I've been following this conversation with interest. You all have made good points. I hope no one minds my chipping in.
Of course, the discussion has a bit of trying to bail-the-Titanic-with-a-teacup atmosphere about it. Realistically, it can't be serious and be otherwise. Time is short.
For context, we also drive old vehicles. A 1998 F-150, and a 2002 Subaru are in the driveway and a 2003 jeep sits parked under a Ponderosa pine. The jeep will be leaving soon, I haven't driven it in months. Besides the already discussed points about embedded energy costs in new vehicles, it is much cheaper - at least in this state - to insure and license older vehicles.
We are, however, getting a new tractor. A 4 wheel drive 25HP. At 70 years old I simply can't keep up with all the work here without a machine. We still have much thinning and other work to do in the woods. I have a portable sawmill and the tractor will aid me in skidding logs and getting them on the carriage, also there are a couple of hundred slash piles to be burned and a mile of fencing to be run. The piles that were done with a large commercial machine have too much dirt in them to easily make biochar. With a grapple on the loader I can basically shake the dirt out and make a few tons of char. Moving hay and 1ton totes of grain will, of course, be less wear and tear on the old fart (me). I need to build a shop and an addition on the barn and the tractor will be handy setting posts and beams. And the list goes on.
As handy as it will be, the tractor is a fossil fuel burning machine that required a lot of energy to manufacture and ship here. It has a heavy environmental cost to it. The only way I can ethically justify the purchase is by estimating the environmental benefits of our using the machine to enrich the health of the forest and soil. Do these benefits outweigh the negative environmental impacts? Obviously we've decided they do. A gallon of gas (or diesel ) burned is still in the air no matter the reason. But, I would like to think that forest rehabilitation is a tad better use than idling while in line at Starbucks.
Part of the motivation to get a tractor comes from the loss of Hercules the ox last month. A gentle giant. I could get a couple of calves and train them up - but it will take two years to get meaningful work out of them. I'm too damn old to wait - but if we were to get an intern with an interest in draft animals I'd do it in a heartbeat. The future will be animal powered for those of us not in the elite or the military. The tractor is certainly more versatile than a draft animal - but in a pinch the draft animal is easier to feed.
Most of the Northwestern US has hydro power feeding the grid. So, charging an electric vehicle is less problematic in this region than in coal country. However, the environmental costs of the lithium extraction are devastating. For that matter, the rare earths used in wind generators also have a dirty extraction and manufacturing process. I agree that techno-fixes that allow the continuation of BAU are .... unlikely at best.
All of us here can have the best of intentions and make our decisions based on what we think is best for the planet and yet be completely nullified by a few private jet flights to the Bahamas. I knew a pilot who actually flew a very wealthy divorced couple's dogs back and forth from Texas to California a couple of times a year for "visitation". No one else on the plane. True story.
The little town of Usk, Washington has a plant that used to manufacture newsprint. The plant was owned by a large lumber corporation and because of a drop in demand and price for newsprint, went bankrupt. There were three bidders for the plant. One bidder was the Kalispell Tribe of Indians. They wanted to operate the plant. The tribe can make investments like this because they have excellent funding from their casino and don't have to be worried about immediate profit. They are trying to provide good employment for the tribal members and a market for tribal timber resources. The plant is powered by an adjacent dam on the Pend O'reille River. They also burn the manufacturing waste to generate power.
The tribe was outbid by a California corporation. They just kept throwing money at it. At first the new owners said they were going to operate the portion of the plant used to manufacture paper used in corrugated cardboard. The next day (April 29) it was disclosed that they would operate the plant but use all the excess power to mine for bitcoin. We hear now from the manager of a local mill that, in fact, the primary business of the new mill will be crypto currency mining. They are trying to find a source for mega loads of wood chips to generate more power. Of course, that will employ far fewer people than a paper mill and most of the higher paid positions will be for workers brought in from out of the area.
Sure, if they are going to use electricity for this "industry", this is cleaner than coal. That is the only good thing I can say about it. To me this is just another sign of frenzy before collapse.
I must go shovel manure. They say eventually a man finds the work he's suited for.
It's very dry and warm here. Unseasonable would be an understatement. Pray for rain.
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