ATXZJ

On 3/30/2024 at 4:47 PM, quixoft said:

If you haven't been out on Sub Ninja in recent weeks,  get out soon.  The dirt was amazing today and bluebonnets have taken over the areas from the fires last August.  It's beautiful.  

That looks fantastic!! 

20 hours ago, Ridenfool said:

 

Granted, these headlines you offer are clearly designed to evoke an emotional response, but, reading the actual articles beyond the headline reveals that there are a wealth of projects working to provide the raw materials needed to bring about this massive change to how we harness renewable energy. Which will lead to dramatic positive changes to the world around us.

So, you can cherry pick the dramatic, emotion-filled headlines and poo-poo on the bright future before us. This won't change the fact that each of these arguments already has solutions to the stated problems in the works. What is so challenging about focusing on how these challenges have been met, and will be met going forward?

This method you use (or, which was used on you) of levering emotional triggers puts those employing them in the same boat with those who used their influence and concern to disproportionately represent the immeasurably small impact that mountain bikes may or may not have on Golden Cheeked Warbler habitat. All in order to sway the public opinion to support the closure of trails.

 

The Harvard article didn't indicate when it was written. Still, the fact that EV battery related mining only accounts for a portion of 0.0004% of all metals mining, the overall impact is minuscule in comparison to similar effects which can likely be found throughout the metals-mining sector, particularly in the smaller markets.

Even if demand increased by 6 times by 2040, as the article guesses it will, this would apply to the tiny amounts of metals that goes directly into EV batteries. Many of the battery materials are by-products of larger mining operations.

Of those battery metals, Cobalt seems the one with the worst reputation. So, we should stop buying products with Cobalt in their batteries, right? There is more Cobalt going into phones, laptops, and other Lithium-battery-powered consumer goods than there is going into EVs, so we should probably start by boycotting those products first, if we want to influence the industry's mining sources. Right?

References in the Harvard link to rare earth magnet uses didn't account for recent moves by manufacturers who are eliminating them from use in their motors. Innovations like this could significantly reduce the impact if this use imparts a negative effect on rare earth magnet demand over the coming years.

 

The Earth.org article is from 2020. It did include this important and hopeful quote in a section toward the end.

"As with most processes, rare-earth metal extraction can be done without causing extensive harm to the environment. "

But you wouldn't know that if you just grabbed the first links you could find in a search and pasted the links in a reply. Did you take the time to read any of them? If you had, you might have then mentioned the parts that were significant to you in each one, to go along with the link.

Regarding the ips-dc.org and the ccev.gov links, I'm in agreement that such practices need to be addressed. As was pointed out in the Earth.org link, including their reference to a Harvard study (which school you linked above) and a Purdue study on methods to obtain these minerals more cleanly.  Here's the quote from that article.

"For example, Harvard University has proposed an innovative clean method using only mildly acidic solutions to separate out the metals from the earth.

Researchers at Purdue University have found a clean, low-cost approach that removes rare earths from waste coal ash that need to be recycled."

 

So, for that tiny amount of mining that is done to provide minerals necessary for building a hopeful future, there are already ways to achieve that goal which are being implemented, and, there are organizations which are at the forefront of stopping the exploitation and damage done by those mines whose methods are unethical and inhumane.

This in no way casts a shadow upon the mines where the minerals are being mined cleanly, ethically, and without causing harm. Does it?

What about extraction of Lithium from seawater? This could eliminate mining from the ground completely.

https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/lithium-from-seawater

 

Have you drawn a line in the sand that prevents learning enough about both sides of any subject to make an informed decision based upon logic and reason?

I don't have an emotional tie to data. This allows for the flexibility to adapt to new information in order to form an opinion without the emotional baggage of concern over being right or wrong. Rarely has taking an emotional side in a fact-based study been useful toward reaching a conclusion.

(One exception being the study of how emotion interferes with the logical processing of data,, as is being pursued here.) 😁

 

 

You forgot something

"IEA estimates that even if the whole world achieves all of its ambitious stated electric vehicle targets by 2030, the additional saved CO2 emissions over this decade will be 235 million tons. The standard climate model used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reveals that this will reduce global temperatures by only 0.0001C by 2100."

1 hour ago, Ridenfool said:

 

 

Do you have facts to contribute to this discussion about the impact of mining for battery materials?

 

You bet L Ron. 

https://hir.harvard.edu/not-so-green-technology-the-complicated-legacy-of-rare-earth-mining/

https://earth.org/rare-earth-mining-has-devastated-chinas-environment/

https://ips-dc.org/mapping-the-impact-and-conflicts-of-rare-earth-elements/

https://www.cecc.gov/events/hearings/from-cobalt-to-cars-how-china-exploits-child-and-forced-labor-in-the-congo

Oh and China bought those DRC mines 22 years ago. Thats a Pelosi/Crenshaw level of clairvoyance isn't it? Also, the fact that they now own mines in the USA with their record of environmental abuse should make your hair stand up. Correction. we SOLD them mines in the USA and our GOVT sold us out and permitted them. 

Here's the BEST part 

"IEA estimates that even if the whole world achieves all of its ambitious stated electric vehicle targets by 2030, the additional saved CO2 emissions over this decade will be 235 million tons. The standard climate model used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reveals that this will reduce global temperatures by only 0.0001C by 2100."

🤣

And before you run and cry mean stories by bad people 

https://www.energy.gov/ia/international-energy-agency-iea#:~:text=The IEA's energy analyses%2C international,are unique and highly regarded.

All of this diatribe is to expose the hypocrisy of the greenwashers and self proclaimned experts. If you really cared about climate change, you'd be screaming to end the wars, end the expansion of the us military industrial complex (that has been noted as  a massive contributor to pollution), and the end of conflict mining that results in immeasurable human suffering. But you aren't. You wont even acknowledge it. 

Why? You like the image of caring more than actually doing something. 

Typical

Don't forget. You were promised 620mile range teslas within two years in back in 2015. 

There's laundry list of empty promises and grift that techbros conveniently ignore. I guess I just lack "faith". 

Go ahead and keep supporting a regime with a long history of totalitarian behavior and human rights abuses. Social credit score? No thanks. Oh. And they are also the largest polluter in the world. #winning

https://chinadialogue.net/en/business/new-three-china-solar-cell-lithium-battery-ev/#:~:text=China accounts for more than,than 20% of electric vehicles. 

I don't see many green washers calling for downsizing the us military and cutting their budget. That would get their dick slapped in the renewed red scare world we currently find ourselves in. How much money does Elon receive from the GOVT again?

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2022/10/pentagon-climate-change-neta-crawford-book/

Let's not forget this little incident that I also don't hear the greenies calling for the end to conflict. In fact I just see yellow and blue flags on their social media. 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-47290-7#:~:text=It is estimated that more,contributing to global warming1.

This EV BS is just a way to shift guilt and blame onto the public and not the real drivers of pollution. The ruling class will never change their ways, and will keep the plebs arguing about absolute nonsense while they line their pockets. 

It's all a grift and like any other organized religion, I'm not buying what they're selling. 

17 hours ago, Ridenfool said:

 

Well, that's one way of looking at it.

Another is,,,,

Finally, we are making progress!

All the pieces of the puzzle appear to be coming together. (what many might call hope for the future)

 

Clearly, you have no solutions to offer for making the future a bright one, and a tendency to make a grand show of passing on the wisdom you have gained, from what appear to be dubious sources, at best.

Any view that provides a confirmation bias is quickly parroted without having made an attempt to verify from sources with more of a factual origin than those from the entertainment segment playing upon the emotions. (including mainstream "news" media, which have routinely, and honestly, defended themselves as being a form of entertainment whenever they are sued for misrepresenting the facts) "If it bleeds, it leads" right?

 

Do you have any other non sequitur responses to offer in an attempt to avoid accepting the information I've offered showing how progress towards a better future is being made?

None of these changes will happen tomorrow. In the long game you have to notice each of the steps as they are being achieved. People who are expecting instant gratification will almost always be disappointed with having to wait while the world turns.

 

More people should determine with some accuracy if they are part of the solution. If one's focus is mostly about finding reasons we can't have nice things, what does that make them a part of?

I apologize. It's not a religion. It's a cult

You come off as odd

My point is planes and ships burn the dirtiest of fuels. Ill concede on the total output of co2. Ultimately, other than nuclear there is no changing ship emissions. EV planes are so far off and the ship you posted hasn't had much going on in the last couple of years. It's not viable. Just like eclectic cars. That's why the public isn't buying them. Your EVs need fossil fuels to be charged. I'm sure most EVs are doing so now as we type. The fantasy that everyone in the world is going to live like you do is misguided and delusional. We are sandwiched between china and india  and followed by russia in emissions output. None of those countries GAF about what we think. Try and change any of that and see what happens. 

Practically half the overall emssions are created by transportation other than our cars & trucks. There is no way EVs will solve that. 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1185535/transport-carbon-dioxide-emissions-breakdown/

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co-emissions-by-region

The first electric car was invented in the 1800s. Its taken this long just to be mediocre. 

For the love of god just tell us you own stock in tesla

53 minutes ago, AntonioGG said:

@ATXZJ  100% agree The greenest car there is, is the one you didn’t buy…I bought my EV when my 15yo Mazdaspeed3 (loved that car!) started having major issues.  At the time it just so happened Tesla was shipping cars and not bending you over like Ford and Toyota were doing.  I was also sick of ICE and their problems.  As an engineer, I know reliability is increased when I reduce the number of parts.  Also, I’m still a car guy and one hit of dual motor crack pipe and it’s impossible to go back to anything else.  Call that my selfish treat when I try to sacrifice in a lot of other areas.  I am not trading this car in 3 years.  I’m in it for the long run just like all my previous cars.  Similarly to cars, the greenest human is the one that wasn’t born.  

 

This is my current issue with my wife's hybrid. She's had it 5 years and it has about 30k left on the warranty. She likes the idea of not having a car pmt but if ANYTHING powertrain related has an issue, we're fkd. To me biggest issue when buying new vehicles, particularly Hybrid/EVs is you keep having to turn them in because the repair cost is so high and the OS are so proprietary. Its like the automotive equivalent to someone going on TRT or ozempic and having to remain on it until they put you in the dirt.  Otherwise suffer the consequences of cold turkey. 

We are looking at a Lexus hybrid next as we'd feel more comfortable taking that to 100k and beyond since Toyota is dedicated to improving their platforms over decades. Not redesigning them every few years. In a perfect world we'd get her a 60-80k 2015-2018 RAV4 gas, but those are GONE and what's left are way overpriced. All this coming from a former 25yr Ford guy.

Speaking of Ford. I was a technician at Ford in 2000-2001 and we worked on their prototype battery ranger and fuel cell focus. The entire bed of the ranger was the battery and we replaced packs twice. The focus just rolled through for maintenance and we all joked that it was a rolling bomb, because at the time the focus had a really bad rollout. Our lot was full of brand new cars on jackstands during those Nasser days. 

I'm down with buying an e-bike for the wife. I've had a total change of mind when it comes to ebikes over the last couple of years. Hopefully most dont end up in landfills once they go tits up.

Spending time in quebec, I can say that is one of the few places an EV makes sense AFA clean energy goes. Over 90% of their electricity comes from hydro. Something we'll never duplicate here, but their winters are very, very hard on EVs too.

Full disclosure: El Paso is one of the few cities in TX that's not a part of ERCOT. Our electric company is private, and we are still charged $30 monthly regardless of how much power we use. Solar does not make sense here unless it is at scale. IF we lived in the middle of nowhere in the SW i'd be down for going off the grid with solar , battery and a diesel backup. 

I've watched engineering explained. I enjoyed the "Why Gas Engines Are Far From Dead " episode.

This is my go-to engineering channel

https://www.youtube.com/@RealEngineering

@Ridenfool Multiple posts and you haven't answered the question of ships and planes. Those are biggest polluters with ZERO plan of how to solve that. The rest are semantics.

1 hour ago, RedRider3141 said:

My wife's hand for comparison. 

I can only imagine what homeowners insurance is, when they find out you have Tesla solar panels.

30 minutes ago, Ridenfool said:

 

If you must go on. Consider how nothing you have presented has in any way factually addressed anything I have presented.

You have an opinion about the future, laced heavily with what you perceive as some sort of class war between yourself and the wealthy, the tech overlords, and other imaginary foes which must keep you up at night. None of which appears to be supported by anything more significant than headlines in the National Enquirer.

I have presented links to supporting evidence about several things that have already happened and which exist now. They can be measured and evaluated in order to compare to the legacy alternatives which they are shown to be replacing at an ever-increasing rate.

 

We are in a time of technological change, and have been for going on two hundred years. It is, and always has been, accelerating, at an exponential rate.

Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated. 🤖

 

 

Like a said. A religion 

Here are a few articles from subsidiaries of the national enquirer

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-private-jets-carbon-emissions-tax/

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/oct/04/ontario-six-nations-nestle-running-water

https://hbr.org/2021/06/the-dark-side-of-solar-power

Again. Ships and planes?

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-12.0/centery:25.0/zoom:4

https://www.flightradar24.com/31.78,-106.49/6

Hold on while I rush out and by and electric car and stove to save the planet. Both of which are charged by electricity created by natural gas. 

You are being used

2 minutes ago, RedRider3141 said:

Hail don't care. 

As someone who works in the hail repair industry I totally agree. Nature is metal🤘

1 hour ago, Ridenfool said:

 

Well, it has always been popular among some people to believe in their feelings on a subject rather than employing the scientific method to verify.

Best wishes for you in this struggle against the tide of actuality while facing the reality of an outcome unmoved by an emotional agenda.

whut?

You could also live in the fantasyland that our tech overlords will provide us with magic solar panels, wind turbines and batteries that will get us out of the mess the ruling class (same people pushing green) has gotten us into. Also, they will do so for a healthy profit to the bottom line. There is no desire to make real change from above because it suits them. Disaster capitalism I believe they call it. We can all argue and toil about renewables while our resources are stolen from us and poisoned. Lastly, you never responded to the issue of ships and planes. 

I agree like coal, fossil fuels as we know it have run their course. I don't enjoy changing oil and pumping gas one bit. I also don't think EVs are the answer. I've also been around long enough to recognize this renewable push is a distraction and a grift. You should watch that Michael Moore documentary. He got slapped on the dick and ostracized for actually exploring the renewable movement. 

It's become a religion in itself. 

3 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

 So over 2800 miles the EV adds 7 hours in cannonball mode. for 2800 miles and essentially 2 days driving  

@Ridenfool Not too long ago I was told we were heading into a new ice age by the same people leading us down the renewable path. To say I lack confidence in these experts, would be an understatement. When the earth has had enough of us, it will wipe the surface clean just like it has time after time. There's nothing anyone can do to change that.

In the interim, EVs and batteries consume raw materials, require fossil fuels to be produced and to be shipped from China. Aren't they our enemy? That's what I'm told at least. The two biggest fossil fuel carbon polluters are ships and planes. Outside of nuclear in ships, there's no going low carbon with those modes of transport. My 15y/o tacoma has long paid for itself in carbon compared to the person that gets a new EV every three years. Hell, if ONE elite skips ONE private plane ride, my toyota is good on carbon for the rest of my life. Seeing the rich flying in coach sounds like a good compromise to me. 

@AntonioGG That was the point of using a 15mpg car vs electric. Use a civic for that calculation and the driver will be on the beach drinking margaritas damn near before the EV gets out CST. For a vast majority, time is too valuable to plan trips around waiting for a charger. I was on board with using EVs for cities but the EV debacle in Chicago last winter was enough for me to say I'm never putting my wife in one. Granted, we also do big miles compared to most people because I love the road almost as much as I hate the airlines.

Outside of toyota, If the auto industry had half a brain, they would have stuck with hybrids, particularly plug-in hybrid cars, before rushing out unproven EVs. It would seem the government (taxpayer) subsidies were too good to resist.  We could also put so many more people in hybrids and PHEVs with the heavy battery material it would take to make EVs. That would actually do something to reduce fossil fuel consumption. We currently have a hybrid and will be replacing it with a plug in hybrid. She does not want to sit and charge the car by herself in the middle of nowhere.

Totally agree with you on plastic. That IMHO is the real issue. All of this renewable waste will end up in some 3rd world country or in the ocean just like our plastic recycling we sort, and drag out to the curb like morons every week. The 230 fold increase in plastic waste in 70 years is what will doom us. Fake economies are propped up by excess consumption and the dominant empires require it to keep the gears turning and the pockets full.

Renewables are deckchairs on the titanic in comparison.  

It's a massive grift. That's what greedy people do. Even Michael Moore and Oliver Stone have realized this. My wife who was a massive greenie, has changed her mind about nuclear after being exposed to more information. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_Humans

https://www.nuclearnowfilm.com/

Solar is also a joke and more and more people are realizing it. It would take me almost 20 yrs to recoup the outlay for solar at my house, and we see over 300 days of sunshine. How outdated and broken will that platform be when and if it's ever paid off? Care to scale that model up to a national level under government contracts at the taxpayers expense? Hard pass. The massive solar unit taken out in Nebraska by a hailstorm was proof of how flawed this system is and admittedly was oddly gratifying. Wind is equally unpredictable and flawed. All of which will require batteries to store energy during downtime and fossil fuels to back it up. Depending on the source, there's not enough rare earth minerals to accomplish going green by the timelines laid out, if ever. There are companies claiming to make efficient batteries out of more available elements but I'll believe it when I see it. Seems like most things, a lot of vaporware. By all means, build an aircraft powered by solar, wind or batteries. Battery powered ships? LoL Those are your high polluters using low grade fuels. Not my 2009 Tacoma or my stove.

As a 30 year car industry guy, electric cars are toys, and aren't practical. How unpractical are they for most Americans? Two cars can drive from NYC to LA obeying all speed limits and laws. One an electric car of your choice. The other, lets just go extreme and use a Lamborghini Huracán STO, a road legal RACING car. Even with its high fuel consumption, the RACE CAR will arrive first because fuel is available practically anywhere and takes less than 10min to be back on the road. In what magical universe is a full blown race car more effective at making it cross country than electric, yet this is being crammed down our throats. 

There are two practical options: Nuclear and synthetic fuel.

On 3/18/2024 at 10:43 AM, June Bug said:

Listened to an interestig piece on  NPR discussing the shift to battery-powered cars and the price paid by the people who live where the raw materials are mined and the ecological impact of mining those materials vs the impression that battery power is completely green and clean.  

 

 

 

Agree there is no free lunch. All it takes is a few days around the American SW, WV, or PA to see the effects of mining on the landscape and ecosystem. I come from a family of a strip miner, and know this well. Until there are some actual long term plans on how to improve our electrical grid, I.E. nuclear, then I'll still hold the same opinion of this supposed renewal movement. A total grift.

FWIW, polygon has some pretty good deals on e-bikes

https://www.bikesonline.com/polygon-siskiu-t7e-all-mountain-ebike-size-l~8114772?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwkuqvBhAQEiwA65XxQExDVqwgVYNyc5cOoszG6ZHuYqfzuV3PR13wuJzrtSC6XFQxXB-1PhoCKygQAvD_BwE

IMHO, YT makes some of the best looking full sized e-bikes

https://us.yt-industries.com/products/bikes/decoy-29/core-4/678/decoy-29-core-4/

The only time I see smaller/lighter ebikes like the Pivot shuttle SL being practical is for smaller or weaker riders. I wouldn't stick my wife on a 50+ pound ebike because at some point she's going to have to lift or carry that thing up something. The 700ft hike-a-bike at MT Lemmon comes to mind. A sub 40# e-bike is high on the wishlist for her.

The group I ride with has a few guys with nice big travel ebikes. They are fairly fit, and still struggle on the hike a bike sections to get to the trailhead. Carrying those things up 300ft goatpaths up a a mountainside at almost 5k feet doesn't look like fun. We usually end up waiting for them at the top for a few minutes.

Not trying to stoke any coals here but The Tip shared almost 70 miles of trail maps with me, and i wasn't on any social media. Most of which I'd never even heard of.

Pretty cool

On 3/7/2024 at 12:45 PM, Taco Man said:

I dont think the DA has any plan to change anything he has/ hasnt done.

Start at 1.33

 

LoL at hearing the crowd cheer when he gets into police reform. APD is short 500 cops so crime will just worsen regardless of what this pencilneck says/does.

2 hours ago, The Tip said:

 

Now if they can just get the police to nip in the bud any new activities. Policeman, "Nope. Sorry buddy, move it right now. And pick up all your trash!" Much easier to get that single camper gone before it turns into another environmental diaster area.

Yep. The council will have to grow some spines and actually give the taxpayers what they want. 99% of those camps are open drug and prostitution markets. Laws  have long been on the books to start addressing this, if the coward judges will prosecute. 

Seriously hoping the city i loved so much turns it around. 

On 2/29/2024 at 6:04 AM, AustinBike said:

 

The geometry is more of an XC bike, but that is fine for around here. If you spend all your time at Spider Mountain you might want to pass, but if you are riding most of our stuff it is a really good deal.

Geo looks pretty good to me, regardless of where you ride. Besides, I had more fun at spider on my 100/120mm bike than I did my 180mm high pivot rig. With the exception of all the erosion on the double black, spider wasn't that gnarly. 

Agree that the 951 would be a great bike for CTX.

Getting ready for a big shuttle run descent from the franklins to the houses in the valley below. Hooked up with some locals and found the gnarly stuff. Definitely some Chihuahuan desert freeride going on out here. 

And because we're morons and drank it.........

https://canawineco.com/products/makers-mark-dallas-cowboys-2023-kentucky-straight-bourbon-whisky

Local Spec's was blowing these out for $23. Had to grab one at that price

On 2/9/2024 at 4:36 PM, throet said:

Stopped by Total Wine to pick up some whiskey and beer. Wanted to try the Still Austin Rye but they didn't have it available. Ended up tasting the Still Austin Blue Corn BIB instead, and wow! That stuff is incredible. I couldn't bring myself to spend $90 for it, but at some point, I probably will. It was that good! 

Nice!

I've really been wanting to try their red corn but same boat as you when it comes to spending that much

Seems like a step in the right direction. E-bikes like that hardtail are essential for trail maintenance in remote and steep places like el paso. I've been pushing the local trail stewards to start looking at these hardtails for maintenance volunteers. You can get way more work done in a shorter amount of time, for a small investment by the local trail advocacy groups. Particularly when they are bringing people from all over to race 50 miles through the franklin mountains and dodging overgrown cactus and dead pigs. 

I can also say after the last few rides, a lightweight FS e-bike is definitely on the wife's radar if we're going to stay here for a while.

Another competitively priced option

 https://www.bikesonline.com/polygon-siskiu-t6e-all-mountain-ebike-size-xl~8114769?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAq4KuBhA6EiwArMAw1DdZr2DkKO8hs715--HM3V_ECprcmlcUs3-1V4E7a_pTZglG4wmk7xoCpNAQAvD_BwE