulence is not silly enough, it seems now we have to control the effluent of ethanol fumes from wine-making.
Remaining in the somewhat strange category, the latest mantra seems to be destroying dams because they change the environment too much, but what happens when we tear them down -- why toxic pollution, of course.
And all this debate and political posturing is going on while there are genuine environmental problems arising and being quietly taken care of.
My conclusion? Some people just really like telling other people what to do and environmental "issues" give them a means to do that. Sometimes I'd like to tell them where to go.
The San Joaquin Valley's 109 wineries emit 788 tons a year of smog-forming gases, air pollution officials estimate. The vintners ? which include E.&J. Gallo, Ironstone and Bronco ? are some of the world's biggest winemakers, producing more than 300 million gallons of wine annually. The largest valley wineries mass-produce a wide array of red, white and blush wines, but their biggest volume is in inexpensive table wines sold in bulk sizes.This is the oldest chemistry known to mankind, it has only taken us some four to five thousand years to figure out it is pollution causing?
The district is scheduled to approve the proposed regulations before the end of the year. As it stands, the rules would require mass producers of wine to install on their fermentation tanks the pollution controls that are typically used in oil refineries and steel mills.
Remaining in the somewhat strange category, the latest mantra seems to be destroying dams because they change the environment too much, but what happens when we tear them down -- why toxic pollution, of course.
As state and federal officials toasted the final agreement that allows the removal of the Milltown Dam near Missoula early this month, people in this blue-collar settlement despaired. The agreement means that toxic waste behind the dam is coming their way, headed by the truckload to a 3,000-acre mine dump next to Opportunity, where on windy days clouds of dust darken the sky.Global warming remains pure mystery,and a grand opportunity for mischief. Greenpeace is suing the US government for failing to sign Kyoto and some states have decided to take matters into their own hands, which from a technical standpoint is like spitting in the wind. Apparently global warming causes the Great Lakes to thaw "early" in the spring but is not responsible for th meltback in glaciers. And if CO2 does not boost forest growth -- can it really have effect on planetary temperature we think it might? Hmmmm.....
And all this debate and political posturing is going on while there are genuine environmental problems arising and being quietly taken care of.
My conclusion? Some people just really like telling other people what to do and environmental "issues" give them a means to do that. Sometimes I'd like to tell them where to go.
