Dam Busting & Reducing Energy Usage: An Underground Primer

One of the bogus arguments being used to “save” the salmon-extincting Klamath dams is that we can’t afford to give up even the measly 160 “carbon neutral” megawatts generated by this project (in a wet year).

It’s bullshit.

There is so much grossly wasted energy out there — waiting to be reclaimed — that massive conservation is possible without the cold, dark houses predicted by the fearmongers who wish to maintain the status quo.

For example, “flaring” natural gas as a part of petroleum production is a commonplace tactic, and as reported on Newsweek’s blog, countries have been hugely underreporting their “flaring” emissions.

How much are they really flaring?

Enough to equal the carbon emissions of one-third of that emitted by homes in the United States last year.

Worldwide, gas flaring is sending into the atmosphere the greenhouse-warming equivalent of 400 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year. That’s more than one-third of the 1,197 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from every home in the U.S. last year, according to the Energy Information Administration, and more than one-fifth of the 1,965 million metric tons from all the trucks, planes, SUVs and every other vehicle in the U.S. that year.

Imagine collecting that gas and using it instead of burning it — and adding that “no net gain” carbon to the atmosphere.

Next time someone trots out the “carbon neutral” or energy argument as an excuse to save an environmentally damaging dam, tell ‘em they’re full of it. Once we’ve made a real effort at energy conservation, then we can talk about the utility of environmentally damaging dams…

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