I would like to ask a few questions to the Sierra Student Coalition and the Sierra Club in reference to the ad on the back page of the Tuesday, Oct. 20 Collegiate Times (PDF of the Oct. 20 edition).
Is water “Too Dirty” for you? Because superheated water vapor is exactly what that picture shows leaving the parabolic structures photographed. Those structures are simply cooling towers, not smokestacks as you wish others to believe.
It is very upsetting that the Sierra Student Coalition would distort that picture in order to slant the unknowing audience toward its cause.
Speaking of its cause, does the Sierra Club have a plan for providing heat to the campus if it was to stop using coal tomorrow, next month or even next year? (Only about 6 percent of the campus electricity is generated by the Virginia Tech Power Plant.) What would the freshmen think
if you took away their heating for the Blacksburg winter? Do you plan to build a wind farm on the Drillfield to run resident hall heat pumps? Want to solely use biofuels in our power plant? Neither is even close to coming to fruition. With our current VTPP equipment, as with any cogeneration operation, we could only burn up to 20 percent biomass because of the lower heat content and the destructive properties of the alkaline gases in biofuels. Along with the Tech Energy and Sustainability Committee, I would love to know your plan. Let’s talk money, tuition in particular. If the Sierra Club would like to use biofuels, renovate VTPP and/or build a new heating infrastructure for the entire campus, who will pay for it? We, the student body, will. Replacing the campus heating/electrical infrastructure right now is an absurd task to undertake because of the state budget cuts and the economic downturn.
Our campus is just a small-scale version of our country’s dependence on coal. I’d like to find an alternate energy source too, but it cannot and will not happen overnight. I’m a huge fan of nuclear power because of the efficiency and zero carbon emission the process entails. But try to get that past Obama’s White House.
The Sierra Student Coalition wants to end coal, and that’s great. But instead of attacking the current lifeline of American energy, why don’t you provide solutions, honest interpretations of photos and an understanding of your environmental, engineering and budgetary constraints. My mom always said, “You catch more flies with honey,” so please refrain from the perversion you chose to portray in your advertisement. Just like Barack, I believe your coalition has huge potential in the future.
H. George Rau
senior mechanical engineering major
chair, VT American Society of ME
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Bravo, George. Thanks for saying what needs to be said, and for saying it so well. There's nothing wrong with conserving energy, reducing waste, looking at alternative energy sources, and the like. But misrepresentation just leads to distrust for your motives. And if you must lie to make your point, well then you deserve no attention from good people.
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Well a coal plant has 3 towers (normally) . It just so happens the sierra club used the steam tower, the other 2 are where the toxic gas is released into the atmosphere. Coal is the wort of the fossil fuels in terms of pollution. Yes, it makes up a large portion of the electricity in he country but its time to switch. Mountaintop removal, water and air pollution, and habitat distruction are but a few of the results of coal. Effect on humans? Shortens about 24,000 people's lives each year. Unacceptable.
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If anyone can get nuclear plants approved finally it would be Obama. All he'd have to do is say to allow the permits, tell states he's storing the spent fuel there and the opposition would make way. If only he could use his powers for good instead of evil.
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Unfortunately, this letter grossly misrepresents not only the intent of the Sierra Club's ad, but more importantly, the urgent problem of our coal plant at Virginia Tech. Everyday, we burn coal, releasing toxic pollution into the atmosphere, causing global warming, and fanning the flames of the ongoing tragedy of mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. Check out this letter for a more lengthy response: Ad depicted coal pollution - http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/14510/ad-depicted-coal-pollution
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<a href="http://www.pskiller.com/">Photoshopped Image Killer</a> can detect various settings that were used in the digital camera in taking the photo, and also compares an image against a large number of compression signatures. PSKiller resports whether image comes from digital camera directly or from Photoshop. This is extremely useful when you have some suspiciouly edited images.
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