Quebec has gone about 50 years.
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Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity
251–260 of 365 posts
Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity
#252Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually, if mhurron is referring to what I think they are, then it can be fairly global. Think fish migration and spawning, such as with Salmon. Global Salmon population is very susceptible to being disrupted by blocking rivers. That said, I believe there are modern ways to address this problem.
Every dam worth a damn has fish ladders. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_ladder Poorly built dams can damage the environment. Except you know, its 2016 and we've figured out how to preserve the environment while providing clean energy now.
The wikipedia article links to this: http://e360.yale.edu/feature/blocked_migration_fish_ladders_...
Not exactly a glowing recommendation.
It seems a lot like those 'nature bridges' over highways that animals never use. A nice idea if it worked, but they don't.
Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity
#253Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Two otters" is a non-issue. What about "all otters" to save a single human being?
If we could do that without hurting a single other human? Absolutely. Actually, we did that a few years back with Smallpox. True, there's a debate if viruses are alive, but I have no doubt we'd do the same if it was a bacteria (and possible to obliterate).
Wiping out a species to save a single life is monstrous and absurd. I hope you're not serious.
Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity
#254Quebec has gone about 50 years.
As has Norway. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_Norway
Main problem with hydropower is it's geographical dependency. Denmark could never do what Norway is doing for example.
Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity
#255Earlier quoted context omitted.
We have had 6 and half decades now of successful operation in the US.
Are we conveniently ignoring Three Mile Island? It happened in 1979, 37 years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_accident
The only causality of TMI was the atmosphere. The following fear-mongering lead to and effective halt in the expansion of nuclear power.
Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity
#256Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity
#257Notice this is because 80% of the energy obtained was from Hydroelectric power, which is a great energy source because it is reliable - unlike wind and solar which in this case provided 7% and 0.01% respectively and are not reliable. It frustrates me that so many environmentalists are still against hydro because it alters ecosystems when nature itself is inherently violent, dangerous and in a constant state of flux.…
All Adam Curtis films are thought-provoking ( he's as easy to disagree with as he is to agree with ) but the one that covers this is "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace".
This film "accuses" modern environmentalism of being an artifact of systems-think that arises from the computer industry. It thinks that the whole idea of a perfect environmental equilibrium comes from that.
It also marries "computer perfectionism" to Neoliberalism in interesting ways. I don't recall if he brings up Adam Smith's "Man of System" as a "villain" here but that seems obvious enough.
I think it rather ignores people like John Muir but it's an interesting idea and worth chewing over.
Obviously, I suffer deeply from this same bias myself :)
Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity
#258Notice this is because 80% of the energy obtained was from Hydroelectric power, which is a great energy source because it is reliable - unlike wind and solar which in this case provided 7% and 0.01% respectively and are not reliable. It frustrates me that so many environmentalists are still against hydro because it alters ecosystems when nature itself is inherently violent, dangerous and in a constant state of flux.…
I sometimes think they reject the idea that the whole point of existence is human flourishing and happiness. Yes, many people reject this idea. As a matter of fact, this is the first time I've ever heard anyone express this idea.
It was (arguably) the dominant way of looking at the world prior to the 1960s. It's possibly Biblical in its origins so it may have been around even before the Bible.
Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity
#259Earlier quoted context omitted.
You have spent way too much time on Hacker News. Gross Domestic Happiness was coined in 1972 and the idea exists way beyond that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Happiness For example, the US Constitution proudly proclaims that "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" are unalienable rights. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life,_Liberty_and_the_pursuit_...
Gross Domestic Happiness is enhanced by caring about things beyond human flourishing for many people. Many people care about the environment. GDH was in fact invented precisely to capture dimensions beyond that of human material improvement (more dams, more houses, etc.)
A clean environment is a luxury good most people didn't even know they wanted until economies advanced enough to make them an option. To see a present-day version of this difference, one need only look at China. That's how Americans viewed the environment before WWII.
If you watch the evolution of, say, the Sierra Club, its focus has shifted to reflect the changes in values over time It's very interesting. One of the really fun! things about Micheal Crichton's "State of Fear" is his curmudgeonly way of bringing out the denial of the nearly axiomatic assumption these days of environmental purity being a path to happiness.
Re: Costa Rica has gone 76 days using 100% renewable electricity
#260Earlier quoted context omitted.
Right, but the core principle underlying all that is that human happiness is a good in and of itself, and a virtuous and stable society is good only in that it allows for the greatest potential growth of human happiness.
If your grandkids are less happy because you destroyed the environment in order to increase your happiness is that a negative or a positive in this philosophical framework?
My grandparents did everything within their power to "destroy" the environment, and I'm perfectly fine.