Senile Texas Aggie - comic relief for the rest of you

[farmerjan]

In the 1970's there were predictions of a coming ice age.... I remember that. You can google it and pull up newspaper after newspaper articles about it. 40 years later now we are on a climate warming trend that will burn us up in no time. @Ridgetop is right.... there have been constant ups and downs in temps long before any "industrial age"..... and it is also true that places like China and India.... considered to be "developing nations" for the express purpose to exempt them from all the "rules and regulations" that the "already developed" nations have to follow. BS.... they are contributing more than we do... we have cut our CO 2 emissions and now that we are supposed to be going all "green"... no one takes into account for all the output of the manufacturing process to produce solar panels and the windmills; polluting our atmosphere... for products that will not bio-degrade at the end of their life cycle... and that don't barely break even by the time they are worn out and need to be replaced.

I like the idea of solar and wind.... but they are not practical for the majority of the population.... because the cost to make them outweighs the return on investment....
I want to see if there is a way to use wind power here on my new place.... but I want the old fashioned type windmill that is NOT made of fiberglass and all that... just good old fashioned metal and wood that can be recycled when it wears out. At least you can burn the broken wood fins, and recycle the metal in the pipes, gears, framework.....

 

[Alaskan]

for products that will not bio-degrade at the end of their life cycle..

That there.... that is what will kill the earth.

As to renewable energy, if you have a flowing stream, that is the most efficient method.

But I loved the turnstile at Thomas Jefferson's house (isn't that the one?) Where the turnstile needs to be used to enter the yard, and it creates energy.

Some guy here in town had a regular truck, and he stuck a windmill in the bed of the truck, that would turn and charge up batteries (also in the bed).

I assume he then used the batteries to power his house.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Thanks, everyone. for your comments.

Regarding the how the earth's climate has changed, I have read numerous books about that. I am by no means an expert. It is simply that geology is a favorite topic of mine. The reason I asked was that I got the impression based on the quotation that there were some scientists who believed that the current warming of the globe was caused ONLY by natural forces, not by humans at all. In the past that certainly was true -- that humans' impact on the climate was practically non-existent. But my own current (non-expert) opinion, based on all that I have read, is that the current warming is primarily human caused due to the build-up of carbon dioxide due to our mimicking what happened in the past during carbon dioxide build-ups. Carbon dioxide build-up has occurred on the past due to natural causes, and the earth has always warmed up in response. Today is no different, except that the primary source of the carbon dioxide is from human activity rather than nature.

Regarding the countries responsible for carbon dioxide emissions, as of 2020, Chine is #1 (28%), the US is #2 (15%), India is #3 (7%). (See https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/each-countrys-share-co2-emissions)

Miss @farmerjan, I well remember the forecasts in the 1970's of a new ice age coming soon (as in a decade or two, i.e., in the 1980s and 1990s). Obviously they were wrong, or perhaps the causes of global cooling were swamped by the causes of global warming.

Thanks, again, for everyone's input.

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[farmerjan]

Thanks for the reference to the chart.

 

[Bruce]

All of that DRASTIC change was way before the industrial revolution.

It is possible that humans are accelerating things, but drastic climate changes have always happened.

In any study of archeology you will find that climates have changed all over the world for thousands of years.

Yes but were those changes gradual or drastic/sudden? The Sahara desert was once a forest. I don't think it went to all desert in a human lifetime or two.

I heard on NPR yesterday that the Amazon is no longer a CO2 absorber. Too much cut down ... by humans.

Maybe we need a big (but not TOO big) asteroid to smack the earth again and cool us off

Given China is highly unlikely to "go green" anytime soon, nor will their population decline, we will see what measurements around the world do in the next decade or three.

 

[Ridgetop]

While I agree that humans are causing a lot of pollution, I am getting very irate about the USA continually being blamed and shamed for our prosperity. We have made enormous progress in cutting emissions and pollution yet are being told that we have to pay for everyone else's pollution problems. I just think it is time for other countries to look to their own emissions and solve their own problems. The world is looking to the USA to stop "climate change", world hunger, Covid, fight everyone's wars for them, etc. and also take responsibility for all these things that we have not caused. And hating us because we have made the USA and our standard of living one of the best.

I just think it is time we appreciate this wonderful country, appreciate and be grateful for living in a country where hard work will still allow you to get ahead, and STOP APOLOGIZING TO THE REST OF THE WORLD FOR OUR COUNTRY BEING SO WONDERFUL!!!

I LOVE THE USA AND AM GRATEFUL TO BE HERE. DOES THAT MEAN THAT I WANT TO APOLOGIZE TO OTHERS FOR BEING AN AMERICAN? NO, I AM JUST GRATEFUL TO BE AMERICAN. I WSH OTHER AMERICANS FELT THE SAME INSTEAD OF FEELING THEY HAVE TO APOLOGIZE FOR BEING AMERICAN, WORKING HARD AND BEING SUCCESSFUL.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Wow! Who can disagree with the above? But while we are all feeling so proud, the planet continues to get warmer. As best as I can tell, we humans are primarily the ones responsible. To remind everyone here, the laws of physics are indifferent to what people think, say, wish. They are indifferent to country of origin, whether a person is a MAGA fan, a BLM fan, a New England Patriots fan, or anything else. They are indifferent to whether a person waves a US flag, a Chinese flag, an Indian flag, or any other flag.

What we have is a global tragedy of the commons. (In case you are unaware of that concept, see here.) I am NOT pointing fingers at anyone. *I* contribute more to greenhouse gases than probably many or most people on this forum. Unlike Mr. @Bruce, who uses solar panels and and drives hybrid and all electric cars, thus leaving a small environmental footprint, I am wearing huge environmental combat boots! I drive a big F350 diesel that gets 15 MPG. I set my A/C thermostat to 72°F (22° C) in the summer. I burn propane for heat. I buy processed groceries, including meat, from the grocery store, who in turn gets those from corporate farms, a substantial source of greenhouse gases. So, no, I am not blaming anyone here. What I *am* trying to do is to continue to educate myself. That is why, Miss Ridgetop, I asked for the names of the scientists who say this is a normal weather pattern and by implication not climate change. Now, can you provide me with those names?

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[farmerjan]

Just my 2 cents.... I don't think that @Ridgetop was trying to put any blame on you. I feel much the way she does, in that the USA has a whole squadron of people constantly on us for "doing more" and not taking their own responsibility. Some of the worst are our own politicians. And when you look at just the one example of Biden shutting down our Keystone Pipeline.... which would more efficiently transport fuel oil.... and then giving the okay to the Russians.... you have to admit that is pure hypocrisy. We are shipping coal to China as fast as we can dig it; and they are ON RECORD as building coal fired plants faster than a speeding bullet..... with FEW OR NONE of the controls that the US has on things like emissions.
Whether you believe in the "saving of the planet" through things like solar and wind power.... and I do like the basics of it although the nitty gritty of what it takes to build the solar panels and life of them and then the waste left over.....is very distasteful the more I read about it....and the life of the windmill blades and things that cannot be recycled so are just dumped in landfills to NOT biodegrade..... we are not going to stop burning "fossil fuels" anytime soon. So, why not at least be the ones using them in the most modern efficient way possible.
Yes, there are many more people than there were... not saying we don't contribute to the "global warming".... but this earth has gone through many many cycles of heating and cooling.... and there were a whole lot less people back then. The latest article I saw somewhere not too long ago, made a comment about the sun actually might be going through a cycle of "cooling" and that it will cause our earth temps to drop.
For every scientist there is a theory.... and most will never be proven.... just a hypothesis.......

 

[Baymule]

STA, I know you are not going to raise animals for meat. BUT you can find a small farmer or custom grower such as myself and buy half a steer, a hog or chicken slaughtered and packaged to your specifications for the freezer.

I currently have 3 hogs scheduled for slaughter on August 17. I have 1 whole hog sold, plus 3 halves. Was going to split a hog between us and our DD and family, but sold a half, so now we will split a half between us. LOL I feed them free feed pellets until 6-8 weeks before slaughter, then I switch to soured (using buttermilk) whole corn to finish them on.

I raised a steer last winter, Goldie. He went to slaughter in March and we took half and DD and family took half. I have 2 customers wanting half a steer and will get one after the pigs go to slaughter.

I raise Cornish Cross chickens every spring, for sale and for ours and DD's freezer. This past spring we sold 48 chickens, cut, vacuum sealed and frozen and put 25 in our own freezer for us and DD. I raise them in chicken tractors, moving their pen to fresh grass every day. I ferment the feed, using buttermilk, that puts the beneficial bacteria in their gut, they are healthier and the meat tastes better.

I try to give my animals the best life possible. I feed them well, yes I grain feed and grain comes from a farm, big tractors, transported on 18 wheelers and all the associated environmental issues. But that is something I cannot grow in sufficient quantities. What I can do is grow things in the garden, rotate my pastures, and provide all the free choice hay they want.

The animals I raise for meat are not standing in their own waste, they are not packed into small spaces in the name of efficiency. The steer was not in an open feed lot with no shelter, Goldie had a shelter and shade trees. I utilized the Pig Palace for him after the pigs went to slaughter. The pigs have shelter and shade trees and a large enough pen that they can have a potty corner. They don't want to wallow in their own waste any more than you do. This year I'm going to run a cross fence across the pipeline to give the steer I will raise, a little more room and some grass to graze. Grass fed beef is all the rage now, but it is tough to chew. My customers want grain finished for a more tender beef.

I've had to educate my customers. They have to order up to a year in advance from me and actually WAIT for their animals to grow. I've had to switch them from "I want it now and just enough for a week" to waiting for the animal to be raised for the months that it takes and buying a freezer to put it in. We are a very small operation, but have added 3 new customers this year. One lady bought 1 chicken. LOL She is single and has only the freezer on her refrigerator, so I packaged her one chicken in small packages, enough for a meal just for her.

My point is, perhaps you can find a homesteader that is raising meat for their own family and get them to raise one for you. That's kinda how our meat sales have grown. Our object was to pay for what we consume, but it has grown to the point where we actually make a little money on it LOL.

We have a F250 2004 diesel. We keep our thermostat set at 72 degrees and are all electric. I think many people are in the same boat, we do what we can but it does not mean that I want to live in abject poverty, hot, sweaty and miserable or cold and miserable. I raise a garden in addition to the meat I raise. When I come in at noon, soaked to my knees in sweat, I want the cooling AC and a shower. When I go out in minus degrees like I did this past winter in the freakish winter storms we had for a couple of weeks, I want to peel off the layers of every warm article of clothing that I own and have a warm house.

I don't like it that his doublewide mobile home is so dependent upon electricity. No power=no heat, AC or lights. It takes about 20 minutes in the summer if power goes off to heat this place up to the point of us scurrying outa here like rats, seeking a cooler place to be. LOL I'm making noises about building a house, which to my poor husband, means that I WILL do it. But that's another subject.

I agree with @Ridgetop I'm also tired of America bashing and am grateful to live in America.

 

[Baymule]

Windmill blades

What should Texas do with its old wind turbine blades?

Old wind turbine blades are piling up in Sweetwater, Texas.

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