Did Tina Fey tell you that she could see stupid and ignorant from the Tea Party?
Looting has been tried before, Skippy. Sooner or later you run out of other people's money, and then there's hell to pay. There's more to macroeconomics than "you've got it, I want it, hand it over" class warfare. Read some Bastiat.
There's a critical difference.The straw enterprise is C02-neutral on an annualized basis. The carbon in the straw was C02 a year ago. And now it's C02 again, big deal.
There are hazardous substances associated with most every form of energy generation. There's U, Th, K40 and other radionuclides in a coal smokestack. The emissions from a coal plant would get a nuclear plant shut down instantly. There would be mass evacuations if enough radiation leaked from a nuclear plant to be comparable to the everyday background in Denver. And don't even get me started on the DHMO hazards associated with hydroelectric power. That stuff kills thousands in the US every year.
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olderphart
"disjointed ramblings since - Get off my lawn!"
Now all we have to do is grind up all the uranium-contaminated granite rocks (continental masses) and pour crap on them. Then we'll be safe from the nyucaleer boogyman and all live forever. Bah, humbug.
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olderphart
In some contexts, you need an actual answer to this question. Not such a bad thing.
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olderphart
You're thinking about an unaccelerated Hohmann transfer orbit.
Continuous acceleration greatly mitigates the cost of out-of-phase travel to Mars. And, since you're carting along a honkin' heavy nuclear reactor and you're starting in orbit, there's no reason NOT to use it continuously.
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phunctor
There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.