CONSIDERING THE ALTERNATIVES

My interest in alternative energy goes way back…because it makes more sense to use the clean, abundant sources that cannot be exhausted unless we destroy our planet on the way to getting there.

However, bigger is not better in wind power production (“The Great Wind Debate,” Artvoice v5n21). It’s another way for big power companies to get control and convince us that we need to build these big wind farms, store and transmit power over long distances to the user at premium prices.

In discussions with engineers in the industry, I always get acknowledgement that it is best to have the wind, solar and other alternative generators as close to the user as possible. Having a wind generator and solar panels on my house is what I need, not a bigger bill from National Grid.

The wind blows and the sun shines everywhere—granted not in equal distributions, but a home generator is the best way to get the power we need and use.

Too bad the big boys in the power industry convinced big government that research and development in alternate energy was a bad idea. Now we know better. But as usual we are late to the party.

Finally, anyone who makes decisions about where to site wind farms must be forced to live with and experience the affects and determine long-term consequences of low-level audio and strobe pollution. We certainly don’t want to discover in 20 years that people forced by the circumstance of living in a rural, less populated area are suffering diseases brought on by exposures we know too little about. This is why longer term research and development would have given us an advantage.

Suzanne Toomey Spinks

Buffalo

I wish to respond to Al Coppola’s letter criticizing the Bush administration’s plans to develop a hydrogen economy (“Letters to Artvoice,” Artvoice v5n21). Bush deserves criticism because his hydrogen initiative is a phony. Bush is spending billions of taxpayer dollars on this initiative to give the impression he is developing an alternative fuel for our cars and trucks (and thus is addressing the problem of excessive oil imports) when in fact he is committed to ignoring the problem—much to the delight of his friends in the oil industry. The Bush hydrogen initiative is intended to divert attention from the administration’s refusal to increase car and truck fuel economy standards, which would be a much more practical way of reducing oil imports. After all, 20 years ago new cars were more energy efficient than new cars are today. That failure is good for the oil companies but a disaster for the average consumer.

Another problem with Bush’s approach to hydrogen is that he would manufacture hydrogen using fossil fuels, thus doing nothing to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and its impact on global climate change.

I was surprised at Mr. Coppola’s concluding remarks where he suggests using gasified or liquefied coal to power our vehicles. Coal is the most carbon-rich fossil fuels and burning it in our cars and trucks would produce more carbon dioxide emissions than does burning gasoline, thus worsening climate change. The only way coal could be used without making global warming worse would be to sequester its carbon dioxide emissions, and I am not sure how that could be done in a vehicle. And even if it could be done, we would still have to address mountaintop removal and other destructive coal-mining techniques before we would have anything approaching so-called “clean coal.” At this point “clean coal” is just an idea, a myth, or a public relations stunt. Our energy goal must be to meet our energy needs while reducing carbon dioxide emissions, not adding to them. This is a point Al Gore makes amply clear in his new book and movie, An Inconvenient Truth. The book is out now (and well worth reading) and the movie will be in Buffalo on June 16.

For a more positive view of the hydrogen economy, see energy policy expert Amory Lovin’s hydrogen primer on the Rocky Mountain Institute’s website (www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid985.php).

Walter Simpson

Amherst

THE POWER PHALLUSY

I loved reading your article on the new book Power Failure (“Power Failure,” Artvoice v5n17.) A better title would have been The Reign of Selfishness or What’s Wrong With Greed or How Phallic Pride Killed Our City. I always wondered about all those phallic columns rising out of our monumental cemetery right on Delaware Avenue.

Speaking of phallic pride, let’s go to the imminent closings announced by our revered Catholic clergy. Their catholic conversations with parishioners are anything but “catholic,” let alone Christian. Their minds are made up and even parishes that are fine and have priests are being harassed. Some of the best and most historic places in Buffalo are going to have a confrontation with the wrecking ball. It’s just what we deserve when we choose to live in a city where everybody wants to be Lord of the Dump and the only newspaper where you can get some real journalism is Artvoice.

The token woman editor at the Buffalo News doesn’t know how to get out of this shithole either but at least she has a good salary. Poor Buffalo, poor us.

I hope you don’t mind me not signing this letter. Actually I have nothing to lose but I would rather just sign in the name of many who call themselves—

Disgusted

Buffalo