I once had the opportunity to meet Dixy Lee Ray, a highly respected scientist who was Rush Limbaugh’s science advisor, not to mention the first female governor of Washington, and the former chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission! She wrote a couple of books including “Environmental Overkill.” The premise of the book was that environmental activists and their cohorts who work in regulatory agencies, along with the politicians who pander to them one and all, will never admit that things were clean enough because they would all be out of a job and a cause. The same principle holds true for greenhouse gas emissions. America was the only major industrialized country in the world to lower its greenhouse gas emissions, but the enviros don’t want to admit it.
I was thinking about all this when I did a radio interview about a California startup called “Make Sunsets,” engaged in what is known as “solar geoengineering.” They are planning on releasing enough pollution (you read that right) to block enough sunshine to lower the surface temperature of the planet. The plan, as described to me by Bonner Cohen with the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), is to release a balloon loaded with sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere. They would then burst the balloon scattering the sulphur dioxide particles hoping they would form clouds that will block the sun and cool the planet.
Where do I begin to describe the stupidity of this plan? First, you do realize that we closed coal plants throughout the United States because they were, drum roll, emitting sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere, which is considered a criteria pollutant? That is only half the story. So, we shut down the coal plants and put most of our eggs in the basket of solar farms, right?
Well, won’t the clouds dampen the output of the solar panels?
Of course they will.
Hence, we would be better off going back to coal while enjoying more watts than we would know what to do with. Finally, how on earth, and I mean that literally, could this company get a permit to pollute the skies, and what happens if they end up doing permanent damage to our food supply and the ecosystem?
Leptospirosis is Baaack
Another story, this time of things not being clean at all, has to do with some medieval diseases popping up here in California, thanks to some willing rats and the squalor of homeless camps. As FOX News and the New York Post have reported, Leptospirosis has made a comeback in San Francisco. The extremely dangerous bacterial infection can be passed to humans via contact with infected animals (dogs, cats, birds), and contaminated water and surfaces. The disease is not spread in the air or by coughing or sneezing but by contaminated surfaces and water coming into contact with our mucous membranes. The infection begins with flu-like symptoms, then it appears to go away, before coming back and raging into things like meningitis, organ failure, internal bleeding, and death. Rats and their urine are the primary vectors of the disease.
This story gets worse, much worse. When health authorities were attempting to relocate the individuals in the infected camps, a federal judge blocked their efforts because the officials failed to give proper notice and the judge claimed the effort violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Talk about stupid judges. If the homeless camp were on fire, would the judge had required notice before a forced evacuation?
What’s worse? The employees of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health not only declined to answer questions about possible outbreaks in their city, but they also don’t even bother to test for the bacteria in homeless camps. That constitutes a very dangerous game of don’t ask, don’t tell, wouldn’t you agree?
It doesn’t take a health professional to know that a petri dish of human and animal waste, rotting food, rats, fleas, and flies can create a toxic brew. Any historian would know that from a study of the Dark Ages. That is, in AD 536, the first of three massive volcanic eruptions (the ash blocked the sun) ushered in a mini-ice age. It coincided with an epidemic of the plague, the decline of the eastern Roman Empire, and sweeping upheavals across Eurasia.
I guess history does repeat itself.
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Thank you for the history lesson, a little science, some hygiene, and a dose of common sense. Berney
Interesting article Andy, releasing a balloon load of sulfur dioxide (SO2) anywhere will be quickly dispersed and do nothing ... it's a humongous atmosphere compared to a balloon load of SO2. During college in San Francisco, I found an old refrigerator probably from the 1930's using SO2 as a refrigerant. I knew the stuff was toxic so I released some of the refrigerant ... it will definitely temporarily shut down your breathing if you get a good whiff of the stuff.
My dad in Salem, MA (and where he was born) worked with the Salem Fire Department to go into burning buildings and shut down the air conditioning and refrigeration equipment using toxic refrigerants such as SO2 and ammonia refrigerants. My dad's dad did similar work of removing toxic chemicals nearby a fire. My dad was exempted service in the War because his services were needed by the fire department to go into fires and take care of shutting down or removal of toxic chemicals. One area of work my dad started with was refrigeration work and later got into Radio/Television repair.