Cooperative Living May 2016 - 7

And anyone who doubts the tyranny and
lies being used to perpetrate this fraud, I
encourage to read Liberty and Tyranny by
Mark Levin and Red Hot Lies by Chris
Horner.
Please continue to print both sides of the
story. Hearing an opinion different from
mine does not offend me.
- Brent Grove, Clearbrook
BEFORE YOU INVEST IN SOLAR ...
I continually read articles and letters
indicating the benefits of going into solar
and " going green. " Before readers do go to
the large expense of solar I think they
should know the other side of the story.
I installed a partial solar system at my
home costing over $11,000. I installed it
mainly to have the ability to get water from
my well and keep the refrigerator running
when and if the power went out during
emergencies. I looked into other solutions to
the problem but decided on solar for many
reasons. At the same time, within three
months, I spent another few thousand
dollars replacing my 22-year-old heat pump
system with a new, more efficient one,
installing more insulation in the entire attic,
a new hot water tank, we purchased a highefficiency
washer and dryer, and shut down
our hot tub, which was keeping the water in
the tub, which is located outside, at a
constant 120 degrees. After all this expense
our electric bill did not go down one cent
and it actually went up!
For the record I am not one bit sorry
that I installed the solar because it does
what I wanted it to do. I just want others
to look into it before they go to this very
large expense.
- David C. Storey, Port Republic
LET PRIVATE SECTOR
LEAD THE GREENPOWER
CHARGE
Reading the January
HistoryMystery
The theme for this
Mailbag letter, " Our
Country Should Lead
the World in Green
Power, " I think our
country will lead when
green energy becomes
more efficient and
affordable for the
consumers.
My real concern with
the letter was that the
writer was asking for
the government's help
in taking this lead. At
this time we, the
taxpayers, are holding
defaulted loans
equaling $2.2 billion.
These are loans issued
by the Department of
Energy to green energy
companies hand-picked
to succeed, companies
like Solyndra, a solar
panel manufacturer,
Fisker Automotive, a
green auto manufacturer, and Beacon
Power, an electric-car battery manufacturer.
So our government is not very good at
picking winners in the green-energy sector.
So why would you ask for the
government's help yet again in an area
where they have failed miserably in the
past? You shouldn't: $2.2 billon is a huge
amount of money to have spent and have
nothing to show for it. Instead, we
taxpayers should be asking for the
government to strip away some of the
burdensome regulations on businesses so
that they are able invest more money in the
research and development of green energy.
In the end, it will be the private sector and
not the government that delivers us efficient
and affordable green energy and puts our
country in the lead.
CLIMATE-CHANGE LINK ALMOST
IRRELEVANT
With regard to the ongoing Mailbag
discussion about fossil fuels, it's almost
irrelevant whether or not they contribute
to climate change because of the enormous
damage they do otherwise.
I've walked on one of the many 10,000acre
piles of rubble where hills forested with
the world's best temperate hardwood forest
www.co-opliving.com
year's column is " Famous
People Born in Virginia. "
Submit your guess as to
the identity of the person
pictured in writing,
along with your name,
address and phone
number, via mail to
History Mystery, c/o
Cooperative Living, P.O.
Box 2340, Glen Allen,
VA 23058-2340
or guess online at
www.co-opliving.com
under " Contests. " The
deadline for this month's
entries is May 15.
Correct entries will be
placed in a drawing and
the winner announced in
the July 2016 issue. The
winner will receive a
check for $25. 
 DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS IS?
The February
2016 History
Mystery was
Booker T.
Washington.
Reader
Shahryar
Kashani of
McLean was
our $25
winner.
Good work,
Shahryar!
- David Carpenter, Mitchells
once thrived, destroyed by mountaintopremoval
coal mining. I've driven through
heavily fracked Doddridge County, W.Va.,
where fracking has resulted in burned forests
and bulldozed hills, compressor and vent
stations around every corner, congested and
ruined roads due to 24/7 trucks, and
pipelines running everywhere.
Cancer, respiratory diseases, birth defects,
livestock deaths, and other health impacts
are documented at much higher than
national averages in communities near coal
mining and fracking. That doesn't include
damage from the many explosions, accidents,
and toxic spills, few of which make the
national news, nor do industry settlements of
lawsuits for health problems because gag
orders are always part of those settlements.
Also not included are the long-term
impacts of air, water, and soil pollution. The
solar industry now employs more people than
coal, and the cost per kwh is competitive with
coal in many places. The family-owned
Windcrest Dairy Farm in Timberville recently
installed over 700,000 kwh of solar panels,
the largest in Virginia, and there are many
very successful Solarize projects ongoing
throughout the region. Why aren't there any
stories about them in Cooperative Living?
- Chris Bolgiano, Fulks Run
continued on pg. 7
May 2016 | Cooperative Living | 5
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Cooperative Living May 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living May 2016
