BY MIKE DEMPSEY
White Rock
If you don’t read more than the first six bullets of this letter, that’s OK. Here is what you need to know:
1. Energy is the ONLY currency. Whoever controls your energy supply controls you, and your babies. And your babies’ babies.
2. One hundred years ago in 1919 the USDA census of draft animals (horse & mules) peaked at 20 million head. A third of all US agriculture was devoted to draft animal feed. That was near the beginning of an energy transition.
3. Almost 100% of all the work done before 1750 was done by human power or draft animals. Yes, there were some waterwheels, windmills and sails on ships. If you want to return to that time, please make some rag paper and write me with a quill pen.
4. Without artificial nitrogen fertilizer the carrying capacity of the Earth (the ability to grow food) is 2 billion people.
5. Eight billion people live on the Earth today. Artificial nitrogen fertilizer is made almost exclusively out of natural gas. See Item 1.
6. Except for fossil fuels, fissionable material and a little hydropower, there is no net positive energy storage: No pumped hydro storage, no lithium battery walls, no hydrogen economy, no tidal power, no state sized wind and solar plants. All those items consume more that they produce. There is no fusion, and fusion is not just around the corner, and may never happen. If/When the items mentioned above are built we will be using a lot of fossil fuel power to do it.
My name is Mike Dempsey. I was the only person who spoke up in a December 2020 Los Alamos County Council meeting, objecting to the immediate organization and appointment of members to the Los Alamos Resiliency Energy Sustainability (LARES) committee. I wanted the appointments of members (of which there was no candidate list or application process) delayed until the new County Council was seated in January 2021.
The December 2020 Council demurred on the appointments of LARES members until January 2021 because it looked very non-transparent to everyone involved.
I was the first person to submit my resume for consideration. I was not selected, that’s OK, I at least got a chance. I have been intensely interested in and studying energy issues since 1978 when I became a uranium miner. My share of Carbon Free (actually low-carbon) electricity production is 0.6 Terra Watts (600 Billion Watts), or 238,000 pounds of U3O8 (yellowcake).
I attended two zoom meetings of the LARES. Some of the topics discussed included “Social Justice”, and that “people in Los Alamos don’t know how to burn firewood”. There was an extreme lack of knowledge of energy topics by many of the board members.
Everything David Reagor states in his letter was discussed and/or included in the LARES Final report.
Myself, I have been a big proponent of nuclear generated electricity for over 40 years, but without the help of new County Council in 2023, I fear that Los Alamos County will pull out of the NuScale/UAMPS agreement. George Chandler, (of the Chandler Political Dynasty) and candidate to be your County Property Assessor is campaigning on it. George Chandler promoted to me “fusion” and Bill Gates’ un-permitted and non-existent Traveling Wave Reactor (TWR) over NuScale permitted Small Module Reactor (SMR). George and Christine have both fought against NuScale and UAMPS for years. I wonder why?
Full Disclosure: I own no nuclear interests. NONE. I do own a few oil stocks because I believe that we will still be using them for a long time.
There are three candidates for County Council that clearly oppose the LARES zero Carbon plan:
Sharon Dry (I have known Sharon for 28 years, she will do GREAT)
Reggie Page
Gary Stradling
Please support them when you vote for Los Alamos County Council.