Big Dig Blog

The Big Dig was the most expensive highway project in the U.S.  It rerouted Interstate 93 ("The Central Artery") into a 3.5 mile tunnel in the heart of Boston, MA.  It is considered a "megaproject", and also included the construction of bridges, tunnels, and rail connections.  The Big Dig project was formed as a result of The Central Artery hosting north-south traffic and east-west traffic.  Though heralded as being the most ambitious highway infrastructure project in history, spanning six different presidents and costing 14.8 billion dollars, the Big Dig was also riddled with corruption and mismanagement.  The Big Dig was perhaps too big of a project; that is, it was simply too large and too difficult to run it responsibly.  It was indeed a successful project, but the lesson to be learned here seems to be to not let the costs of such a project be kept hidden from the public or run by a few head honchos who can easily cook the books.

Wild Card Blog - Nuclear Waste???!

Let's talk about nuclear waste disposal, since I'll have to talk about it anyway for my research paper.

With the recent raised-eyebrows concerning nuclear reactors around the world due to the crisis in Japan, it seems pertinent to address nuclear waste storage facilities.

Many nuclear power plants store their waste in giant indoor pools called "fuel pools."  Operators must pump cooling water into the pools regularly so the waste does not overheat.

As of an article I read that was posted two hours ago, some investigation is being done into New England power plants.  Most of them are storing much more nuclear waste than they were originially licensed for.  For example, the Vermont Yankee Power Plant was originally licensed to store 600 fuel assemblies.  Currently, it now holds 2,935.  Obviously this raises some safety questions and concern--mainly IS IT SAFE to store than much nuclear/radioactive waste in one facility?

The NRC, or Nuclear Waste Commission, is apparently a bit more lenient than it should be.  They are the ones approving these nuclear power plants' increased storage of nuclear waste, with their argument that it is not a safety hazard for the public.  Their current estimation is that many power plants will be completely out of storage room for waste by 2015, which raises the question: what we will do with our future nuclear waste that we will inevitably keep producing?

Click here to read the full article I'm referring to

Vampire Power! (sucks)

Vampire power is essentially when plugged-in appliances in your home use "stand by" power while they are not being used.  This occurs because many appliances do not actually go all the way off -- such as internal clock devices, cell phone chargers, TVs, DVD players, power adaptors, or anything with remotes.  Vampire power's implications essentially mean a drain on power and money -- that is, electricity is constantly "leaking" throughout your home, and it accounts for roughly 5% of your electric bill.  Suggestions to remedy vampire power seem to emphasize simply unplugging objects like chargers when they are not in use.  Of course, this may not be practical -- it would be a little ridiculous unplugging the TV after every time you use it.  It seems that in recent years efforts have been made to lower the amount of watts used in devices with standby power.

Federal Programs

I'm not sure I'm a proponent of completely cutting any federal program without coming up with a working solution that could solve that program's problems.  However, I would approve of making drug testing to be mandatory for receiving Medicaid and welfare benefits, or any other federal assistance program.  I certainly do not believe that everyone abuses these programs, but drugs are more prevalent in the lower income population and so I feel it would be an intelligent decision to drug test recipients.  Otherwise, who knows how many tax dollars are helping fund habitual drug users.

I'm fine with enhancing programs that support the environment.  The United States Environmental Protection Agency is all in my favor.  As far as I'm concerned, any efforts toward conserving, preserving, and protecting our natural resources and species should be top priority.  Otherwise, we will have a whole seperate crisis on our hands in future generations.  The environment affects the entire world, not merely the US.