In the category of the “completely different,” let’s hang-out for a moment with the burgeoning “right to dry” movement. That’s right, the right to dry — one’s clothes on an outdoor clothes line.
What’s become of our land? Some of my most sublime early childhood memories in the 60’s are of running through backyards of Texas-Eastern company row-homes in Eagle, PA, dodging and twisting through the billowing sheets. Sometimes the lines would get stretched down and became a nasty way to lose a baby tooth. My generation recognizes where the sports phrase, “getting clotheslined” originates.
But do today’s football players have a clue what a clothesline is? Tried recently to buy “clothesline” at your local Lowe’s or Wal-Mart?
What’s become of our supremely efficient air-drying technology?
A key culprit, it seems, originates in the national proliferation of homeowners’ associations. In their collective “wisdom,” they tend overwhelmingly to ban the airing of our clean laundry as too uncivilized, too unsightly. Especially – and ironically – in California. Fer sure dude.
Now, with energy prices reaching new peaks, independent spirits in Vermont (where else?) are leading a counter-culture movement to restore our right to get clotheslined!
Consider the Vermont Clothesline Company, with its stylish lines for hanging your duds. (if you aren’t creative enough to “rig” your own solution.)
And if you’re stuck with an authoritarian homeowners’ group block, help is here in the form of “Project Laundry List.” Curiously, on their home page, PLL lists these six “rational” reasons why the right to dry naturally should be not be abridged.
1. Clothes last longer.
2. Clothes and sheets smell better.
3. Conserve energy. (as electric dryers use 5-10% of residential electricity)
4. Save money.
5. Physical activity which you can do outside.
6. Clothes dryer fires account for about 15,600 structure fires, 15 deaths, and 400 injuries annually.
I think the Project can be more bold! Let’s take a page from the Bush machine and invoke national security!
Those of us able and willing to dry our laundry outside, even sometimes, are saving energy – lots of it. Even better than wildly inefficient ethanol or the distant hope of switchgrass, “hanging out” with your laundry is something many of us can do.
We now have a “new” simple answer to the question of how can we reduce our dependence on foreign oil
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.
Next time your Association Lords want to tear down your clothesline, wag the red, white & blue in their faces. It’s all about national security.
The following April article from Portland, Oregon caught my attention too, for several reasons:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1177124169294020.xml&coll=7
About the “eyesore” matter, I’m left wondering whatever happened to “privacy?” If you don’t want to see what’s in your neighbors yard, build a fence or grow a tall hedge.
This article also raises the factor of inefficient electric dryers, and west coast consumers, it seems, don’t use as many electric dryers. Well good for them if they have natural gas hookups as an alternative. But if they’re still thinking propane (truck delivered)is a good deal, check your statistics folks — propane now costs 3 times more than those horrendously misleading propane industry promo stats. (They use 20 year averages – what a crock) Propane prices this summer (as last summer) are presently sky-high for one single reason that I can fathom — ethanol production has increased demand on propane. (and “cooked” prices on milk, corn & other groceries too)
Here in Taiwan, my wife and other frugal Chinese householders hang their laundry outside to dry — except when the Taiphoons come through in the rainy season, of course. Then, the laundry winds up strung from makeshift clotheslines throughout the house.
In any event, even poor, hardworking Taiwanese can save money using the free air to dry their clothes (despite the high-humidity, sub-tropical environment). This saved money the Taiwanese — and Mainland Chinese, too — can then loan to Americans to buy the stuff that Americans can’t make for themselves any more. Unfortunately, some of the saved Taiwanese money lent to Americans also finances stupid, destructive American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This awesome waste of resources puzzles and saddens the poor, hardworking Taiwanese who save money and don’t presume to tell anyone else in the world how to live. Still, since making even a small positive rate of return on loans to America beats getting almost no return at all from the Taiwanese banks, even an ex-patriot expatriate like me keeps a positive balance in an American credit union to collect a modest interest premium from loaning my savings to indebted countrymen.
Naturally, I’d rather see my country earning or borrowing money to put Very Large Arrays of optical and radio telescopes on the far side of the moon — or even place colonists on Mars — with the money many of us earn by drying our laundry in the open air. Unfortunately, Stupidity, Fear, and Obsequious Kowtowing to “authority” do reign in American today. “Democratic” Senator You-Know-Her from New York even says that this endemic fascism gives the Republican Party an “advantage.” (She ought to know, given her and her husband’s enthusiastic enabling of Republican Party advantages.) At any rate, it appears that the “bipartisan consensus” in the land of the fleeced and the home of the slave” will not soon abandon its deadbeat, free-lunch militarism until the value of everything in America drops to such a low that thrifty “air-drying” foreigners can waltz in an buy up most of the country for a song, if indeed many of them haven’t already done so.
For sure line drying is “greener” – don’t know whether I am prepared to go there yet, especially since I bought a new (gas) dryer a little over a year ago.
As for home owners’ associations, the number one criterion I give the realtor when shopping for a new home is “no homeowners’ association”. It’s a hard and fast rule for me.
Vadim disagrees.
What’s to keep your clothes from being blown off the line into the dirt? I can’t put all that much faith on clothspins? And what’s to keep your clothes from getting stolen?
“Vadim disagrees”
And does so in the most condescending of tones!
clothes from getting stolen?
Sadly Inkan1969, in Iraq you get your clothes rushed by bullets or if you have your cellphone with you while you are on the roof of your home (Iraqi homes have flat roofs so they can be used for a sleep in summer also to put their clothes line) so you may ending with rocket or smart bomb from nearby US chops or US fighters hungering around all the day, then they will say there is terrorist in that home. (Recently US general advised Iraq not taking their cell phones to their homes roof to make phone calls, reported in news)
Vadim disagrees.
jp, what’s not to like? I’m all for saving electricity. I’d only doubt this has much to do with foreign oil as electricity generally comes from domestic coal not distillate.
This may be good to see.
Debunking third-world myths with the best stats you’ve ever seen
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/92
Coal – one of the dirtiest – if not THE dirtiest source of energy! MUCH dirtier than distillates! (Also, much too dangerous to extract from the earth!)
Every once in a while it dawns on me how different everyday existence in postmodern America is. You say you are often contractually forbidden to dry clothes on a clothesline in your own back yard? Largely unheard of here.
So you tumble dry your clothes instead with electricity made from coal. Isn’t that a last ditch option? Whats wrong with your major rivers?
I even imagine the tumble dryer is usually in the house not the garage, sparing unecessary ambulation, and anyway the SUVs take up all the room in the later, which is probably in any case directly connected to the house for security reasons.
Interesting point about coal and electricity production. That reminds me of the ironic comprises struck in the 70’s between the “clean coal” lobbyists (mostly from the Rocky Mtns) and environmental groups….
As a different thought, electricity production and energy sources have become more “fungible” in recent years, with what I gather to be increasing interconnectedness (literally) and the proliferation of electricity plants and industries that can run on multiple fuels. (thus giving them the flexibility to utilize “fuel switching” — a manager can then tap into natural gas when its available at low-normal pricing, and break away during periods of high spiking…. That also used to happen w/ propane – before the era of ethanol )
Then too we might contemplate the factor of national electricity grids and power sharing across utilities. The folks in the northwest can be pleased that their region has a high concentration of “renewable sourced” energy — like hydroelectric. But it’s not unlimited. When regional snow-pack is lower, and reservoirs down as a result, they often need to “import” power from neighboring grids…. (and similar examples nationwide)
So to put it “crudely,” electricity savings anywhere in the land could help in reducing need for importing oil.
On a related technical note, I am aware of the new “high efficiency” washer/dryer options. A 25 year appliance repair veteran at our local Lowe’s gave me an insight on the key savings “technology” therein — a 50 year old Frigidaire design for high speed front loading washers. (sic) !
That is, these “energy efficient” washers spin your wet clothes at a higher speed, thus forcing more moisture out of the clothes before you put them in the dryer.
Never mind it’s old technology, you’ll pay double for it, compared to conventional washers.
——————-
And this reminds me of a core problem for the right to dry movement. Who will benefit?
We all will, in theory. But put differently, what corporate middle-man will profit from promoting it? Nor corn lobby or crooked ADM here to push the ethanol.
Perhaps I’ve become too cynical, but would our corporate news media do stories on the “right to dry”? (Would it please their appliance advertisers? It’d be like expecting Dr. Sanjay Gupta to do regular features on home remedies on CNN….)
what corporate middle-man will profit from promoting it? Nor corn lobby or crooked ADM here to push the ethanol.
How about alumin[i]um smelters? Corporate enough for ya?
Of course aluminum smelting is only part of industrial power demand but my general point is that there’s a short side of every commodity market. Since the US is a large net energy consumer, there are many more “big corporate interests” lobbying to keep power cheap than to keep its price artificially high with silly bans on clotheslines.
In a sense Vermont has it easy, conservation-wise. They don’t have any aluminum smelters, and they import much of their power cheaply from hydro-rich Quebec. Another little known fact: over a third of the state’s power comes from the ‘Vermont Yankee’ nuclear plant. Vermonters use more nuclear power per capita than any other state.
I’ have to disagree with your suggestion that the tiny propane market takes its cues from ethanol production. Propane in most contexts (ethanol manufacturing included) competes with oil distillates, a much larger, global market. Total propane sales in the US are only 30 bn a year, as with ethanol a small fraction of the crude and natural gas markets. All global energy prices have risen sharply in the past five years, but the macro gains are attributable by and large to breakaway Asian crude oil demand. Accordingly propane’s price increase has occurred entirely in parallel with crude oil due to factors beyond any government’s control. It exhibits far lower correlation to ethanol production levels or price.
http://www.tfc-charts.w2d.com/chart/PR/M
http://www.tfc-charts.w2d.com/chart/CO/M
Vermonters use more nuclear power per capita than any other state.
my mistake: turns out they’re actually third, after south carolina and illinois.
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/ene_nuc_ene_percap-energy-nuclear-per-capita
Curious Vadim. You had me lost initially re. the aluminum smelting. Thanks also for the source re. nuclear use per capita per state.
I knew Virginia would rank high…. I’ve heard energy here via my local coop is relatively cheap, in large part because of the nuclear supply into the state grid. (but they’re flexible to buy and “switch” from different suppliers)
Of course, since nobody has built any new nuclear plants recently in US….. incremental increases in energy demand are still met, for the most part, by energy imports. (as US domestic oil industry continues to decline)
———–
As for propane, you may not have seen one of our earlier discussions on this. (under Helena’s post on farm subsidies)
I have yet to hear an alternate compelling explanation for why propane demand/consumption has been very high this summer (and last summer)….
That higher demand alone explains why for the first time(s) over the past 20 years that propane prices are remaining stubbornly at RECORD HIGHS even during the summer months when historically propane demand drops off considerable (non-heating season) and production catches up and reserves increase.
(Last year, I documented that propane wholesale prices did drop considerably in the fall months, but Amerigas didn’t pass along the savings, but when it got cold in January, they used that as an excuse to jack up their profit margins to record levels….)
I’ve been watching the USEIA statistics on propane issues for nearly a decade…. btw. (personal self interest — and also growing anger at Amerigas….)
I’m not convinced though that the explanation for current propane high prices stems from the recent massive consolidation of the propane industry into a few major players (e.g. Amerigas) has allowed them to artificially reduce supply.
Again, the USDOE/EIA #’s contradict that, given that they do document much higher summer use of propane — even as I’ve yet to see a USDOE/EIA explanation for the higher and unusual demand.)
By the way, natural gas (as one of the components in propane) has dramatically dropped back in price this summer — as has crude (and refined gasoline), though not nearly as much, but still significantly. (gasoline prices at the pump are off where they were by 20% since May, in part thanks to Iran removing itself from the global gasoline market…. — how’s THAT for ironic)
In any case, you’re of course right that underlying crude and nat. gas. are component factors in propane prices…. and if true, then propane prices on that correlation alone should have backed down this summer. But they haven’t – not in the least (for the second summer in a row)
Something fundamentally ROTTEN is afoot in the propane economy…. and the only plausible explanation I’ve heard anywhere is ETHANOL. (the same explanation out there for higher corn, tortilla, and especially milk prices.)
But I’m of course open to further documentation and rebuttals of that too.
Vadim, you also wrote:
“All global energy prices have risen sharply in the past five years, but the macro gains are attributable by and large to breakaway Asian crude oil demand.”
To be sure, Asian demand has been growing sharply over the past decade — and its a great cover for those wishing to deflect any attention from the point blank obvious additional factors of wars since 2002 and the latest drum-beating for war with Iran AND the series of refinery shutdowns and problems this past spring. (OPEC & the esp. the Saudis continue to blame refinery issues in the US as a critical bottleneck here – and they’re not wrong)
If you watch oil/gas futures on a daily basis (as I have for the past decade – for other reasons), it’s obvious that geostrategic concerns are also at work.
That ING analyst earlier this year who predicted that oil prices wouldn’t go up too much due to (his hoped for) bombing of Iran was obviously NUTS and “under the influence.” (Ah, but who in the cnbc/wall street realms of Kudlow, Murdoch, Phyl Flynn, Alaron, & Bartaromo would dare question the war-lobby’s view of how this Iraq war and the sabre rattling w/ Iran aren’t really costing America anything – in and of itself….??)
The script reads: change the subject to increasing China and India energy demand. Sing it again.
By the way, we could also throw into the discussion the factor of the stunning decline in the value of the US dollar internationally… (Have any American friends who travelled abroad recently on their own dime?)
Even the Saudis, who have long backed the concept of pricing OPEC oil in US dollars, are now regretting they didn’t follow the Iranian proposals to OPEC (years ago) to peg oil to a basket of currencies, including the EURO.
Ah, but what’s caused the drop in the value of the US dollar? (I know, it wasn’t Iraq; Asia did that too…!)
Even the Saudis, who have long backed the concept of pricing OPEC oil in US dollars, are now regretting they didn’t follow the Iranian proposals to OPEC (years ago) to peg oil to a basket of currencies, including the EURO.
The pricing of oil is an almost arbitrary convention. Oil is already priced in Euros for much of the market, but if it weren’t a trivial forex swap would achieve the same effect. It boils down to the asset denomination those selling the oil choose for the proceeds. Choosing to “price in dollars” won’t mean anything unless they invest the money in euro-denominated accounts or assets. Pricing conventions don’t affect fundamental dynamics of supply and demand and there’s no reason to think they’d affect price.
As that goes, OPEC nations have historically invested in US denominated assets because of the growth rate, sovereign credit risk, and historically low inflation attached to dollar denominated assets (and plenty of these assets are held abroad and have nothing to do with the United States economy, including the entire eurodollar market, the entire yankee bond market etc.)
Btw, OPEC doesn’t peg the price of oil (though it has tried to do so in the past and failed.) It establishes production quotas. The OPEC reference prices are based on averages of independently negotiated prices across a wide blend of grades and locations. Converting the basket price to euros involves a trivial piece of arithmetic.
here’s an old krugman piece going over the “reserve” argument in greater depth:
http://web.archive.org/web/20060218003329/http://www.wws.princeton.edu/pkrugman/oildollar.html
the latest drum-beating for war with Iran AND the series of refinery shutdowns and problems this past spring.
Actually Scott, since Michael Ledeen launched his lonely campaign to carpet bomb Iran, the price of oil has meandered sideways: in fact it’s 12% off its highs of last year. Current crude prices (last print 71.58) are no higher than where they were in early ’06. Refinery shutdowns are generally bearish crude oil (which has nowhere to go) and bullish gasoline– ie the crack spread, which has been volatile but now has tanked since the anticipated hurricane season fizzled out. Oil implied volatility is as low as its ever been (26%). In short Ledeen’s and Sy Hersh’s vicarious sabre rattling isn’t costing the US economy a dime.
Iraqi oil production (or lack thereof) from where I sit doesn’t impact the oil market much. In fact Iraq’s production numbers are roughly the same as they were during oil-for food.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/China/Oil.html
China’s demand growth on the other hand now accounts for 38% of the entire world’s. Do you suppose these well documented statistics are phony?
Ah, windmills. How about if I erect a little tower and 1 KW generator in my back yard? Holy Toledo, imagine the complaints. I can hear the policeman knocking at the door to deliver the court order. I’d have to disguise it as a flag pole or McMansion cupola.
Of course, a hideous array of satellite dishes is something different. Ditto for oversized inflatable lawn decorations. A giant Santa or Homer Simpson is, of course, tasteful. A Hummer lodged permanently in the driveway? Well, that’s a sign of a patriot and pillar of the community, so long as as it has PBA or yellow ribbon sticker.
Can’t find a clothesline for sale, so I reallly do hang things from the outside deck rails or every elevated object our protrosion in the house. If by clotheshanger, fine. Otherwise, the clothes lay directly over the rail, bar, door, doornob, drawerhandle, you name it. Everything does last longer. Except for certain articles on certain occasions, a gas or an electric dryer is an utter waste.
Used to be that Monday was “washday” and no municipal or homeowers could complain about the sight of undies or intimate items. Everyone’s got them, so why pretend otherwise. Noisy cell phone chat is far more obtrusive. But most people think otherwise and look at me askance.
A lot of engine emissions emanate from weekly grass cutting. Some of it is pointless in dry spells. But lots of people have gotten lazy and use landscapers who insist on fixed fees for weekly service during a season. I clip and rake all my own, but often only every other week. If only I could keep a sheep tethered.
It dawns on me that my original post neglected to include a lame punch line about the Vermont version of the “right to dry” movement….
e.g., their motto, “live free & dry” :-}
Sorry about that.
Then again, I hasten to assure Vermont readers that yes, I know, Vermont hasn’t joined New Hampshire. (though I was intrigued by the Killington pitch a few years ago —
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0823/p03s01-uspo.html )
As for the various wars & rumors of war pressures on oil prices, my,…. I wish I had more time to keep bouncing this one around…. You illustrate my point rather nicely, I think….
I have very little respect for the seven figure oil analysts on Wall Street who so frequently appear on CNBC….
Now if we could just get Melissa Frances (sp), a solid energy-focused journalist to ask this one question to her various hired gun analysts each Wednesday (after the US EIA #’s are released):
1. How much of a “war premium” do you estimate is built into the current price of oil?
Oh, what a field day that would generate! Some analysts (like Flyn) would of course spit fury and fire and deny it (to which, if I were Melissa) I’d pull out a host of quotes from the Alaron archives…. (e.g., where he regularly DOES factor in this or that geopolitical issue, whether Iran, Nigeria, Iraq, or Venezuela into his cases for being long or short the energy market…. His analysis is “naturally” anything but consistent – like all of them, his comments generally reflect his underlying trading position – as of that moment — but that’s another “fun” subject)
As for Ledeen, wow, he’s been banging the drum for a war with Iran for more than just a year…. try five, or ten, or how long has he been out of the Reagan administration? :-{
If one reeeeeeeeally believes current Gulf wars and geopolitics have so little to do with the price of energy, well God bless ’em.
On the other hand, imagine what a positive resolution of the security situations affecting Iran, Iraq and the entire Gulf region would do to oil futures….
Alas, with Bush ratcheting up the rhetoric on Iran today, I wouldn’t go “short” too heavily on the oil market (or OIH, HAL, or SDC just yet….)
Saudis, who have long backed the concept of pricing OPEC oil in US dollars, are now regretting
Scott with hesitation to comments on your report as usual I got much bad experience to discussing with you for some reason, but feel free to delete it if you wish.
Anyway, I quite sick and tried from some western or US ME specialist talking about Saudis and their polices and how they behave in light of that.
Scott you knew for many years Saudis are real friend for successive US administrations, and they had very close ties with some elite US business and financial institutions, so this means that Saudis are not interested in any way to change their hearts of polices or steps that their friends don’t likes.
Just reminder a while ago may be late last year when US currency starts fallen one of Saudi officials (Ministry of Finance or lower that than) wrote an article in Alsharq Alawasat discussing why its better to sale Saudi oil in US currency, and why they don’t use “a basket of currencies” options!!.
So if you writing about them and their behaviors with related matter its really looks very odd here all we know those royal and close relations guys from the gulf states mostly from the royal families are educated and gained their studies from US universities exactly like your Qatari student, they are keen later to be loyal to US when they return home getting high jobs in their states, so really we can say there is no independent view that may conflicts or wideness gape between them and US other western friends, in same talken you raised the arms deals recent, one Arabic writer wrote referring to UK military magazine telling the number of Tanks with Arab countries is twice the number of tanks with US, UK, and France all together!!! Specially those Gulf states they wasting billions and billions of dollars for military gear which they can’t use and its higher than their technical and strategic capabilities as small states and have very poor and limits skills and personal to derives and use this amount of military toys, again this bring us back to the point why then these state buy these weapons from US and other suppliers if they don’t use them? Why they wasting billions of dollars?
what’s caused the drop in the value of the US dollar?
I think there is one point related to this story, China and chine’s good starts taking their way around the world and one of the battle is US used the concept of Multinational companies (the native company in US but the production offshore) this was to reduce the production cost of US goods, but Chains good start bite US markets in very attractive prices this enforce US to droppers US dollar value to take some pressure of this hidden war of goods.