by Tina Grazier
Green technologies have had their share of troubles….
In response to demands by environmentalists the US government passed several clean air bills that eventually led to federal mandates for MTBE’s in gasoline. The additive was later removed due to contamination to water sources including Lake Tahoe and aquifers in Santa Monica and other cities.
In response to environmentalists’ demands the federal government recently placed a ban on incandescent bulbs in favor of the more “friendly” twirly bulb. It’s been known for some time that the “friendly” bulbs contain mercury, a poisonous substance that can be absorbed through the skin and can be dangerous to the environment, pets and children of all ages.
In response to environmentalists’ demands huge swaths of land are now being used to house wind and solar farms…ugly looking structures that until recently would have been considered a blight on the landscape by our tree hugging friends. There are reports from some nearby towns that the noise emanating from the wind farms may be causing health problems.
In response to environmentalists’ demands fabric grocery bags are being sold with the intent of eliminating plastic bags and discouraging the use of paper ones. So far the green warriors seem content to let others choose for themselves whether or not to BYOB to the grocery store. One little wrinkle was the ecoli that was growing in some of the reusables…washy, washy!
But the following story beats all of these…
A series of violent fridge explosions is believed to have been caused by leaks of ‘environmentally-friendly’ coolant. ** Safety standards for manufacturers might have to be reviewed following the blasts, which have destroyed several kitchens. ** At least four similar explosions have been reported in the last three years in the UK, two of them since May. ** The problem appears to result from a widespread switch to ‘Greenfreeze’ technology over the past 15 years and the use of isobutane and propane hydrocarbon gases as refrigerants.
The damage to one home with blown out windows and doors was 10,000 British Pounds ($16,241.00 ). Thankfully no one in that home was hurt by the blast and flying fridge parts. The president of the Institute of Refrigeration theororized that the explosion could have been caused by a leak of the additive but cautioned that hundreds of millions of the appliances were in homes all over the world so the explosive incidents “are very rare.”
That won’t matter much when the lawsuits start rolling in.