URGENT – BOIL WATER IN MWRA COMMUNITIES

of my comment here, you should have gotten my point.  In my comment, I didn’t compare the magnitude of the harm to Nantucket Sound ecosystems to the tragedy unfolding in the Gulf, only that they are both harms caused by our society’s breakneck quest for more and more energy.  The amount of harm is relevant of course, but nowhere did I imply it wasn’t, and nowhere did I imply that the magnitude was the same, or even “like” the oil disaster.

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p>Now here is this guy, equating the magnitude of the pollution and hazard of Chestnut Hill Reservoir water to unfiltered pond water, literally saying they are “like” one another, essentially the same the same.  That is not in touch with reality.  

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p>So, this was my little revenge, my way of registering my complaint of deliberately unfair straw manning and dismissing of my point.  I know it struck deep, and you’re all deeply chagrined and embarrassed.  

I would agree that if Chestnut Hill reservoir water is unsafe to drink and requires boiling to brush your teeth, then it could be said to be more like untreated pond water than like drinking water.

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p>But the “to be fair” is what was missing about David’s response to my comparison, which was here.

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p>My overall point: we need to reduce energy consumption radically with major social changes.  I agree that society will need alternative power like wind and water to survive the coming oil shortage, and Cape Wind will presumably save lots of oil for the rest of the country, and I trust that the return on investment will be worth it.  But it distracts us from social changes, and absent social changes, it would just wind up giving cheap power to the people of the Cape and Islands, while the rest of us are stuck in some Mad Max movie.  Is there a mechanism to make sure the the whole state will reap the long term benefits equally with the people of the Cape?

 who once lived in the last place in the state to pump untreated lake water into peoples’ homes, I’d like to know what is the difference between the CH Reservoir and Lake Cochichewick (the source of the aforementioned untreated water). Just what treatment is applied to water from the reservoir? If it still requires boiling, my guess is not much.

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p>My year on North Andover water was interesting, as the algae bloom turned water in the toilet a bright green, then a less-lovely brown as the algae died. Later came the state-ordered boil directive and chlorine-injection pumps to deal with the Giardia outbreak. MWRA subscribers have my sympathy.

Yep. For starters, build more wind turbines. There was another proposed project not too far away, off the coast of NB and Dartmouth. Let’s hope its not far behind. Beyond that, though, is the fact that if Cape Wind provides most of the power for Cape Cod, that means Cape Cod needs less power from other sources — which, indeed, has a very tangible benefit for the rest of the state.

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I think you’re too fixed on social changes. If we sell climate change reform on dramatic changes to our lifestyles, guess what? We’re not going to get energy reform, because too many people will be unwilling to make those changes. Some minor changes may be needed, but not anything to the extent that would dramatically change our lifestyles. We need changes in investment, both on the supply side and on the demand side (more efficient building codes, appliances, vehicles, etc.). We need to make sure the changes we implement on the surface don’t look very different – or actually improve our qualities of life – from the status quo, because much of the change can happen under the surface, changes to how things operate and how they’re constructed that don’t actually create “social changes.”

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p>We need the state to start to implement policy standards to nudge people into making the right decisions — ie shift the government from incentivizing disperse development (all the highway funds, allowing restrictive zoning locally) to creating incentives for denser, infinitely more efficient, development, shifting highway funds to public transit funds, etc. Personally, I think an emphasis on reform will actually improve our qualities of life, growing permanent jobs and economic opportunities for people all over.