Comments on: Sierra Club ‘Grapples’ with an Untenable Pro-Smart Grid Policy; Misrepresents Expert’s Opinion

By: Ralph Dom

Ralph Dom — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 14:39:30 +0000

Joshua,
Thank you for your article. I have been intending to put some of these ideas to paper,
but I do not have the skill and eloquence you posses. The believe that an economy can grow indefinitely is the fatal achillesheel of the Capitalist system. The massive roll out of all kinds wireless devices is another symptom of making a sputtering economy grow for a little bit longer at great environmental cost by producing essentially useless products.

The whole balance of nature is becoming so precarious that it hard to predict where the short term danger will come from next. My prediction is, that population control will be accomplished by an independent agent: Nature. Will it be carbon levels? Rising oceans . Climate change etc? I think it will be the demise of the honey bee. Science is grappling with the cause for this, is it pesticide, EMF radiation or a combination of things? I do not think we can afford to wait for the answer. It is a scientific fact that when a specie becomes extinct it will never come back.
Widespread food shortages will be the result.
Do I think that life will disappear from this planet? Probably not. Earth has experienced some very harsh challenges before.
And if mankind disappears, perhaps a new specie will evolve. Hopefully something with a little less brain and a lot more sense.

(An excellent read on the subject of why technology won’t save us, is a book called Tech no fix by Michael and Joyce Huesemann. http://www.Technofix.org).

Ralph D

By: Susan B

Susan B — Sun, 20 May 2012 20:59:05 +0000

We have only to examine a series of articles produced in 2011 by Sierra Club to see their deplorable support for the so-called “smart grid”. Their statements clearly come straight out of the mouths of utility industry spokespersons and marketing experts. Such drivel as “The success of the Smart Grid depends on both awareness of consumer issues and an appreciation of the bigger picture in terms of overall benefits.” (“The Benefits and Challenges of “Smart Meters” for the Smart Grid”, article 2 of 3 on the topic by Debra Atlas, Sierra Club, Nov., 2011) http://www.sierraclubgreenhome.com/mcat/the-benefits-and-challenges-of-smart-meters/. Article 1 of 3 is “Smart Grid, Smart Idea” http://www.sierraclubgreenhome.com/?p=10857. Also, Article 3 of 3 by Sierra Club writer Debra Atlas:”The Great Smart Grid Debate http://www.sierraclubgreenhome.com/mcat/the-smart-grid-dilemma/: “One thing is clear: Smart Grid technology is here to stay, to grow, and to evolve. If we are serious about moving ahead with renewables such as solar and electric vehicles, then we need to find a way to live and work with this new technology.”
I think that series makes it perfectly clear that as recently as 6 months ago, Sierra Club took the low road and supported harm to all humans and wildlife. I encourage every member of the Sierra Club to stop all support. Instead, consider sending your monthly donations to Stop Smart Meters and other orgs working in the interest of public health and safety, including that of wildlife. https://stopsmartmeters.org/donate/.

By: Josh

Josh — Sun, 20 May 2012 05:20:25 +0000

Great piece, Joshua. It’s important for someone to hold the corporate environmental organizations’ feet to the fire on this issue, and you write eloquently about it. The second-to-last sentence seems a bit too vitriolic, though. However misguided the Sierra Club’s management may be, it seems unlikely that they have actually secretly endorsed microwave radiation as a means of population control—I can see Dick Cheney doing that, but not the Sierrra Club. Then again, perhaps I’m just naive; overpopulation is an enormous environmental problem for which no one seems to have any solution, and the continuous exposure to the vast majority of the world’s population to an agent that both reduces the chance of reproducing successfully and increases the chance of dying prematurely presents an elegant solution. Completely a-moral, but also elegant.

By: Josh

Josh — Sun, 20 May 2012 04:55:04 +0000

In reply to Paul Rauber.

That’s all you have to say, eh?

Thousands of people get sick from a highly profitable scheme that produces no tangible environmental benefits but does produce tangible harm to the environment and public health, and the rights to an illustration are the big issue?

Perhaps you missed your calling-Monsanto could always use some more intellectual property lawyers.

By: onthelevelblog

onthelevelblog — Sun, 20 May 2012 00:11:44 +0000

In reply to Paul Rauber. Sure Paul- I've replaced it with something more appropriate. Will you be printing a clarification of Dr. Carpenter's comments in your next issue of Sierra?

By: Vicki

Vicki — Sat, 19 May 2012 22:53:13 +0000

Thanks for grappling with Sierra Mag’s misguided thinking, Josh.
Also, it is gratifying and edifying to know what David Carpenter REALLY said . . .

By: Paul Rauber

Paul Rauber — Sat, 19 May 2012 05:27:00 +0000

Please take down that illustration, unless you have bought rights from the artist.

By: Redi Kilowatt

Redi Kilowatt — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:36:28 +0000

I think that the Sierra Club was originally OK, but it has been bought by corporate influences, and the global UN agenda 21.
Even the local chapter in Marin supports some public projects that are harmful to the environment and the taxpayers, like their support of the Sonoma commuter train called SMART. The Sierra Club likes anything called smart. Smart is the new key word in advertising, and most of the things being pedaled as being smart like smart growth, smart phones, smart meters and SMART trains are not so smart at all to the people, just smart ways to make a buck. This new environmentalism movement has lost the original purpose and spirit, now it is more about promoting the UN Agenda 21, controlling the population and making big dollars doing so.