Slog
News & ArtsThursday, January 21, 2010
Enviro Shut It Down
Posted by Dan Savage on Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 7:58 AM
- The Results So Far
Presumably Centralia Chronicle polls—like Slog polls—are scientifically sound and legally binding. Go and vote "yes," Sloggers.
UDATE: Mission accomplished, Sloggers.
4
i just voted and was disappointed to see that no change had been made... then realized that it's only been ten minutes! can't wait to get home from work and see the difference...
5
Ah, the Daily Comical...I grew up near Centralia, and I still occasionally check the Chronline to see what happening down there. It's not a half bad web-site, especially compared to what it was just a couple years ago. Anyway, there is a good reason the people of Lewis County don't want the coal plant shut down - it provides jobs! I remember taking a tour of the plant in boy scouts, and out of us twenty kids, four or five had fathers working at the plant. Back in the 80s, you either worked as a logger, at the coal plant, or for Dairigold. That was about it. The job situation in Lewis County is very sparse. So sure, go ahead and mess with the Chronicle's poll. But remember, those are Real Americans (R) who want to keep their Real Jobs(R). No, I don't like coal pollution one bit, just so you know. I just wish there were more job opportunities for Lewis County residents.
6
Interesting. The poll results have already been re-calibrated to show the first 40 votes to visually represent the equivalent of each 20 votes after that. So the little green pile should be twice as high.
8
Oh, and the phrasing is marvelous. The question isn't "do you think the coal plant should be shut down?" but instead, is "do you agree with Sierra Club?" Well you may want the state's largest polluter to stop, but 'hell, no! I don't agree with those environmental wackjobs!'
9
If this blog post is all you know about the subject, I sure hope you wouldn't all just sheep Dan's vote. At least read the opinion piece from the paper:
http://www.chronline.com/opinion/our_vie…
This plant provides 300 jobs, produces 10% of our states power, and takes voluntarily steps to reduce emissions. I voted 'no'.
http://www.chronline.com/opinion/our_vie…
This plant provides 300 jobs, produces 10% of our states power, and takes voluntarily steps to reduce emissions. I voted 'no'.
10
@9; this an an opinion piece written by the conservative (right?) editorial board. I'm sure in no way would that skew objective report of "facts" ('*steps* to reduce emissions' does not equate reduced emissions).
11
Now they're messing with the y-axis to make it look like the "no's" are vastly outnumbering the "yes's" when really its about 150 vs. 175.
13
Thanks for the tip. I voted No. Those workers need their jobs and the community needs the energy. Fuck the Sierra Club! All it needs is some srubbers on the stacks to make it cleaner.
14
@11 I'm looking at the right now, and although the size of the bars hasn't changed, according to the axis, only one vote separates them, even though it looks like it did earlier this morning. "Interesting" how they present the data.
15
175 yes, to 176 no- and still the yes side is a fifth of the height of the black. What will happen when 'yes' overtakes?
16
the yes has overtaken no, and now it looks as it should. if the yes beats no by a large margin, i bet it'll look like it won by one or two votes. what a horrible news site.
17
I came her to say "lol, pwnd" because the height of the bars on the chart has reversed. But looking at the numbers, right now it's 225 Yes, 180 No, but they start the Y axis at 170. Data visualization FAIL.
18
That didn't take long.
And you gotta love their graph. They start the bottom of the graph just such that the minority viewpoint is only about 5% the way up the chart wall (the bottom right now is at 175 instead of zero), and the top of the graph just such that the majority is 95%. In reality the ratio is 5:4 (225/180) but their creative statistical charting makes it look like 19:1.
I imagine this usually has the effect of falsely amplifying their conservative agenda as the overwhelming voice of the people, no matter how slim it's actually leading. Ah well, rope, hang.
And you gotta love their graph. They start the bottom of the graph just such that the minority viewpoint is only about 5% the way up the chart wall (the bottom right now is at 175 instead of zero), and the top of the graph just such that the majority is 95%. In reality the ratio is 5:4 (225/180) but their creative statistical charting makes it look like 19:1.
I imagine this usually has the effect of falsely amplifying their conservative agenda as the overwhelming voice of the people, no matter how slim it's actually leading. Ah well, rope, hang.
20
ooh, h4x0rz! for l33t rights, or gay somethingsomething, or whatever.
how very 1998.
direct us, god dan, to where we should vote next.
how very 1998.
direct us, god dan, to where we should vote next.
21
The graph is literally switched at this point. And sorry, @9 and @13, but what makes you think that closing this particular kind of plant wouldn't mean the need to find alternative sources, and thus alternative jobs, to make up for the 10% loss of provided power?
22
@21 - if you've got a plan to build an alternative, green energy plant in Lewis County then that kind of rationale holds water. But the fact remains that after the death of the timber industry in SW Washington, the TransAlta plant is almost the only major employer in a county with one of the highest unemployment rates in the state.
Coal power sucks, no doubt. I just wish my sad little homeland had some options for a brighter future.
Coal power sucks, no doubt. I just wish my sad little homeland had some options for a brighter future.
26
My father grew up in Centralia and had a paper route with the Chronicle from the sixth through the twelfth grade. He's 67 years old now, but he still has nightmares about collection day. No one ever stiffed him, but the anxiety was apparently enough to last a lifetime.
Pretty much completely unrelated, but I am prone to oversharing. Thank you, Slog.
Pretty much completely unrelated, but I am prone to oversharing. Thank you, Slog.
27
Another funny article from the paper: "Vader Teen Is Accused of Sexual Contact With Horse"
http://www.chronline.com/news/article_f1…
http://www.chronline.com/news/article_f1…
28
I don't care if it provides jobs. I'd rather we didn't pay people to shit all over their neighbors, which is basically what it boils down to.
29
@27: WHOA. Um...thanks for the link?
Question: can it really be animal cruelty if your dick is so small compared to a horse's dick that it's unlikely the object of your amorous affections feels much of anything at all?
Question: can it really be animal cruelty if your dick is so small compared to a horse's dick that it's unlikely the object of your amorous affections feels much of anything at all?
30
@21: Yeah, right. Just try getting a solar panel or wind farm going and it will take a decade of studies, litigation, and cost overruns.
31
Why should I vote in a poll of some local ragpaper? This makes about as much sense as some teabaggers flocking en masse to vote in a Slog poll.
33
Hey, let's shut down the coal plant and just start trucking in all of the state's toxic waste into Centralia. Hanford has tons of nuclear waste they need to get rid of.
Thousands of new jobs for Centralia!! Yay!!!! They will be so excited since they only care about jobs.
Thousands of new jobs for Centralia!! Yay!!!! They will be so excited since they only care about jobs.
34
Dur dur dur how come dur dur dur? I want to use this god given coal however I want dur dur dur, come on man not all science is perfect dur dur dur, like this one university sent out emails man dur dur dur, that means you support global governance and burning the America. Asshole.
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