Re: Tariffs and bikes

On 4/12/2025 11:17 AM, AMuzi wrote:

On 4/12/2025 10:09 AM, John B. wrote:

On Sat, 12 Apr 2025 09:02:45 -0500, AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
>

Our total national hydroelectric power
generation is lower than 60, 70 years ago. How does that
make any sense?

>
>
Wasn't a dam broken down somewhere? Something about letting the fishes
swim, or some such thing.
>

 Ongoing disaster.  We're ripping them out, not building more and better dams. See first chart here:
 https://energycentral.com/c/ec/hydroelectric-generators-are-among- united-states-oldest-power-plants

Dam removal doesn't necessarily have anything to do with hydroelectric power. Locally, the Mahoning River was a famously polluted industrial sewer. For about 100 years, miles and miles of steel mills and other factories lining the river used the water for process cooling, and discharged untreated waste directly into the river. Many of those factories had low head dams to ensure access to the water they used.
The mills are nearly all gone, but until very recently all the dams remained. They are being removed to allow the river to recover by flushing and dispersing heavily polluted sediment. Fish, birds and even kayakers and canoeists have returned to the river - although it's common to hear advice to not walk in the stream. In at least some places, if your feet sink too deeply in the sediment, they say you'll be standing in thick grease.
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- Frank Krygowski