Kelly Kramer’s Post

One crisp winter morning in Sweden, a cute little girl named Greta woke up to a perfect world, one where there were no petroleum products ruining the earth. She tossed aside her cotton sheet and wool blanket and stepped out onto a dirt floor covered with willow bark that had been pulverized with rocks. “What’s this?” she asked. “Pulverized willow bark,” replied her fairy godmother. “What happened to the carpet?” she asked. “The carpet was nylon, which is made from butadiene and hydrogen cyanide, both made from petroleum,” came the response. Greta acknowledging that adjustments are necessary to save the planet, moved to the sink to brush her teeth where she found a willow, mangled on one end to expose wood fiber bristles. “Your old toothbrush? Also nylon.” “Where’s the water?” asked Greta. “Down the road in the canal,” replied her godmother, ‘Make sure you avoid water with cholera in it” “Why no running water?” Greta asked. “Well,” said her godmother, who happened to teach engineering at MIT, “Where do we begin?” There followed a long monologue about how sink valves need elastomer seats and how copper pipes contain copper, which has to be mined and how it’s impossible to make all-electric earth-moving equipment with no gear lubrication or tires and how ore has to be smelted to a make metal . . . “What’s for breakfast?” interjected Greta, whose head was hurting. "Fresh, range-fed chicken eggs,” said her godmother. “Raw.” “Why raw?” inquired Greta. “Well, . . .” And once again, Greta was told about the need for petroleum products like transformer oil and scores of petroleum products essential for producing metals for frying pans and in the end was educated about how you can’t have a petroleum-free world and then cook eggs. Unless you rip your front fence up and start a fire and carefully cook your egg in an orange peel like you do in Boy Scouts. Not that you can find oranges in Sweden anymore. “But I want poached eggs like my Aunt Tilda makes,” lamented Greta. “Tilda died this morning,” the godmother explained. “Bacterial pneumonia.” “What?!” interjected Greta. “No one dies of bacterial pneumonia! We have penicillin.” “Not anymore,” explained godmother “The production of penicillin requires chemical extraction using isobutyl acetate, which, if you know your organic chemistry, is petroleum-based. Lots of people are dying, which is problematic because there’s not any easy way of disposing of the bodies since backhoes need hydraulic oil and crematoriums can’t really burn many bodies using as fuel Swedish fences and furniture, which are rapidly disappearing - being used on the black market for roasting eggs and staying warm.” This represents only a fraction of Greta’s day, a day without microphones to exclaim into and a day without much food, and a day without carbon-fiber boats to sail in, but a day that will save the planet. Tune in tomorrow when Greta needs a root canal and learns how Novocain is synthesized. Posted by Eddie Peters

One crisp winter morning in Sweden, a cute little girl named Greta woke up to a perfect world, one where there were no petroleum products ruining the earth. She tossed aside her cotton sheet and wool blanket and stepped out onto a dirt floor covered with willow bark that had been pulverized with rocks. “What’s this?” she asked. “Pulverized willow bark,” replied her fairy godmother. “What happened to the carpet?” she asked. “The carpet was nylon, which is made from butadiene and hydrogen cyanide, both made from petroleum,” came the response. Greta acknowledging that adjustments are necessary to save the planet, moved to the sink to brush her teeth where she found a willow, mangled on one end to expose wood fiber bristles. “Your old toothbrush? Also nylon.” “Where’s the water?” asked Greta. “Down the road in the canal,” replied her godmother, ‘Make sure you avoid water with cholera in it” “Why no running water?” Greta asked. “Well,” said her godmother, who happened to teach engineering at MIT, “Where do we begin?” There followed a long monologue about how sink valves need elastomer seats and how copper pipes contain copper, which has to be mined and how it’s impossible to make all-electric earth-moving equipment with no gear lubrication or tires and how ore has to be smelted to a make metal . . . “What’s for breakfast?” interjected Greta, whose head was hurting. "Fresh, range-fed chicken eggs,” said her godmother. “Raw.” “Why raw?” inquired Greta. “Well, . . .” And once again, Greta was told about the need for petroleum products like transformer oil and scores of petroleum products essential for producing metals for frying pans and in the end was educated about how you can’t have a petroleum-free world and then cook eggs. Unless you rip your front fence up and start a fire and carefully cook your egg in an orange peel like you do in Boy Scouts. Not that you can find oranges in Sweden anymore. “But I want poached eggs like my Aunt Tilda makes,” lamented Greta. “Tilda died this morning,” the godmother explained. “Bacterial pneumonia.” “What?!” interjected Greta. “No one dies of bacterial pneumonia! We have penicillin.” “Not anymore,” explained godmother “The production of penicillin requires chemical extraction using isobutyl acetate, which, if you know your organic chemistry, is petroleum-based. Lots of people are dying, which is problematic because there’s not any easy way of disposing of the bodies since backhoes need hydraulic oil and crematoriums can’t really burn many bodies using as fuel Swedish fences and furniture, which are rapidly disappearing - being used on the black market for roasting eggs and staying warm.” This represents only a fraction of Greta’s day, a day without microphones to exclaim into and a day without much food, and a day without carbon-fiber boats to sail in, but a day that will save the planet. Tune in tomorrow when Greta needs a root canal and learns how Novocain is synthesized. Posted by Eddie Peters

One crisp winter morning in Sweden, a cute little girl named Greta woke up to a perfect world, one where there were no petroleum products ruining the earth. She tossed aside her cotton sheet and wool blanket and stepped out onto a dirt floor covered with willow bark that had been pulverized with rocks. “What’s this?” she asked. “Pulverized willow bark,” replied her fairy godmother. “What happened to the carpet?” she asked. “The carpet was nylon, which is made from butadiene and hydrogen cyanide, both made from petroleum,” came the response. Greta acknowledging that adjustments are necessary to save the planet, moved to the sink to brush her teeth where she found a willow, mangled on one end to expose wood fiber bristles. “Your old toothbrush? Also nylon.” “Where’s the water?” asked Greta. “Down the road in the canal,” replied her godmother, ‘Make sure you avoid water with cholera in it” “Why no running water?” Greta asked. “Well,” said her godmother, who happened to teach engineering at MIT, “Where do we begin?” There followed a long monologue about how sink valves need elastomer seats and how copper pipes contain copper, which has to be mined and how it’s impossible to make all-electric earth-moving equipment with no gear lubrication or tires and how ore has to be smelted to a make metal . . . “What’s for breakfast?” interjected Greta, whose head was hurting. "Fresh, range-fed chicken eggs,” said her godmother. “Raw.” “Why raw?” inquired Greta. “Well, . . .” And once again, Greta was told about the need for petroleum products like transformer oil and scores of petroleum products essential for producing metals for frying pans and in the end was educated about how you can’t have a petroleum-free world and then cook eggs. Unless you rip your front fence up and start a fire and carefully cook your egg in an orange peel like you do in Boy Scouts. Not that you can find oranges in Sweden anymore. “But I want poached eggs like my Aunt Tilda makes,” lamented Greta. “Tilda died this morning,” the godmother explained. “Bacterial pneumonia.” “What?!” interjected Greta. “No one dies of bacterial pneumonia! We have penicillin.” “Not anymore,” explained godmother “The production of penicillin requires chemical extraction using isobutyl acetate, which, if you know your organic chemistry, is petroleum-based. Lots of people are dying, which is problematic because there’s not any easy way of disposing of the bodies since backhoes need hydraulic oil and crematoriums can’t really burn many bodies using as fuel Swedish fences and furniture, which are rapidly disappearing - being used on the black market for roasting eggs and staying warm.” This represents only a fraction of Greta’s day, a day without microphones to exclaim into and a day without much food, and a day without carbon-fiber boats to sail in, but a day that will save the planet. Tune in tomorrow when Greta needs a root canal and learns how Novocain is synthesized. Posted by Eddie Peters

One morning in Sweden, a girl named Greta woke up to a perfect world, one where there were no petroleum products . She tossed aside her cotton sheet and wool blanket and stepped out onto a dirt floor covered with willow bark that had been pulverized with rocks. “What’s this?” she asked. “Pulverized willow bark,” replied her fairy godmother. “What happened to the carpet?” she asked. “The carpet was nylon, made from butadiene and hydrogen cyanide, both made from petroleum,”. Greta smiled, acknowledging that adjustments are necessary to save the planet, and moved to the sink to brush her teeth where instead of a toothbrush, she found a willow, mangled on one end to expose wood fibre bristles. “Your toothbrush?” noted her godmother, “Also nylon.” “Where’s the water?” asked Greta. “Down the road in the canal,” ‘Just make sure you avoid water with cholera in it” “Why’s there no running water?” Greta asked. “Well,” said her godmother, who happened to teach engineering at MIT, “Where do we begin?” There followed a long monologue about how sink valves need elastomer seats and how copper pipes contain copper, which has to be mined and how it’s impossible to make all-electric earth-moving equipment with no gear lubrication or tires and how ore has to be smelted to a make metal, and that’s tough to do with only electricity as a source of heat, and even if you use only electricity, the wires need insulation, which is petroleum-based, and though most of Sweden’s energy is produced in an environmentally friendly way because of hydro and nuclear, if you do a mass and energy balance around the whole system, you still need lots of petroleum products like lubricants and nylon and rubber for tires and asphalt for filling potholes and wax and iPhone plastic and elastic to hold your underwear up while operating a copper smelting furnace and . . . “What’s for breakfast?” interjected Greta. "Fresh, range-fed chicken eggs,” replied her godmother. “Raw.” “How so, raw?” inquired Greta. And again, Greta was told about the need for petroleum products like transformer oil and scores of petroleum products essential for producing metals for frying pans and was educated about how you can’t have a petroleum-free world and then cook eggs. Unless you rip your front fence up and start a fire and carefully cook your egg in an orange peel like you do in Boy Scouts. “But I want poached eggs like my Aunt Tilda makes,” lamented Greta. “Tilda died this morning,” “Bacterial pneumonia.” “What?!” interjected Greta. “No one dies of bacterial pneumonia! We have penicillin.” “Not anymore,” “The production of penicillin requires chemical extraction using isobutyl acetate, which, if you know your organic chemistry, is petroleum-based. Lots of people are dying, which is problematic because there’s not any easy way of disposing of the bodies since backhoes need hydraulic oil and crematoriums can’t really burn many bodies- being used on the black market for roasting eggs and staying warm.”

One morning in Sweden, a girl named Greta woke up to a perfect world, one where there were no petroleum products . She tossed aside her cotton sheet and wool blanket and stepped out onto a dirt floor covered with willow bark that had been pulverized with rocks. “What’s this?” she asked. “Pulverized willow bark,” replied her fairy godmother. “What happened to the carpet?” she asked. “The carpet was nylon, made from butadiene and hydrogen cyanide, both made from petroleum,”. Greta smiled, acknowledging that adjustments are necessary to save the planet, and moved to the sink to brush her teeth where instead of a toothbrush, she found a willow, mangled on one end to expose wood fibre bristles. “Your toothbrush?” noted her godmother, “Also nylon.” “Where’s the water?” asked Greta. “Down the road in the canal,” ‘Just make sure you avoid water with cholera in it” “Why’s there no running water?” Greta asked. “Well,” said her godmother, who happened to teach engineering at MIT, “Where do we begin?” There followed a long monologue about how sink valves need elastomer seats and how copper pipes contain copper, which has to be mined and how it’s impossible to make all-electric earth-moving equipment with no gear lubrication or tires and how ore has to be smelted to a make metal, and that’s tough to do with only electricity as a source of heat, and even if you use only electricity, the wires need insulation, which is petroleum-based, and though most of Sweden’s energy is produced in an environmentally friendly way because of hydro and nuclear, if you do a mass and energy balance around the whole system, you still need lots of petroleum products like lubricants and nylon and rubber for tires and asphalt for filling potholes and wax and iPhone plastic and elastic to hold your underwear up while operating a copper smelting furnace and . . . “What’s for breakfast?” interjected Greta. "Fresh, range-fed chicken eggs,” replied her godmother. “Raw.” “How so, raw?” inquired Greta. And again, Greta was told about the need for petroleum products like transformer oil and scores of petroleum products essential for producing metals for frying pans and was educated about how you can’t have a petroleum-free world and then cook eggs. Unless you rip your front fence up and start a fire and carefully cook your egg in an orange peel like you do in Boy Scouts. “But I want poached eggs like my Aunt Tilda makes,” lamented Greta. “Tilda died this morning,” “Bacterial pneumonia.” “What?!” interjected Greta. “No one dies of bacterial pneumonia! We have penicillin.” “Not anymore,” “The production of penicillin requires chemical extraction using isobutyl acetate, which, if you know your organic chemistry, is petroleum-based. Lots of people are dying, which is problematic because there’s not any easy way of disposing of the bodies since backhoes need hydraulic oil and crematoriums can’t really burn many bodies- being used on the black market for roasting eggs and staying warm.”

One morning in Sweden, a girl named Greta woke up to a perfect world, one where there were no petroleum products . She tossed aside her cotton sheet and wool blanket and stepped out onto a dirt floor covered with willow bark that had been pulverized with rocks. “What’s this?” she asked. “Pulverized willow bark,” replied her fairy godmother. “What happened to the carpet?” she asked. “The carpet was nylon, made from butadiene and hydrogen cyanide, both made from petroleum,”. Greta smiled, acknowledging that adjustments are necessary to save the planet, and moved to the sink to brush her teeth where instead of a toothbrush, she found a willow, mangled on one end to expose wood fibre bristles. “Your toothbrush?” noted her godmother, “Also nylon.” “Where’s the water?” asked Greta. “Down the road in the canal,” ‘Just make sure you avoid water with cholera in it” “Why’s there no running water?” Greta asked. “Well,” said her godmother, who happened to teach engineering at MIT, “Where do we begin?” There followed a long monologue about how sink valves need elastomer seats and how copper pipes contain copper, which has to be mined and how it’s impossible to make all-electric earth-moving equipment with no gear lubrication or tires and how ore has to be smelted to a make metal, and that’s tough to do with only electricity as a source of heat, and even if you use only electricity, the wires need insulation, which is petroleum-based, and though most of Sweden’s energy is produced in an environmentally friendly way because of hydro and nuclear, if you do a mass and energy balance around the whole system, you still need lots of petroleum products like lubricants and nylon and rubber for tires and asphalt for filling potholes and wax and iPhone plastic and elastic to hold your underwear up while operating a copper smelting furnace and . . . “What’s for breakfast?” interjected Greta. "Fresh, range-fed chicken eggs,” replied her godmother. “Raw.” “How so, raw?” inquired Greta. And again, Greta was told about the need for petroleum products like transformer oil and scores of petroleum products essential for producing metals for frying pans and was educated about how you can’t have a petroleum-free world and then cook eggs. Unless you rip your front fence up and start a fire and carefully cook your egg in an orange peel like you do in Boy Scouts. “But I want poached eggs like my Aunt Tilda makes,” lamented Greta. “Tilda died this morning,” “Bacterial pneumonia.” “What?!” interjected Greta. “No one dies of bacterial pneumonia! We have penicillin.” “Not anymore,” “The production of penicillin requires chemical extraction using isobutyl acetate, which, if you know your organic chemistry, is petroleum-based. Lots of people are dying, which is problematic because there’s not any easy way of disposing of the bodies since backhoes need hydraulic oil and crematoriums can’t really burn many bodies- being used on the black market for roasting eggs and staying warm.”

I know my recent posts have been negative and a bit cynical! Contrary to what you might think, I care about the environment and also want a safe future for my children and grandchildren. It’s just that I’m sick to the back teeth of a political back story which destroyed the UK coal industry, put hundreds of thousands of skilled miners out of work, wrecked mining communities and demolished our coal powered electricity base load, being over-written as an ecological necessity. That’s utter nonsense and we are now seeing the same narrative applied to our Steelworkers. It was an all-out political war in the 1980’s and no matter which side of the divide you fell on, just accept this. Why? Because the UK’s obsession with eliminating coal from our energy mix and refusal to accept this was a fundamental strategic and environmental mistake is influencing policies on the Steel Industry today. We turned our back on coal yet imported from places that burn Billions of tonnes 😳 of coal every year without blinking. In the 1970’s the UK was ‘only’ burning 100M tonnes a year, yet supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and a viable electricity base load. You were told that UK mines were uneconomical yet the UK was outperforming every other European coal miner whist maintaining a world leading safety record. Meanwhile thousands of miners were being slaughtered in places we were importing goods from. I attended a conference in Scotland where a coal factor once announced that ‘all coal is the same’ regardless of the human or environmental cost. I admit that I ‘shared my opinions’ that day! It wasn’t fair competition then and it’s not a fair comparison now. We sell off our manufacturing capacity then have no voice when UK manufacturing and our Blast Furnaces are shut down by overseas owners because these are labelled as ‘unprofitable’. For Gods sake look behind the veneer. If we don’t produce anything, how do we afford to import anything? Do we just borrow and borrow, leaving our children with dept they will pass on to their children whilst our domestic economy continues to tank. Once we were industrial giants but gave that title away; now international political minnows expecting to hold sway over global policy. No wonder no one is listening! When are our politicians going to articulate genuine strategies to reverse this industrial decline and invest in engineering and science. We must support our manufacturing industry recognising the self-inflicted crippling energy costs we impose on them and respect that they must comply with stringent health, safety and environmental requirements. A dash to the bottom is not the answer. The same goes for supporting our farmers and fishing fleets. If we don’t grow it or catch it, we mine it. That’s an inescapable truth. Can we have an informed environmental discussion, not merely a shouting match. Addressing urgent environmental challenges is not a two dimensional sport!