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6A Daily News – Monday, November 7, 2011 Opinion Halloween over - vampires remain D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer's home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 Not the costumed variety, but the unseen energy sucking type in our homes and businesses. Most of us have 10 to 30 power vam- pires, or power leeches—electrical devices that continuously draw power from your power outlets, even when not supplying any use- ful service. As a simple rule, the more gadgets in your home, the more power vampires. How many of these sneaky, insidious vam- pires haunt your home and what can you do about them? A recent study found that together these vampire loads accounted for 5 to 20 percent of total home power consumption, often exceeding the annual power used by refrigerators. Power vam- pires are the fastest-growing power users in our homes. If you eliminate 90 percent of these vam- pires, in five years you would save an estimated $524, 33,700 pounds of C02, and 5,300 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity on average. This wasted energy, also known as standby or phantom energy loss, represents a relatively small but growing percentage of individual home electricity use, but taken across all U.S. house- holds, adds up to an estimated 65 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, roughly equivalent to the annual output of eight 1000 MW coal power plants. This elec- tricity costs consumers more than $5.8 billion and sends more than 87 billion pounds of heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmos- phere each year. So how does one go about identifying and eliminating these vampires, you might ask. First there are some obvious power suckers out there including almost all of those small plug-in power supplies for computers, printers, modems, wireless phones, cam- eras, and other gadgets. In addi- tion older televisions, cable boxes, DVD players, VCRs, printers, and photocopiers are notorious for lav- ish use of power when not in use. Another class of vampires is not so invisible, but may be well dis- guised by daylight. These are exterior lamps left on all day due to negligence or defective timers or controls, interior lamp usage when no artificial light is required and night lights that burn 24/7. To help find and evaluate the benefits of eliminating energy vampires I recently purchased a simple device called "Kill-A- Watt" for about $25 that tells me how much actual power my plug- in devices consume when in use and when turned off. It also sums the power used over time so you can see how many kilowatt-hours are required overall. With this number you can calculate your cost by multiplying with the cost per kilowatt-hour indicated on your electric bill. Once you know where your vampires lurk, here are some ways to combat them that don't require garlic, crosses, or wooden stakes. First, unplug the various power supplies you have when they are not being used. Consider plugging them into a power strip that you can easily switch off to disconnect them all at once when they are not needed. Televisions, cable boxes, receivers, and DVD players should all be energized through power strips that filter the power to avoid dam- age to sensitive electron- ics, so consider turning these strips off whenever possible. Of course any automatic recording equipment needs to be kept on at all times when you might wish to record a program, but the TV and audio equipment typically doesn't. To vanquish the Finally when purchasing major appliances look for Energy Star insignia and compare the annual power consumption provided on the required energy labels. The lowest power users are virtually devoid of phantom loads without affecting their perfor- mance, although their price may be somewhat higher. Fortunately Richard Mazzucchi Positive Point glowing daytime variety of vam- pires many types of lighting con- trols are available. These include inexpensive timers, photocells, and motion sensors, as well as more elaborate zone and dimming control systems for business set- tings. These will automatically save energy and extend lamp life and can keep you from having to nag your spouse, children, or employees to turn off the lights. Also remember that the ballasts of most fluorescent fixtures continue to consume power even after the lamps have been removed, so be sure to disconnect them when not in service. utilities often provide rebates for qualifying energy efficient equip- ment and technologies to offset the higher ini- tial costs so be sure to contact PG&E and other energy providers for cost saving sugges- tions and possible rebates before making any major equipment purchases. I hope you had a safe and fun Halloween, and are now motivated to exorcise the remaining energy vampires from your homes and businesses. Richard Mazzucchi is a retired research engineer specializing in energy efficiency and renewable energy. He has travelled extensively and now makes his home in Los Molinos, where he is striving to manifest a sustainable and spiritual lifestyle and operate a BBQ equipment and supply business. He can be reached at living-green@att.net. Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841;Fax (916) 558-3160;E- mail: governor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2595 Ceanothus Ave., Ste. 182, Chico, CA 95973; 893- 8363. U.S. SENATORS — Dianne Fein- stein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Mont- gomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224-0454. 'Occupy' for redistribution, tax rich, Obama Commentary First, I'll wipe some egg off my face over last week's erroneous schedule note that state Senator Doug LaMalfa would appear at the Tuesday Tea Party Patriots meet- ing. He will, if fact, appear this week, tomorrow night at 6 PM at the Westside Grange. My apolo- gies to anyone that expected Mr. LaMalfa last week; I resolve to double-check such things in the future. Next, my numerous attempts to pose survey questions to the local "Occupy Wall Street" (OWS) pro- testers are finished. They gather each Monday downtown, carrying signs and promoting their, and the movement's, message. Their num- bers have declined over the last 4 weeks, from 22 folks on 10/17 (my photos contradict the "participants' estimates … of about 30 or so" reported in the Daily News), 15 supporters on 10/24 and, last week, about 8 still gathering at the Main St/Walnut intersection. Hey, num- bers alone neither prove nor dis- prove beliefs or positions and my task was to take them at face value in their answers to straightforward queries. In a manner similar to about six years ago, when I interviewed the anti-war group on a Saturday in November, I framed questions designed to compare our local pro- testers to the OWS group encamped at New York's Zuccotti park. First, it should be noted that I was not well received or warmly greeted but grudgingly tolerated, for the most part. They all knew who I was and could barely contain their disdain for what I write and stand for. One woman regaled me by say- ing how she just found what I write each week to be beyond laughable and ridiculous. Others admonished their co-protesters not to answer my questions because I would just "twist anything" they said. I heard some extemporaneous explana- tions of why they are protesting (basically variations on what we hear and read from much of the left), criticizing "economic injus- tice" and "corporate greed," etc. I sought to assure those who would talk to me (typical response was to turn their back and walk off) that these were not my poll ques- tions but rather those put together by Democratic pollster Douglas Schoen, who worked for President Bill Clinton. He surveyed nearly 200 OWS protesters in New York in October, so I thought it was as fair as I could make it; I'll let read- ers form their own conclusions. One could surmise that some among our local group would rather not reveal their true beliefs out of concern for being perceived as far to the left of Tehama Coun- ty's political mainstream. Make up your own minds. I was only able to elicit responses from less than half a dozen over 3 weeks. About half of "Occupy Red Bluff" (or ORB, for short) protest- ers have "participated in a political movement before," much like those in New York. Asked if they "would support civil disobedience to achieve their goals," only one local said yes, but none were inclined to categorically say no. In New York, "98 percent would (support civil disobedience) …" and "nearly one-third (31%) would support violence to advance their agenda"; all local ORB respon- dents said no to supporting vio- lence. Those I talked to were mostly retired. 15% of the New York OWS folks were unemployed, higher than the national rate of 9% but hardly proving that the move- ment is populated with those lacking gainful work. Whether in New York or Red Bluff, the "overwhelming majority (DP: 100% locally) sup- ported Barack Obama in 2008." In both places more disapprove than approve of the president (one local opined that Obama is "not tough enough"); support for Obama's reelection is about half in New York and fairly solid locally. In Red Bluff, when asked about "free-market capitalism," more supported than opposed it, general- ly speaking; most responded favor- ably to the idea of redistribution of wealth, radical or not, out of "fair- ness." All ORB respondents sup- ported "raising taxes on the wealth- iest Americans" and all opposed "raising taxes for everybody." I read a statement by Brian Phillips, the head of communica- tions for the NYC OWS General Assembly: "My political goal is to overthrow the government." Locals who would answer don't support such a goal. While many across the politi- cal spectrum cheered the news that Bank of America cancelled their proposed $5 monthly debit card fee, I found ORB folks quite adamant that it didn't matter if B of A was less profitable without the fee, and it didn't matter if the value of stockholders investments went down as a result. I think it's a personal, not political, victory when people act in their own best inter- ests and choose busi- nesses with lower fees. However, everyone Don Polson The way I see it should acknowledge that no fees would have been changed if the Dodd-Frank reform law hadn't arbitrarily lowered per-transaction fees, reasonably assessed for the costs of using debit cards to pay for things. It should also trouble everyone when pow- erful politicians demagogue an issue for sheer, crass, populist appeal – and advocate economic retribution against a specific, named business. It appears even mainstream news has noticed the drugs, sex (consensual or not), filth and eco- nomic harm caused by the Occupy protests. Many are wishing they would leave public spaces, soon. Any defenders? "Occupy move- ment" posts now total 65 at "Pole- cat News and Views." Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988. He can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@yahoo.com.