I have mixed emotions on the whole idea of wind turbines and solar panels. This past week has been a struggle for several of my friends and family who live in the balmy south.
Vinton and the school district are looking at solar power and while that's all well and good, my experience with it as a kid has warped me into hating the word "solar." As a result of believing "the science" my private school installed solar panels. Prior to that, we had wood heat, in an attempt to save on utilities. The wood heat kept the building nice and toasty. All of the men in the church chipped in and spent a few weekends cutting wood to keep the fire burning. Then we bought into the idea that there was a better way. We could save some forests and heat much cleaner...and that's when we started freezing in class.
It didn't matter how many times we said, "we are freezing" or how much the thermostat dropped, we had "solar heat" now and bless God, we'd better be thankful for it! (Insert guilt trip on kids who aren't thankful for solar panels that aren't keeping the room warm.) These solar panels were going to help us save energy and God wants us to be good stewards of the earth.
Prior to that, I was in the public school system, attending classes in the East School, Lincoln and Tilford. You know back in the Carter era where "the science" taught us that there was a HUGE ice age coming and by the time we would become adults, there wouldn't be any oil or gas to heat our buildings. As a result, thermostats were turned down so that we could "conserve our energy." We wore sweaters, to class. I remember shivering and my fingers were always cold, which is probably part of why I hated going to school. But we were "looking out for our future."
Remember the gas "shortages" of the 80s? I remember lining up along a highway waiting to get into a gas station because they limited how much you could buy. Because, you know, "the science."
Back then "the science" didn't worry about windchills, and we went outside to play in frostbite conditions, not once did schools keep the kids inside because it was too cold. "The science" said nothing about that. School never got canceled because the air conditioning went out. We didn't have air conditioning. Neither did "the science" say anything about sweating in class. I suppose someone somewhere couldn't figure out how to make a buck off of freezing and baking kid in their classrooms.
We also listened to "the science" and during every tornado drill, we would huddle in the hallway while one poor soul had the responsibility of being drafted by a teacher to go back into the room and open the windows so that the building wouldn't implode. I think "the science" has debunked was even at 7 years old I thought made no sense. That warps you as a kid. I'm thinking the poor schmuck! He would be sucked out the window if he wasn't fast enough. And IF a tornado hit how in the WORLD would an open window help? Didn't the teachers know that tornados take out building with or without their windows open?
When I asked, I was told "the science" says...the teacher would grumpily explain, so I quit asking. The rest of us huddled in the hallway with a book over the back of our head. Now this always bugged me too. If a building was going to fall on us, how much help would that book be, really. But you know, "the science." I always thought that we should go and hide under the tables in the cafeteria because then if the building landed on us at least our back would also be covered. But again, "the science" said the hallway, so the hallway it was.
If you think I have issues when someone says, "the science" now you know why. Come to find out, we changed our mind. Now "the science" says it's "global warming." Wait, that has been changed to "climate change." I can't keep up with it all.
Is anyone else tired of being told we are experiencing events that only happen once every 100 years or 500 years according to "the science." I'm still scratching my head over being flooded twice in Independence a few years apart. "The science" on the first flood said that it was once in 100 years that this would happen. The second flood came along and then it was a once every 500 year event...and don't you DARE "but, but, but..." and point out that it JUST happened a couple of years earlier.
Shew, I bet you are wondering how I got all of THAT out of the topic of my headline!
A few years ago I spent a lot of time traveling to Texas. I saw turbines dotting the landscape at a rate that you don't see in our part of Iowa. Quite frankly they are ugly monsters in my opinion. I can't honestly say that whenever they are present you enjoy the landscape, you count turbines. Because of my experience with "the science" I counted turbines, shook my head and said, "The suckers believed 'the science' again."
Texas, even though it's probably first or second in oil production in the United States, (and even though the United States is probably number one in clean air, conservation and all of the other things that "the science" has told us that we should care about) has joined the movement to add turbines to the power grid. That's all fine and good as long as you don't get a "hundred-year ice storm" in Texas.
Incoming rabbit trail. At one time during my adventures to Texas there was enough snow in the gulf to make a snowball. But who am I kidding, they said it was a once-in-a-hundred-year snowstorm, even though people remembered it happening when they were kids. The science.
If you've had your head stuck in the sand this past week, Texas has been crippled by the above mentioned ice storm. It sounds like most of the state is freezing, without power and without water in parts of the state. It's not pretty. Their turbines are frozen.
AOC aka New York's Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in all of her wisdom tweeted the following rebuke. "The infrastructure failures in Texas are quite literally what happens when you *don't* pursue a Green New Deal. Weak on sweeping next-gen public infrastructure investments, little focus on equity so communities are left behind, climate deniers in leadership so they don't long prep for disaster. We need to help people *now.* Long-term we must realize these are the consequences of inaction."
Sigh.
"Quite literally" my dear AOC, why exactly do you think the landscape is full of these turbines if Texas hasn't begun to buy into the idea of the Green New Deal?
When I think of AOC I think of her mini-me, a little gal name Ava Martinez who lives in California. Ava has a witty dad and uncle who wrote some of her most hilarious skits poking fun at AOC.
Concerning the Green New Deal, there's this YouTube video. Of course, like all things fun or funny, attempts to silence this little girl was successful when she started receiving death threats, because apparently "the science" followers are threatened by a little girl.
So anyway, while my friends and relatives are freezing in Texas, some with power and water, and some still without, like everything, thanks AOC, for taking a crisis and turning it "quite literally" political.
As another Texan, Dr. Phil would say, "How's that workin' for ya?"
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Editor’s note: I’m so glad to hear that you are able to stay somewhat warm in all of this! Here’s hoping things get back to normal for you!
Norma Gould