Dear Editor,
I want to help Mary Catherine Dunphy and many others learn the truth and not be so worried about so little. We have thousands of “experts” running around telling us how we are all going to die a horrible death if we don’t submit to the “climate alarmist” and do it right now! Thank goodness we know most “experts” know less than a 3rd grader!
Actually, man is powerless to effect any change in our weather or our climate. There are hundreds of variables at play and man has a very poor understanding of how all those variables interplay to bring us our weather patterns. AND man surely has no ability to change any of those variables.
Dunphy is concerned about the arsenic, lead and mercury that come out of the smoke stacks at Colstrip. First remember 99% of the steam coming out of the stacks is just that – steam. After mixing with our atmosphere the other hundred or so chemicals that make up the 1% are so miniscule we never know they are there. You get more arsenic eating a tuna fish sandwich than you will ever get in a lifetime of breathing Montana air! We hear all kinds of fearmongering that this chemical MAY harm your skin and this other chemical MAY cause emphysema and this other chemical may cause allergies. But, of course, they offer no proof except if you come into contact with LARGE amounts of that chemical. Air borne levels of chemicals are so small they usually are not measurable once in the atmosphere.
Dunphy seems to think solar and wind energy will make her worry less. But the Federal Government has thrown a trillion dollars at solar and wind and it still only produces 3% of our energy. The “experts” claim they produce 21% but fail to mention that can only happen if we have perfect conditions every day. We all know we have perfect conditions about once every five years! If Dumphy gets her wish to have only solar and wind – then she will have something to worry about!
Our government is stupidly tearing out hydro dams, shutting down coal generator plants and destroying our reliable sources of electricity. Wind and solar are totally unreliable, terribly expensive to build and need constant expensive maintenance. Nuclear power is a great alternative but with all the “do gooder environmentalist/obstructionists” it will be 20 – 30 years before we can get nuclear energy on line. In the meantime, I have no interest in brown outs and black outs. And I don’t want to cut down all our trees to keep my house warm. We already have a great energy system. Why are we letting the jugheads destroy it?
We must stand up to the climate Nazis and keep our coal fired plants open until they can be replaced by a RELEABLE power source.
Clint Kegel
Billings
