Florida Maritime Accident Lawyer
Florida to the Bahamas in a Small Boat? Take Extra Precautions.
Category: Boating Accidents
What is the smallest boat that can safely travel between Florida and the Bahamas? I don't know, but two men who attempted to make the crossing in a 17 foot motorboat were, in my opinion, pushing the limits of safety.
Last month Richard Alicea and Edwin Pritchard departed from Miami for a Sunday fishing trip in their 17 foot boat. When they didn't return, their family called the Coast Guard which began a search. The following day a passenger on a private plane saw two men on a deserted island north of Bimini waving their arms with the letters "SOS' in the sand nearby. He videotaped what he saw, but when the Coast Guard went to the island they found that it was deserted.
After searching 47,000 miles of ocean, the Coast Guard called off the search. The two men are presumed to be dead.
At its narrowest point, the Bahamas are 50 miles from Florida, and each year people make the crossing on jet skis. However, a convoy of jet skis has a couple of advantages over a single 17 foot boat making the crossing. First, there is safety in numbers. If one jet ski breaks down another can go for help, and a third jet ski can tow the disabled craft. Each jet ski usually has its own GPS and VHF radio, giving redundancy to the safety equipment. Finally, each jet ski has multiple portable fuel tanks, permitting one to re-fuel another if someone runs low on gasoline. A number of tour companies offer trips from Miami to Bimini on jet skis. For safety, those companies have a motorboat accompanying the jet-skiers on the voyage across.
San Diego Coast Guard Boat Collides with Motorboat
Category: Boating Accidents
A 8 year old boy who was the goalie for his California youth ice hockey team was killed when a 33 foot Coast Guard vessel ran into a 24 foot Sea-Ray motorboat which was observing a San Diego Christmas boat parade. "I think the Coast Guard has a lot to answer for what happened. I've never seen a boat at such a blazing speed in that area," said one witness. Three adults were also hospitalized in the incident and two other children were treated for minor injuries.
The 24 foot Sea Ray was traveling slowly, at about 2-3 knots, when the 33 foot Coast Guard vessel began bearing down on it. Witnesses estimated the Coast Guard vessel was traveling more than 10 times as fast as the motorboat, at 30 to 40 knots, when the collision occurred. "I thought he was going to turn at some point," the Sea-Ray's operator said. "He came up so fast, I didn't have time to react." A witness on the shoreline at Harbor Island said "it happened in the blink of an eye. I couldn't quite believe it when I heard the big thud."
When rescuers arrived the boy's father could be seen looking in the water with a flashlight saying "How is my son? How is my son?" When the boy's body was found "he already looked limp," said one witness.
The National Transportation Safety Board flew in a team of investigators from Washington, D.C. to investigate the cause of the nighttime boating accident. The 24 foot Sea-Ray had 13 passengers on board when the accident occurred. The Coast Guard vessel had a crew of five on board. All five crewmen have been placed on administrative duties while the investigation is going on.
Would you jump off a boat moving at 50 mph, at night?
Category: Boating Accidents
Would you jump off an open sport fishing boat moving at 50 mph, at night, in the middle of a Florida bayou? That is just what the FWC believes happened last month in Tom's Bayou near Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
Last month a 22 foot Everglades sports fishing boat disappeared from its owner's home in the middle of the night while he was away during the Christmas holidays. When the sun came up in the morning the remains of the boat were found with its hull split open and its foredeck peeled back. Accident reconstructionists determined that it had run into the Tom's Bayou Bridge during the night. The boat is estimated to have a top speed of about 50 mph, and the throttle appeared to be wide open, however there was no sign that an operator had been aboard or that anyone had been injured.
As of today no body has been found, which leads investigators to believe that the operator of the boat jumped over the side of the moving boat, causing it to crash into the unlit pilings of the bridge. No injured boaters turned up a local hospitals.
The story illustrates another point which boaters need to be aware of--if you are boating at night you are susceptible to running into unlit obstacles, including bridges.
EXECUTIVE ORDER 1596: CURATIVE AND PALLIATIVE MEDICAL SERVICES
Category: Politics and Government
Here is what I predict is coming with the future of federally-funded health care by the year 2017:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, in order to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, to effect the appropriate allocation of federal resources, and provide for the appropriate treatment of medical conditions caused or contributed to by lifestyle choices, I hereby order as follows:
Section 1: Definitions. As used in this order:
(a) "Medical conditions caused or contributed to by lifestyle choices" shall mean any medical condition or conditions that are attributable, in whole or in part, to smoking, alcoholism, use of illegal drugs, or obesity.
(b) "Curative medical services" shall mean any medical treatment, including surgery or provision of medications, designed to effect a cure of a medical condition which would enable a person to return to active employment in the competitive workforce.
(c) "Palliative treatment" shall mean treatment designed to relieve pain and distress with no attempt to cure.
(d) "Federal sources" shall mean the Veteran's Administration, Medicare, Medicaid, and National Health Care.
Section 2: Findings.
(a) Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution charges the President to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed."
(b) The funds appropriated by Congress are insufficient to provide for all the medical needs of persons who receive their medical care from federal sources.
(c) Budgetary constraints mandate that medical care be allocated to provide care first to those who medical conditions are not caused or contributed to by personal choices in lifestyle which were or are known to be hazardous to health and well-being.
Section 3: Allocation of Services.
(a) In providing treatment, providers of medical services shall not seek reimbursement from federal sources for any curative treatment provided to those whose medical conditions were caused or contributed to by lifestyle choices.
(b) Federal sources will reimburse medical care providers for palliative treatments provided to persons whose medical conditions were caused or contributed to by lifestyle choices.
(c) Federal sources will reimburse medical care providers who provide medical assistance and medications to persons whose medical condition is terminal who persons freely and voluntarily choose, or in the case of those persons lacking a capacity to choose, a legal guardian elects, to prevent prolonged pain and suffering by terminating their lives.
THE WHITE HOUSE
January 22, 2017
Proposals for New Laws
Category: Politics and Government
I generally am opposed to proposing new laws and new programs for the federal government. However, I have decided to put aside my opposition and propose a few new laws of my own:
Law #1: Any politician who runs for office on the plank that he (of she) will "run the government more like a business" shall be guilty of petit fraud in the 3rd degree and shall be sentenced to a term of years in a federal prison not to exceed 1 year.
Law #2: Any politician who runs for office on the plank that he (or she) will reduce the deficit by reducing fraud and waste in federal spending shall be guilty of petit fraud in the 2nd degree and shall be sentenced to a term of years in a federal prison not to exceed 2 years.
Law #3: Any politician who runs for office on the plank that he (or she) can balance the federal budget deficit by eliminating fraud and waste shall be guilty of petit fraud in the 1st degree and shall be sentenced to a term of years in a federal prison not to exceed 3 years.
Law #4: Any Member of Congress, or other governmental official who proposes a bill for a new federal program who says that the proposal will reduce the federal budget deficit shall be guilty of gross fraud in the 3rd degree and shall be sentenced to a term of years in a federal prison not to exceed 5 years.
Law #5: Any Member of Congress, or other governmental official who proposes a bill for a new federal program who says that the proposal will "pay for itself in the long run" shall be guilty of gross fraud in the 2nd degree and shall be sentenced to a term of years in a federal prison not to exceed 10 years.
Law #6: Any Member of Congress, or other governmental official who says that he (or she) can balance the federal budget without cutting Medicare and other social programs shall be guilty of gross fraud in the 1st degree and shall be sentenced to death.
Somalian Piracy: Maersk Alabama Goes from Victim to Victor
Category: Safety at Sea
Does where you live affect how you feel about gun control? Of course it does, and that was most vividly shown by the events last month off the coast of Somalia. Somalian pirates have been getting away with hijacking ships for years. Many people have asked the question "why aren't those ships armed?" The answer has been "because of the International Maritime Organization" otherwise known as the IMO, recommends against it.
The IMO is the most influential body in maritime commerce. Headquartered in London, its leadership has been vehemently opposed to merchant vessels arming themselves to protect against the threat of piracy, in large part because England is a country where the populace is largely disarmed. The IMO leadership is uncomfortable with guns.
Unfortunately Mogadishu is nothing like London. In Mogadishu, anyone with a pistol, bolt action rifle, or shotgun is seriously under-armed and is at a serious disadvantage when dealing with the average pirate.
The security expert for the IMO for a number of years was a former U.S. Marine Corp officer (I won't disclose his name, because he hasn't authorized me to). His advice to the IMO was "arm the ships with security details, automatic weapons, and non-lethal repelling devices such as acoustical cannon." The IMO politely responded "but someone might get killed" to which their security consultant responded, much like Sarah Palin would, "you betcha!" They responded by replacing their security consultant.
Continue reading "Somalian Piracy: Maersk Alabama Goes from Victim to Victor"
Making Congress Irrelevant: Gutting the Carmack Amendment in K-Line v Regal-Beloit
Category: Supreme Court Rulings
Democracy is such an inconvenient concept, isn't it? Would we be a much better country if we could just, say, contract out of laws which we don't like? That is just what a number of ocean carriers and railroads are trying to do. A group of valiant lawyers is trying to stop them.
The case being appealed is Regal-Beloit Corp. v. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha LTD, 557 F.3d 985 (9th Cir. Cal. 2009).
Certiorari was granted by the Supreme Court on October 20, 2009.
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. v. Regal-Beloit Corp., 2009 U.S. LEXIS 7542 (U.S. Oct. 20, 2009)
The Supreme Court case number is 08-1553.
Florida Boater Identification Cards - New Regs Taking Effect
Category: Boating Accidents
Beginning on January 1 of next year, anyone who wants to operate a motorboat with a motor over 10 HP, and who is born after January 1, 1988 (meaning anyone who is less than 21 years old on January 1, 2010), will have to have with them a "Boater Identification Card" (a "BIC") and photo identification. There are some exceptions to the rule. If have a Coast Guard master's license you don't need a BIC and if the boater is "accompanied in the vessel by a person who is exempt" then no BIC is required.
To get the BIC, boaters will have to take an eight-hour boating safety course and pass a written test. Failing to carry a BIC is a non-criminal violation carrying a fine of $50 for the first offense, $250 for a second, and $500 for a third.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has been pushing for this type of training for years and they have charts and statistics which seem to show that training reduces the number of accidents. Personally, I doubt the data, and I doubt that a boating safety course is going to reduce the number and severity of boating accidents in Florida. Part of the reason for my skepticism is because the training course doesn't, in my opinion, focus on the real world causes of boating accidents.
The number one cause of boating accidents is DARKNESS. The reason is because moving boats run into anchored boats which are poorly lit. It doesn't matter if the anchored boats belong to fishermen, barge owners, or marine construction companies--people just don't seem to understand the importance of lighting their boats when they are moored or anchored at night.
Since most serious boating accidents happen at night, or when the operator's view of what is ahead is blocked, you would think that nighttime operation would be a big part of the course. However, as I read the 8 page Course Checklist, the word "night" only appeared one time - in the bibliography - and not at all in the course materials. In other words you can take the entire course and no one needs to tell fledgling boaters "if you are operating your boat at night, you are eventually going to hit an unlit anchored object and get hurt." To me, that should be on page 1.
Continue reading "Florida Boater Identification Cards - New Regs Taking Effect"
Justice Thomas-the Court's most Cogent Textualist
Category: Supreme Court Rulings
I occasionally come across decisions from the past which demonstrate why Justice Thomas is the Supreme Court's most cogent Constitutionalist and the best defender of textualism. In FMC v. S.C. State Ports Auth., 535 U.S. 743, 754 (U.S. 2002) Justice Thomas makes a point which is infrequently made, but which needs to be understood by every lawyer. He says "it is ironic that JUSTICE BREYER adopts such a textual approach in defending the conduct of an independent agency that itself lacks any textual basis in the Constitution."
What Justice Thomas means is that there is no textual support in the Constitution for the very existence of the Federal Maritime Commission - a body which exists outside the sphere of the Executive Branch of government, and outside the sphere of Congress. So, are independent Commissions constitutional?
In Gellhorn and Byse's Administrative Law (Foundation Press) the authors (Strauss, Rakoff, and Farina) point out that "Justice Thomas goes out of his way to invite a fundamental rethinking of the current doctrinal approach" to the delegation doctrine in American Trucking v EPA.
Another influential article on the subject is by Gary Lawson entitled The Rise and the Rise of the Administrative State, 107 Harv. L. Rev 1231 (1994) in which he questions whether, under the vesting clauses of the Constitution, administrative agencies are Constitutional.
As we go through this period of economic turmoil, these problems deserve thought, and Justice Thomas has been raising these issues for over 17 years. Perhaps we should start listening.
FFWCC and Florida Legislature redefine the word "operator"
The FFWCC has attempted on more than one occasion to get the Florida Legislature to broaden the definition of "operator" to include people who are not actually at the wheel, steering the boat. One such attempt was found to be unconstitutional. The Court said "we agree that the portion of the statute which prohibits the "use" of a vessel while a person is under the influence of intoxicants is unconstitutionally overbroad."
The Kelly Johnson Act of 1998 was an attempt to rework the statute to make it narrower. The constitutionality of the Kelly Johnson Act has not been tested. It defines the word "Operate" to mean to be in charge of or in command of or in the actual physical control of a vessel." However, I think most people don't feel that a passenger who provides instructions to someone who is driving a boat, like a passenger in a car who is giving directions to a sober operator, is the "operator" of a boat.
The Kelly Johnson Act was named after a 15 year old girl who was killed in a boating accident. According to the FFWCC, the man who was driving the vessel was drunk but he left the helm and stepped to the back of the boat. They assert he could not be prosecuted for drunk driving.
Be advised --- You can get turn over the driving of your boat to someone else, but still be the "operator" in the eyes of the State of Florida.
"The Ditch" has always been a trouble spot
Category: Boating Accidents
It is not without cause that the 8 miles stretch of intracoastal waterway in Palm Valley is called "The Ditch." It's straight and narrow, and on its eastern shore, docks from adjacent homes jut into the waterway. Referring to an Easter Sunday boating accident that killed five people, "I think that's what you saw here, [the dock] was so close to the channel it didn't give this person any degree of error. Once she strayed out of the channel she was in trouble," said David Roach, executive director of the Florida Inland Navigation District. The District is a Jupiter-based Special State Taxing District which manages Florida's waterways from the Georgia state line south to Miami. "Once you realize you're in trouble, it's too late."
Roach says that the Florida Inland Navigation District has complained for years to the Army Corps of Engineers and other regulatory agencies that docks are too close to the channel, where boaters pass. State law allows docks along the Intracoastal to be built 36 feet from the edge of the navigation channel. Roach says the appropriate buffer would be at least 50 to 65 feet, giving boaters more room and opportunity to prevent an accident. Authorized by the federal River and Harbor Act of 1960, the Navigation District is involved in the construction, maintenance, and operation of Florida's intracoastal waterways and has an annual budget of $73 million. A second Navigation District, the West Coast Inland Navigation District, is responsible for the intracoastal waterway on Florida's West coast. However, all intracoastal construction permitting is handled by the Army Corps of Engineers.
About 36% of Florida boating accidents in 2007 involved boats hitting docks and other stationary objects. The most serious accidents generally happen at night. In its latest annual report, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said 109 accidents involved fixed objects, technically known as "allisions" compared to 194 in which boats were involved in "collisions" with other boats.
Nighttime Boat Accident Claims five Oilfield Businessmen in Bayou Country
Category: Boating Accidents
Employees of Antill Pipeline Construction Company, of Houma, La. made a gruesome discovery one morning last May. On top of a barge they were using to carry rocks they found the body of a boater. When they looked around they found the bodies of four other men which were still in a boat which was wedged beneath one of the barges.
Accident reconstructionists think that the 24-foot aluminum fishing boat, which was powered with a 300-hp outboard engine, ran into a barge at about 10 o'clock at night in the Falgout Canal between Theriot and Dulac, Louisiana. The Canal is deep in bayou country, south of Houma. The barge was being used to carry rocks used to repair an eroding bank on the canal. The barge is alleged to have been be poorly lit.
The five deceased were all oilfield businessmen. Deceased are Michael Carrere, 43, of Bayou Blue; Rene Gauthier, 59, of Houston; Lawrence Flak, 54, of Conroe, Texas; Carey Meche, 52, of Metairie and Bill Voss, 49, of Katy, Texas.
The men had attended a Dulac crawfish boil and planned to be part of the "Houma Oilman's Fishing Invitational" in Cocodrie that weekend. The tournament raises money for local charities. Donations from the tournament for 2009 totaled $240,594.
Relatives of the deceased boaters say that the barge's owner, Antill Pipeline Construction Company, of Houma, La., failed to properly light the barge the night of the collision. The general manager of Antill, Stephen Champagne, says that the barge was lit.
Jim Wilson and Propriety in Congress
Category: Politics and Government
Jimmy Carter's suggestion that President Obama should be treated by Congress the same way that members of Parliament treat "the Queen of England" somewhat saddens me. I respected, and campaigned for President Carter when I was a law student and he was running in a primary against Ted Kennedy. However, I can't respect his recent comments on the position of a President in modern society. We have neither a king nor queen, and President Carter is wrong in asserting that any President should be treated like one.
I also disagree with those who assert that our society has become rude and that a congressman shouting at the President on the floor of the Congress is evidence of a lack of civility. In this day and age we have too much civility, and too little impassioned free speech.
When passions flared in the past in our country, men would resort to violence rather than speech. In one incident, Democrat South Carolina Congressman Prescott Brooks was incensed at a speech given by Republican Senator Charles Sumner which maligned the Congressman's uncle. The following day he appeared on the floor of the Senate with a gutta-percha cane topped with a gold head. He walked up to Sumner's desk, and beat him so severely, and so repeatedly that Sumner was hospitalized, and was unable to return to the Senate floor for three years. Preston Brooks was censured by the House and ordered to pay a fine of $300.
Unless we want to see political debate spill over into political violence, we need to tolerate passionate, and even impolite political speech. Anyone who can't handle that belongs in a profession other than politics.
Commerce Clause and 10th Amendment
Category: Supreme Court Rulings
No thinking person believes that the 10th Amendment is a mere "trueism\ and that it is surplus language. No thinking person believes that all trivial acts which only substantially affect interstate commerce when aggregated with other trivial acts, subject those acts to Congressional regulation under the Commerce Clause.
Thinking persons can take the position that stare decisis requires that we not change 60 years of Commerce Clause jurisprudence (Thomas\' position, perhaps). Other thinking persons may say \"we took this power because we wanted it, and we\'re not giving it back without a fight\" (Souter). Other might think \"we have the right to ignore the 10th Amendment because times have changed (O\'Connor and Kennedy).
However, let\'s not delude ourselves into thinking that the current state of affairs is anything the Founding Fathers would approve of.
"Green Jobs" and not Clean Jobs
Category: Global Climate Change
"Green jobs" are not what you think they are. If we rely on carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), which is the primary means which the Obama Administration proposes for reducing global warming, the jobs created wll be in coal mining, steel production, manufacturing, power plant production, pipe-welding, and pipe manufacturing. If you thought green jobs meant clean jobs, you have another thing coming.
The reason is because it takes about 40% of the energy produced by a power plant to capture and sequester carbon dioxide. Therefore, you need twice as many power plants. and twice as much coal, to produce the same amount of energy as we consume today (if you thought the number was 67% more, you forgot to factor in the 40% of energy from each of the new plants which goes to sequestration).
Once sequestered, the CO2 needs to be piped from the power plant to the cavern. If you live in the Midwest, caverns are close. If you live in Florida, the caverns are over 1000 miles away, and you need 1000 miles of pipeline to get there.
So if you want to be a coal miner, a steel worker, a welder, or work in a plant producing sequestration equipment, then you should be for Obama's "green jobs." If you thought you would be installing solar panels on a clean roof, or building solar panels in an air conditioned factory, you should do some further study.
Costco or Sam's For Health Care
Category: Politics and Government
Two of the founding principles of this country are the decentralization of power and individual freedom. It seems that the health care plans proposed move us away of these founding principles and toward the principles of centralization of power, and limitation of freedom.
To apply our founding principles to our health care system, we could, and in my opinion we should, do the following.
1):Take from corporations the right to deduct the cost of health insurance;
2) Grant individuals the right to deduct the cost of health insurance from their taxes; and
3.) Grant individuals the right to deduct the cost of health care from their taxes.
Prius Pollutes Less than Volt in Most of U.S.
Category: Global Climate Change
For those of you who wondered whether the Chevy Volt was actually worse for the environment than the Toyota Prius, it depends where you live:
Let's compare the two cars: We start a Chevy Volt and a Toyota Prius side by side on a 40 mile journey. The Chevy Volt has been fully charged with 10 kWh of electrical power. The Toyota Prius is filled with gasoline.
The Chevy Volt consumes no gasoline, but 10 kWh of electricity.
The Toyota Prius burns .8 gallons of gasoline, producing 15.2 lbs of CO2.
ELECTRICITY FROM COAL (e.g. Florida)
Chevy Volt: 22 lbs of CO2
Toyota Prius: 15.2 lbs of CO2
Prius beats Volt by 6.8 lbs every 40 miles
ELECTRICITY FROM NATURAL GAS (e.g. California)
Chevy Volt: 12.5 lbs of CO2
Toyota Prius: 15.2 lbs of CO2
Volt beats Prius by 2.7 lbs every 40 miles
ELECTRICITY FROM NUCLEAR OR HYDROELECTRIC (e.g. Washington, Vermont)
Chevy Volt: 0 lbs of CO2
Toyota Prius: 15.2 lbs of CO2
Volt beats Prius by 15.2 lbs every 40 miles.
Continue reading "Prius Pollutes Less than Volt in Most of U.S."
Okay, its the Chevy Volt, not the Dodge Volt
Category: Global Climate Change
Yes, it is the Chevy Volt and not the Dodge Volt. I made that mistake all by myself, with no help from the TU. Nobody's perfect
The point of the letter is not that the Volt is a bad car---I have no idea whether it's good or bad---none of us have seen it yet.
The point of the letter is that Jacksonville, and all of Florida for that matter, needs to find a new way to produce electricity. It doesn't matter whether one "believes" in global warming or not. Waxman-Markey and cap and trade is going to make Florida an unimaginably expensive place to live in coming years.
I consider it my job is to educate Floridians about that. The $300 per year (direct cost of cap and trade on electrical bills at 1000 kWh per month--check your bill--you probably use much more than that) which the TU has already told you about is just the "tip of the iceberg." The ulimate cost will be ten times that amount. Wait until you hear about the Copenhagen Protocol (COP-15 coming to you in December 2009) "adaptation expenses" ($50 billion a year from the U.S. to third world countries, forever) and "technology transfer." Ignorance is bliss--but when you start hearing about these things, it will be too late.
Unless we do something, and I mean now, Florida will become a disadvantateous place to live. It will expensive, it will be hot, and there will be lots more regulation in the name of "reducing our carbon footprint."
Electric vehicles are in our future, the only question is when. The only anwswer is "when Floridians can produce electricity without producing carbon dioxide." For us, that means nuclear.
By the way, I drive an SUV.
Thank to those of you who had kind words to say.
Picket Dodge Dealerships in Florida That sell Volt!!
Category: Global Climate Change
Perhaps I am being overly dramatic, but the fact is that the Dodge Volt is bad for the environment in Florida in 2010. Maybe it wont be in 2020, but it is in 2010.
The Dodge Volt is good for the environment in Seattle, in Portland, Oregon, in New Hampshire, and in any city or state which gets its electricity from hydroelectric and/or nuclear power. For Florida, the Dodge Volt is an envirnomental disaster. Seeing people laud the coming of the Volt in Florida is like watching a slow-motion train wreck.
Florida gets 90% of its power from fossil fuels, and North Florida gets 99% of its electricity from fossil fuels. All the Dodge Volt does is take emissions that would ordinarily come out of your tailpipe, and causes them to come out of a smokestack of a coal fired power plant.
That would be okay with me if it were a one-for-one exchange, but it's not. Using a car with plug-in electrical power requires more fossil fuels than simply filling up at the gas station and burning fossil fuels directly in your car. Why? Because when you burn coal, about 66% of the energy content is lost when you turn it into steam, and then turn the steam into electricity. Now you are down to 34% of the energy content. When you transmit that electricity over the power grid, you lose 3-4% more. Now you are down to 30%. When you charge the battery, it gets hot and you lose more energy content (I don't have a percentage yet, but when I do, I will let you know).
Why is the Toyota Prius better for the environment than the Dodge Volt? Because it doesn't plug in. When you get 50 mpg's from a Prius, you are getting a real savings in pollution. It has its own generator. It charges the battery using leftover energy when you step on the brakes.
Until we find an no carbon way to produce electricity, which for Florida means nuclear, the Dodge Volt will continue to be bad for the State. Any dealership which sells them should be picketed.
Page 425 of America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 - Advance Care Planning Consultation
Category: General
In a desire to keep the public informed, I've translated some of the America's Affordable Health Choice Act of 2009 into "plain English." Here is what it says:
Note: The following are pages 425-427 of HR 3200
Officially known as America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009
Page 424
Advance Care Planning Consultation
(1) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), the term 'advance care planning consultation' means a consultation between the individual and a practitioner [A DOCTOR, NURSE PRACTITIONER OR PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT] described in paragraph (2) regarding advance care planning [PLANNING FOR DEATH], if, subject to paragraph (3), the individual involved has not had such a consultation within the last 5 years. Such consultation shall include the following:
[Translation: the Federal Government will pay for counseling of citizens every five years, or when a person is diagnosed with a chronic or life-limiting disease like arthritis, diabetes, or heart disease, by a nurse practitioner, physician's assistant, or a doctor, who will discuss with them the benefits of determining how one is going to die. While it doesn't say so, you are probably going to need to be able to prove you've had the meeting before you get food stamps, WIC, school lunch meals, social security, unemployment benefits, drivers licenses, attend public schools, or even before you board an aircraft.]
(A) An explanation by the practitioner of advance care planning, including key questions and considerations, important steps, and suggested people to talk to.
(B) An explanation by the practitioner of advance directives, including living wills and durable powers of attorney, and their uses.
(C) An explanation by the practitioner of the role and responsibilities of a health care proxy.
[Translation: the Federal Government will ask you to appoint someone to decide how you will die, in the event you are unable to express your wishes.]
(D) The provision by the practitioner of a list of national and State-specific resources to assist consumers and their families with advance care planning, including the national toll-free hotline, the advance care planning clearinghouses, and State legal service organizations (including those funded through the Older Americans Act of 1965).
[Translation: the Federal Government will give you an 800 number to dial if you want to discuss how to die.]
Paint Your Roof White and Save the U.S. 7.2% of Electrical Usage
Category: Global Climate Change
I'm not going to go into a prolonged discussion about reflective roofing other than to say that painting your roof white could be the single easiest step that any Floridian can take to save the planet. Wal-Mart has white roofs on 75% of its buildings to reduce cooling costs. Private homes can do the same. Here is an interesting New York Times article on the subject from July 29, 2009 entitled "White Roofs Catch on as Energy Cost Cutters."
HOW MUCH COULD THE U.S. SAVE?
According to a member of the California Energy Commission "turning all of the world's roofs "light" over the next 20 years could save the equivalent of 24 billion metric tons in carbon dioxide emissions." Let's see what that means in terms of saving electricity in the United States:
24 billion tons over 20 years is 1.2 billion metric tons of CO2 a year.
One metric ton is 2204 lbs.
24 billion tons over 20 years is 2,645 billion pounds of CO2 a year.
Producing 1 kWh of electricity produces 2.1 lbs of CO2 (the average for Florida).
24 billion tons over 20 years is the equivalent of 1,259 billion kWh a year
24 billion tons over 20 years is 1.259 billion mWh per year savings.
Assume that the United States is responsible for 22% of the world's CO2 production.
22% of 1,259,000,000 mWh means the savings in the U.S. would be 277,000,000 mWh per year.
Total U.S. electricity consumption in 2005 was 3,816,000,000 mWh. (CIA World Fact Book)
That is a 7.2% (277/3,816) reduction in electricity consumption annually.
BACK-CHECKING THE CALCULATIONS
To check the 7.2% figure, lets work backwards.
Let's make some basic assumptions:
1. Let's assume that in Florida 50% of electrical usage goes to providing air conditioning.
2. The maximum daily roof temperature in Florida is 130 degrees F.
3. A cool roof, meaning one with a reflective coating (we will call it a paint, even though professionals will cringe) can reduce that temperature to 91 degrees F.
4. A cool roof will pay for itself in air conditioning savings in 3-5 years.
5. How much painting your roof white will save depends on a number of factors: is the roof shaded already, is the roof peaked (painting doesn't work well on a flat roof because the rain puddles, leaving dirt behind, which reduces reflectivity), is the roof on a single story structure (a grocery store, a shopping center etc.).
6. Assume that the average customer can saving electrical usage of 10 to 15% by painting their roofs white.
The numbers work out pretty well. If air conditioning is 50% of electrical usage and a typical customer can save 10 to 15% by painting their roof white, then a 7.2% reduction in overall electrical usage seems reasonable. We are at least in the ballpark.
SOME TIPS ABOUT REFLECTIVE ROOF COATINGS
There are two types of roof coatings:
Waterborne acrylic coatings and VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) Solvent borne coatings
Simply, it is like water based paints and oil based paints.
Most coatings give 65% reflectivity when first applied. Within 3 years, that will decrease to 50%
Coatings which meet that criteria get to display the Energy Star logo.
PROLONGING ROOF LIFE
The uncalculated figure is how much CO2 is saved by prolonging the life of a roof. A typical roof is made of petroleum products: tar, asphalt, and residue from the refining of oil. The general rule is that the most energy efficient roof is the one you don't have to build. The real watchword in saving the planet is to buy high quality homes and cars, and keep them for a long time. Disposable homes, and disposable cars do more damage to the environment than SUV's and hot tubs.
What happens to roofing material once it is discarded? Is it burned? Does it go into a landfill where the carbon remains bound, and not released into the atmosphere. All unanswered questions at this point.
Plug-In Prius Conversion Can be Bad for the Environment
Category: Global Climate Change
A recent article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was republished in the Florida Times-Union about getting 100 mpg by converting a standard Toyota Prius, which is a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), to a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) by adding an extension cord and a new type of Lithium-ion battery. However, the article failed to answer the basic question: Is it good for the environment?
Clearly owning a Toyota Prius is good for the environment. The Prius III is advertised as getting 51 mpg city, 48 mpg highway, and 50 mph combined. Customers report getting even higher mileages, but lets take the 50 mpg as an average.
At 50 mpg, the Toyota Prius III produces 39 lbs of CO2 on a 100 miles trip. The same trip in a 17 mpg SUV produces about 117 lbs of CO2. There is no doubt about it-buying a Prius is good for the environment.
However, is converting your Prius III to a plug in good for the environment? Not if you live in Jacksonville. By converting to a plug in you are substituting electricity for gasoline, and whether plug in technology is good for the environment depends upon what fuel is burned in the power plant from which you get your electricity.
Continue reading "Plug-In Prius Conversion Can be Bad for the Environment"
Biofuels Aren't the Answer
Category: Global Climate Change
I agree with those of you who point out the problem with biofuels is land. Here is an example.
Congress has legislated in the Energy Security Act of 2007 that the U.S. shall produce 36 billion gallons of biofuel in 2022. At 250 gallons per acre, which is the production you get from corn ethanol, it would take acreage equivalent to almost the entire State of Texas to grow the corn. One problem is that Texas isn't suitable for corn, and another is that Texans don't want to move, but I think you get the picture.
What about second generation biofuels. I am glad you asked. Let's say we boost ethanol production ten times what we get from corn. You still need land equivalent to twice the size of Maryland to grow the stock.
Biofuels aren't the answer. So what is the answer? Here is mine:
Nuclear. We build nuclear power plants and develop hybrid electric vehicles. We plug the hybrid electrics into the wall at night. No CO2. We power it with compressed natural gas when the electric motor wont do.
The result? No CO2 from the electric portion. A reduction from 2 lbs CO2 per KwH (gasoline) to 1.3 lbs of CO2 per KwH (natural gas)--a 35% reduction. We still get the range and power equivalent to fossil fuels, and we make a big cut in GHG's.
What if we stay the course? Goodbye vacationing by air. Goodbye cruise ships. Goodbye road trips. You're going to spend a lot of time cruising the internet, but you are never going to see the world.
Is Waxman-Markey a Coal Bill?
Category: Global Climate Change
Waxman-Markey is formally known as ACESA. It is the Democrat proposal passed by the House to curb global warming.
ACESA relies on no new nuclear power plants. It relies on "renewables" like solar, wind, biomass (burning wood), etc. It excludes new hydroelectric and nuclear from the global warming prevention energy equation.
Because the capacity factor for solar is 17% and the capacity factor for wind is 19.6%, the best we can do in replacing current power plants is 36.6%, or about a third.
Doesn't that mean that ACESA is really a coal bill? Doesn't ACESA rely upon coal fired power plants for base power and carbon capture and sequestration to pump CO2 into the ground? Solar and wind will only be peak power sources.
Since CCS uses 40% of a power plant's energy to strip CO2 from flue gases, doesn't that mean that the U.S. will need to build twice as many coal fired power plants as we have now (because each new plant will also lose 40% to CCS); mine twice as much coal, and use twice as many unit trains (good for CSX and Norfolk Southern) in order to comply with ACESA.
Toyota's NYK Auriga Leader: Solar Power Ship (or not?)
Category: Global Climate Change
In July 2009 newspapers and magazines gushed over the arrival of the new Toyota vessel the NYK Auriga Leader, a ship "partially powered by solar energy." The ship was built in Kobe, Japan in 2009 and is equipped with 328 solar panels on deck. It will carry 6400 Toyota Prius cars to the United States each voyage, and will return to the Far East empty (because we don't build enough in the United States to send anything back).
Before I start "pulling away the curtain" from the NYK Auriga Leader, let me say that my family owns a Camry (our third) and that I think the Camry hybrid and the Prius are great cars. However, let's cut through the hype and dissect the reality behind this "solar powered ship."
Let me assure you that I have studied "solar powered ship" design detail. Thirty-two years ago I designed a solar refrigerated ship while I was a marine engineering student. In that design, solar energy was used to assist in powering the refrigeration system only--not propelling this ship. I got an "A+++" on the project. My professor loved the idea, and he loved the paper. However, as much as I like solar power as a concept, I understand its limitations, and solar energy will never (mark my words---never) propel cargo ships across the ocean.
To get over our misty-eyed emotionalism over the NYK Auriga Leader, let's do the math. 328 solar panels create 40 KW of peak power (when the sun is shining, there are no clouds, and it is noon). When analyzing solar and wind power systems it is important to understand the difference between peak power and average power.
Peak power means that under the best conditions the solar panels produce 2682 horsepower - less than is necessary to propel a medium sized yacht--if the yacht could always operate in the sunshine at noon. Unfortunately, yachts and ships can't always operate in sunshine, and its not always noon. The sun rises, it sets, the ship turns so that it's panel don't always face toward the sun, it gets cloudy, it rains---all sorts of things interfere with solar panels on a ship attaining peak power.
The average capacity factor for fixed solar panels in Florida is about 17%. I am going to use 17% in these calculations, even though actual the capacity factor for solar panels on a ship at sea will be a lot less (I would estimate that 8% would be generous because the attitude of the panels to the sun makes a substantial difference in a system's capacity factor). This means that with fixed panels in a sunny state like Florida you get about 17% of peak power when you average it over the entire day. That fact is called the "capacity factor."
Applying a 17% capacity factor to these solar panels means that over the course of an average day, the solar panels aboard the NYK Auriga Leader are about as effective as having a 450 horsepower Mercury outboard engine assisting in providing propulsion. That is less than the size of an outboard engine used on most 25 ft. motorboats.
Continue reading "Toyota's NYK Auriga Leader: Solar Power Ship (or not?)"