Science

Alan commented on 01.19.12
"But Ken Kimmel, the state commissioner of environmental protection, said the review was conducted by respected scientists and doctors with no political agenda, from places like Harvard, Boston University and UMass Amherst." Not so fast. Two names on the report jump out right away: James F. Manwell, PhD, Professor and Director of the WIND ENERGY Center and Dora Mills, FORMER State Health Officer in Maine. Mills was a wind power advocate and paid no attention to and showed no concern for the people in Maine who were complaining about wind turbine related sleep disturbance and health issues. She developed a pro-wind power web page for the Maine CDC that was laughable in the superficiality of its content. Fortunately, she was replaced with the change in administration. "Respected" is probably not the first word that comes to mind to a lot of people living near turbines in Maine when they hear the name Dora Mills. I'd be careful in assuming that Governor Patrick appointed an unbiased panel. The two names above seem unlikely to fit that description.

Robert commented on 01.19.12
We live in Hull, Massachusetts' second-smallest town. Our tiny, forward-thinking community has it's own electric company, powered in part by two large wind generators. We have one of the lowest rates for electricity in the Commonwealth, and have far less trouble from storm outages than other communities. This is the Yankee way of going green. I'm proud of our wind turbines, and our community. And my wife and I sleep very soundly at night. This report wasn't politically driven; it's just true.

Ryan commented on 12.17.11
Great article, Sean! Glad my photos were able to help illustrate the story! Keep up the great writing.

Mick commented on 12.13.11
Much of what Brian Greene suggests about the fabric of the universe was describe by an entity called Seth, as channeled by Jane Roberts in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The discussions were published in three books called The Seth Materials, Seth Speaks The Eternal Validity of the Soul, and The Nature of Personal Reality. In them he describes his understanding of the multidimensional aspects of our existence and the reality of the universe, and it very much aligns with much of Brian Greenes descriptions of the universe. Is Brian Greene possibly familiar with these publications?

David commented on 12.05.11
1. Senator Wolf did not 'automatically assume a 40 year old nuclear power plant is unsafe'. He did repeatedly question the wisdom of tying our future to a 60 year old reactor (as that is what relicensing would do). And while it may be relatively easy to keep some machines working for 60 years, nuclear reactors are atypical as regards the thermal and radioactive stresses they are subjected to. 2. The four reactors that were destroyed last March in Japan - all essentially the same design as Pilgrim - failed due to station blackout (loss of offsite power). The biggest safety improvement made at Pilgrim was the Direct Torus Vent. Fukushima had them too, and all three, in the only real-world tests of that system, failed catastrophically. Yes the meltdowns were triggered by a tsunami, but loss of offsite power could be caused by a severe storm or failed underground cables (which haven't been tested in 40 years). Or by an act of terrorism. After 9/11 there was concern that a small plane filled with explosives could easily collapse the attic-storage-tank of a thousand tons of the most deadly stuff on the planet. Does anyone really think that's no longer the case? 3. Yes, there's enough generating capacity that Pilgrim could close without creating a shortage. Might it cost more? I wouldn't be surprised. But when compared with the risks involved (losing much of New England for hundreds of years, and many thousands of deaths), doesn't that seem trivial?