Chavez Ships Discounted Heating Oil to Needy US Families, page 3

I have been told I live in a dream world.

I would not make that assertion. Your comments, when taken in the context of political agendas ussurping the general good of people, hold to be mostly true.

After all, most politicians will gleefully agree to lead the parade that bears news of a new oil deal, a new nuclear plant, a new coal fired hydro utility, but are generally nowhere to be found when funding for R&D of new, clean and sustainable technologies is needed. But once those new technologies hit the street, watch those politicians line up to lead that parade.

In short, you're right with regard to the political landscape of today.

This also might hearten you. I once ran for a political position wherein I could directly affect how garbage would be handled in this area. I opted for a PEM system - Plasma Enhanced Melter. Such a system virtually destroys everything fed into it leaving a minimal amount of 100%-inert solids that can be ground into road material. There is no air polution created - certainly none by comparison to that of typical incinceration. In fact, material/ash from those incinerators is sent to PEM systems to be completely destroyed. Moreover, the heat generated by the burning of garbage in a PEM system can be turned into hydro electric power and fed back into the grid.

My proposal was one of handling garbage in a responsible manner by using a PEM system, and at the same time fueling it will garbage slated to go into landfill sites thereby leaving the land alone. Also, I proposed digging up the older land fill sites to have that garbage burned thus fueling the ability of the PEM system to supply clean hydro electric power all the while cleaning up the environment in doing so.

Funny, people thought that the trucking of the garbage - from the old dumps - would cost too much. The reality of the situation was that they are going to pay for that garbage, and what it finally does to their water/environment, one way or the other. They didn't get it.

They thought that the cost of the PEM system might be too much. I pointed out that handling garbage costs money any way, and handling it imporperly costs far more than they know. That revenue could be gained from other townships looking for a place to get rid of their garbage. That the dumping tax gained (they call it a tipping charge) from those townships wanting to get rid of their garbage would fund the project on a very short ROI (return on investment.) Also, those townships would be cleaner as a result of them sending their trash to our township --- that such an action would, in effect, be sending our township fuel to supply lower cost hydro electric power, not to mention provide badly needed employment for our area.

The people decided to look at the older incineration system. They soon came to discover that they had to pay to have the ash disposed of and that the air quality coming from that incineration system was not good at all.

Millions of dollars later, and a few politicians now claiming that it was their brain child, they are looking at the PEM system - go figure.