Study Claims Discarded Solar Panels Create More Toxic Waste Than Nuclear Plants (nationalreview.com)

Templer421 shares an article from National Review: A new study by Environmental Progress warns that toxic waste from used solar panels now poses a global environmental threat. The Berkeley-based group found that solar panels create 300 times more toxic waste per unit of energy than nuclear-power plants. Discarded solar panels, which contain dangerous elements such as lead, chromium, and cadmium, are piling up around the world, and there's been little done to mitigate their potential danger to the environment. "We talk a lot about the dangers of nuclear waste, but that waste is carefully monitored, regulated, and disposed of," says Michael Shellenberger, founder of Environmental Progress, a nonprofit that advocates for the use of nuclear energy. "But we had no idea there would be so many panels -- an enormous amount -- that could cause this much ecological damage." Solar panels are considered a form of toxic, hazardous electronic or "e-waste," and according to EP researchers Jemin Desai and Mark Nelson, scavengers in developing countries like India and China often "burn the e-waste in order to salvage the valuable copper wires for resale. Since this process requires burning off plastic, the resulting smoke contains toxic fumes that are carcinogenic and teratogenic (birth defect-causing) when inhaled."
A spokesman for the Solar Energy Industries Association argues that the study is incorrect, and that in fact solar panels are "mainly made up of easy-to-recycle materials that can be successfully recovered and reused at the end of their useful life."

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Conundrum

[Anonymous Coward]

Hi! My name is Jack Phillips and I bake things and sell them to the public for a living. I bake pies, cookies, bread, tarts, all kinds of things. I also bake cakes for all occasions - including wedding cakes.

So one day a couple of guys come into my shop and ask me to bake them a wedding cake. I told them I don't bake gay wedding cakes for religious reasons, but they were welcome to buy any of my other baked goods - including one of my tasty generic cakes suitable for all occasions.

Well they got snotty and stormed out of my shop. I guess they expected me to make them a cake that would celebrate their sinful behavior and that's just something I can't do because it violates my deeply held religious beliefs.

Anywho, the two gay guys filed a complaint with the state. Lo and behold, the state said I was in violation of the public accommodation law, even though I offered to sell the two gays a plain 'ol cake. The state told me I had to 1) bake a custom cake with gay decorations, 2) attend a government re-education class, and 3) file quarterly reports on how I accommodate gay customers for the next two years. If I refuse to comply, the state says they will fine me and shut down my business.

Somehow I can't help but feel that God is testing me. Or is it His Devine Punishment? After all, I've baked ALOT of wedding cakes for other sinners, just not the gay buttsex kind of sinners. Why I draw the line at gay buttsex I can't say for sure...maybe that's why God is mad at me? What do you think?