Behind The Line Podcast

We’re seeing some of the fallout yesterday from green energy policies. In California, firefighters responded to a clean energy semi-truck fire, a truck that runs on compressed natural gas, which is funny because they are banning natural gas in new residential and commercial construction. They’re also trying to make people who have it already switch to all electric. Apparently its ok in cars and trucks but not structural applications. Anyhow, the first fire crew arrived and shortly after the tank exploded (see video).

Critically injuring two firefights and injuring six others, nine of the ten first responding crew. It was near a trailer park and knocked a woman off her feet over a hundred yards away giving her minor injuries. Imagine if this had been at a loading dock at the port or a grocery store. How many people would have been killed or injured? What if it had been driving through a esidential neighborhood? What if this was farm equipment and it was in a huge field with crops – what kind of fire and damage would that create. It just so happened to be in a pretty wide open, empty intersection. This is safe? You don’t see diesel powered trucks exploding like this. These trucks are dangerous. Rolling bombs. But this is what wacky politicians have decided is a better alternative. The truck has two tanks, and the second tank was blown clear of the truck and had to be watched for quite a long period of time until it completed off gassing because they were worried it could explode as well.

Then we have the electric vehicle conundrum. Something that takes a very dangerous battery that also take an enormous amount of effort to create. The damage done to the environment to mine the resources to build these batteries is significant but because this occurs mostly in third world countries and we’re not damaging our environment, our wacky liberals seem to be ok with it. The problem we do face here is when these cars catch fire. You can’t just use water to extinguish them, it just won’t work. Thousands of gallons of water could be used of them, and they won’t go out. In fact they will burn fully submerged in water. Imagine this car parked in your garage when it catches fire. Say goodbye to your house. Fire departments have to adapt and use huge fire blankets to put over the vehicle to try to suffocate the fire and even then, it can continue to burn (see video).

The runoff from the vehicle when it burns is very hazardous so it must be dammed and collected. Many departments actually have to have a hazardous materials team respond to these fires to deal with the unique problem. Fire personnel have to follow the tow truck that comes to take the vehicle away until it gets to the salvage yard to make sure the fire doesn’t re-ignite. Even in the salvage yard it has to sit for days with the blanket over it and in an area that’s away from everything else to make sure the fire has gone out.  Gas- and diesel-powered cars don’t do this. We don’t see these kinds of dangers. I was a firefighter for many years, and I’ve been to many vehicles’ fires during that time and never had one explode. Never had to deal with any hazardous materials as a result of the vehicle burning up.

These looney politicians have pushed this green agenda without really stepping back and evaluating the consequences of using these alternative energy sources for transportation. Not to mention that the electric grid isn’t even currently built to handle the extra load all these electric vehicles would create. At the same time many of these states are eliminating coal fired power plants and dams that create the electricity. Where are we going to get the current and extra energy, we will need for all these electric vehicles? What is the end game? It would seem they want you to eventually be without a consistent, reliable power source. Why is it ok in the minds of these climate wackos to destroy other countries environment in order to “protect” ours? We are trading one fossil fuel for an energy source that requires fossil fuels to extract. It makes no sense. Why not take the time to come up with real workable solutions that don’t create more dangers than what we currently have. That don’t mean sacrificing our quality of life. The only real explanation is because that’s what they want.