CSPAN has Senate hearing, Chris Keefer, Wild Turkeys
CSPAN video of Senate ENR hearing, Keefer on CANDUs, Wild Turkeys
Lorin and I are doing some serious goofing off this week. She has been working full time as an art teacher and I’ve spent most of the past month or so on the road, lecturing, writing, recording podcasts, and testifying before two different Senate committees. All that has left us tired and happy for a break. We are goofing off today and will probably do even more of the same tomorrow and Sunday. Thus, a very short “news” letter. Three things today:
My Senate testimony on CSPAN
Chris Keefer is on the podcast for the second time
A rafter, gang, posse, or flock of Wild Turkeys
The print of the Wild Turkey above was made by John James Audubon between 1827 and 1838.
Ten days ago I testified in front of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. I gave it my best effort and have been pleased with the reactions to my testimony and am glad to see that the hearing is available on CSPAN. You can also watch the hearing on the Senate website.
In case you missed it, here’s a link to my written testimony, with, count ‘em, 47 footnotes. Also, as I mentioned last week, my friend, Gordon McDowell, a video savant, kindly grabbed the video of my spoken testimony and condensed it, added some of the graphics from my written remarks, and sent it along so I could post it on YouTube. Here’s a link.
If you just want a segment with just my spoken remarks from the hearing, IllinoisChannelTV has it. Click here.
Chris Keefer talks COP 26, CANDUs and why China and Russia are leading the world in nuclear deployment
Chris Keefer is a Toronto-based medical doctor, the founder of Doctors for Nuclear Energy, and the host of the Decouple podcast. In his second appearance on the Power Hungry Podcast, Keefer talks about being rejected by Google Ads and his recent trips to the COP 26 climate meeting in Glasgow and the pro-nuclear marches in Berlin. He also talked about why Canada’s CANDU reactor design has been so successful, and why China and Russia are beating the rest of the world in deploying new nuclear reactors.
Keefer talked at length about what is happening in Germany, which is running headlong into an energy disaster by closing its coal and nuclear plants. While he was in Germany, Keefer said the country’s grid was getting nearly zero electricity from renewables and instead was relying on hydrocarbons and biomass. He said, “It really hardened me, I have to say, in terms of how I think about renewables, and their impacts on the environment, on the climate, because they’re just they’re not effective deep decarbonizing tools. They’re a huge waste of resources.”
Please give the episode (number 80!) a listen and share it.
On the day after Thanksgiving: Meleagris gallopavo
. Today, the day after Thanksgiving, it’s appropriate to talk about Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). I don’t see them very often, but when I do spot Wild Turkeys, they are generally congregating along roadsides in rural areas. (The photo above was taken in 2016 by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren.) Allaboutbirds.org says this:
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Turkeys travel in flocks and search on the ground for nuts, berries, insects, and snails. They use their strong feet to scratch leaf litter out of the way. In early spring, males gather in clearings to perform courtship displays. They puff up their body feathers, flare their tails into a vertical fan, and strut slowly while giving a characteristic gobbling call. At night, turkeys fly up into trees to roost in groups. Wild Turkeys live in mature forests, particularly nut trees such as oak, hickory, or beech, interspersed with edges and fields. You may also see them along roads and in woodsy backyards. After being hunted out of large parts of their range, turkeys were reintroduced and are numerous once again.
Wikipedia has this about Turkeys and mating:
Males are polygamous, mating with as many hens as they can. Male wild turkeys display for females by puffing out their feathers, spreading out their tails and dragging their wings. This behavior is most commonly referred to as strutting. Their heads and necks are colored brilliantly with red, white, and blue. The color can change with the turkey's mood, with a solid white head and neck being the most excited. They use gobbling, drumming/booming and spitting as signs of social dominance, and to attract females. Courtship begins during the months of March and April, which is when turkeys are still flocked together in winter areas.
It also has this:
Turkey are known to occasionally forage with deer and squirrels, and contrary to their reputation of being stupid and vapid animals may even play with them. By foraging together, each can help the other watch for predators with their different senses, the deer with their improved olfactory sense, the turkey with its superior sight, and squirrels providing an additional set of eyes from the air.
Have a great weekend.
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