MaxRedline

Burn, Baby, Burn

Material supposedly meant to be recycled is piling up now that China has seriously cut back on accepting such materials from the USA. So now a lot of the stuff is simply being landfilled - or burned:

The New York Times reported this weekend the problem has spread across the country. As the costs of handling recycled materials mount, many of them are being burned or thrown in dumps. "Philadelphia is now burning about half of its 1.5 million residents' recycling material in an incinerator that converts waste to energy," the Times reported.

Personally, I've never cared much for mandatory recycling programs that have been in vogue among Oregon politicians for years now. I occasionally take bottles and cans to one of those stupid "BottleDrop" locations, but those are a crashing pain: drive for several miles, lug your returnables in, wait until a machine is available, then place the containers in - one at a time. It was much more convenient when the machines were at stores; particularly the ones where you could just dump a sack-full of cans into the hopper. Now, not so much. And what about all the dreaded greenhouse gases you emit as you drive past the stores that used to have deposit return machines as you drive further to a "BottleDrop" place? How "green&sustainable" is that?

 

Colorado Bureaucrats Fold

Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission announced Tuesday that it will dismiss its latest charges against cake artist Jack Phillips. You might remember Phillips from his victory at the US Supreme Court last summer. 

After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Phillips, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission decided to attack him on this new charge. Instead of watching another case slowly creep through the courts, attorneys at the Alliance Defending Freedom went on the offense, suing the bureaucrats for their anti-religious bias.

Well if that's the way they're going to play, the bureaucrats decided, then they'll just take their ball and go elsewhere.

They really don't see why the guy and the attorneys backing him don't just play by the bureaucrats' rules, but having been burned badly during the last dance, they've decided not to do-see-do with those folks again.

Finally, bureaucrats have some sense pounded into them!

 

Company, Halt! About-Face!

Ann Arbor won't have all that much in the way of arbors in the future; the city council of "Tree City USA" is planning a new law establishing solar access boundaries on properties, and looking at vegetation trimming standards and building setback requirements. Why?

Because they want people to spend money sticking solar panels on the roofs of their homes, and the darned trees will eventually interfere with that grand plan. It's amusing; here in Green&Sustainable Portland, you have to spend hundreds  to thousands of dollars for a permit to trim or remove a tree on "your property" - and if you remove a tree, you must replant one from the city's approved tree list. If you don't, they'll do it and bill you $500 whether you like it or not. Ann Arbor seems to be moving in a diametrically opposite direction.

They don't want people's trees or structures throwing shade on the solar arrays of the neighbors. Property rights? What are those?

 

Oregon Democratics: Going After The Little Guy, As Usual

The carbon tax bill, HB 2020, also known as Carbon Cap-and-Trade would have a big price tag for Oregon small businesses and their customers.

Residential customers in Oregon who use natural gas are likely to see their rates increase by 11 percent—or $74—in 2021, the first year Oregon’s new climate policy and cap and spend bill takes effect, and by 53 percent, or $567, in 2040.

At least I've got a good supply of firewood....

 

 

Welcome To Southern California

Several days of rain has led to piles of trash washing up on many of Southern California’s beaches.

Aerial video from Sky5 showed one of the hardest hit coastlines was in Seal Beach Tuesday morning.

Trash brought in from storm drains along the San Gabriel River can be seen up and down the beach, even after a tractor had apparently tried to clean up by pushing a large amount of garbage into a pile.

The mouth of the river opens into the ocean, allowing products like strollers, baby diapers, syringes and furniture to wash up on shore, Tony Soriano with  Surfrider Foundation said.

And yet, California Democratics in the state legislature are busily tackling not these kinds of issues, but stupid stuff instead:

The California Legislature’s accomplishments were a mixed bag in 2018, but there’s no denying the sheer volume of activity: In total, 1,016 new laws will take effect in California in 2019. In most cases, these range from the unnecessary to the silly to the sad.

In the “unnecessary” category, we have the requirement that only milk and water be published as beverage options on kids’ menus in sit-down restaurants.

And of course, there's the plastic straw ban. You know, the really important stuff.

 

Not Yours!

While many states are passing controversial abortion laws, Oregon is now considering mandating “universal” governmental visits to homes with newborn babies.

It's okay to murder a child at birth, but after a live birth, you need the state to come in, whether you like it or not.

The Oregon Health Authority was directed “to study home visiting by licensed health care providers” in the proposed legislation which was given “emergency” status, requiring action before the end of the year. Potentially setting up Oregon families for invasive interference into their private lives by the state government, the bill and its tone have raised concern.

“What’s the big emergency?” Paula Bolyard asked in an op-ed for PJ Media. “Apparently, the state of Oregon is concerned that some parents are raising their children without the watchful eye of Big Brother monitoring their every move — a big no-no in the view of the progressive left.”

That would be the Regressive Left. Oh, and just where do they figure to get the money to pay for their intrusions? Yep, you.

The statewide program is seeking $4 million from this year’s Legislature, with matching federal funds.

Those idiots can't even protect kids in foster care; in Oregon, foster kids are abused at twice the national rate - but Oregon bureaucrats and politicians believe that they can do a better job of providing for the health and welfare of your children than you can. Naturally, our "bisexual governor" from Minnesota (who has never had a child) is all in.

Oregon Health & Science University’s Dr. Alanna Braun, a member of the Oregon Pediatrics Society, explained how the program would not only monitor children, but the adults in the home as well, according to Woodburn Independent.

Every family, regardless of income or address, could visited by a nurse three times who would be checking the infant’s surroundings as well as monitor new mothers for signs of postpartum depression.

We don't have a newborn, so we might be okay. But I'm still gonna buy more bullets.

These Democratics are nuts, and there's no telling what they'll get up to next. Right now, they're plotting to overthrow both the Fourth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Constitution. Guess what's not going to happen at this home.

 

Coming To The Portland Area Soon

You Vill Pay!

Drivers who take a highway exit to avoid having to pay a toll on Virginia's Interstate 81 could end up paying far more after a ticket arrives in the mail. The state Senate Transportation Committee will consider a proposal later today that would authorize tolling on I-81. Introduced by state Senator Mark D. Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg), the measure would also allow private companies to operate a new type of automated photo enforcement camera that issues tickets based on a motorist's choice of route. Those attempting to save a bit of money by taking a side street could be subjected to a fine set by the Commonwealth Transportation Board.

You just know they'll try that here.

I generally drive side-streets, so this approach is geared toward people like me.

 

 

Latest From Britain: Banning Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

No joke, in Bristol, they're not allowing food vendors to sell grilled cheese sandwiches (or "toasties", as they're called over there).

They have been deemed a magnet for antisocial behaviour and the gateway to truancy as councils try to stop locals being ‘terrorised’ by the young.

Apparently, they've solved all other problems, and so are now going after grilled cheese sandwiches. You know how problematic those things can be.

 

 

 

 

More California!

California lawmakers on Wednesday officially approved a measure that mandates all homes built in the Golden State in 2020 and beyond be solar-powered. The provisions add an estimated $10,000 to the cost of building a single-family home – including more than $8,400 for installing solar and roughly $1,500 for energy efficiency. Proponents of these requirements, however, say the 30-year lifespan of the solar panels will offset the utility bills. 

Um...well, no. The output power of solar panels degrades, on average, 1% per year, and over the average 25-year life of solar panels, that kind of adds up. It's even worse for the thin-film solar panels (a-Si, CdTe and CIGS), which degrade faster than panels that are based on mono- and polycrystalline solar panels. The latter lose 1% output in the first years, but are claimed to lose only 0.5% thereafter.

If you're in the area of Portland, Oregon, you may recall the SoloPower fiasco, in which local governments pumped millions in tax dollars to bring the thin-film solar panel manufacturer to the metro area amid much political ballyhoo, promising hundreds of good-paying jobs - only to have the thing go belly-up and shut down after producing doodly-squat. That was just another example of why clueless politicians should not be trying to pick winners in the business markets.

Notice that no panel ever produces 100%, and warranties supposedly last for a mere 25 years even as power output declines to 80% or lower. And this is for standard silicon, not-thin-film, units. Oh, and it's worth note that batteries and inverters typically have to be replaced every 5 to 10 years. Remember that extra $1500 that you have to fork over for "energy efficiency"? That's just for the initial installation; you get to pay for disposal and replacement of the batteries and inverters, which are classed as hazardous waste. So figure on an extra $2000 every few years, even as the power generation capability declines from your government-mandated solar panels.

By the way, the California politicians figure that their new mandate will only add $10k to the price of a home, when initial installation alone can run as much as $25k. California already has an outward migration issue, and this new mandate is only going to add to it, as people move to nearby states to avoid the onerous taxes and new mandates.

 

The Loons Are At It Again

Is it breeding season or something? The Portland Loons are becoming seasonally aggressive.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Reducing litter and saving the whales -- and more than 660 species of sea creatures and seabirds -- are some of the main reasons for a Portland City Council ordinance that aims to further regulate the use of single-use plastic.

Namely, the use of plastic straws and plastic utensils.

The proposal currently under consideration by City Council would forbid establishments like restaurants from giving customers plastic straws and stirrers unless they ask for them.

Welp, at least they aren't planning to shave the whales - yet. By what passes for their logic, shaving them would reduce water resistance, making the animals more efficient in energy use.

They haven't taken that step - so far. Probably just a matter of time.

Here's an idea: just outlaw businesses in Portland! Fine with me, as I only do business in Washington County - never in Portland or Multnomah County.