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I love the convenience of a natural gas fire. It's the bee's knees on a cold evening! :D

It's actually mostly good for ambience and atmosphere (compared to central heating).

A fireplace actually makes the rest of the house colder (unless you have a fireplace in each room).
 
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It's actually mostly good for ambience and atmosphere (compared to central heating).

A fireplace actually makes the rest of the house colder (unless you have a fireplace in each room).

Yeah with a regular fireplace that can be a huge problem (pulling air from the room and thus sucking cold air into your house through any cracks in your windows/walls/doors)

One benefit of the natural gas one is it has a dual flue that not only pushes exhaust out but sucks air from the outside in too. It has a glass front so it is a self contained unit. It comes with a blower that pulls air from the room and circulates it around the outside of the hot metal casing of the fireplace and pushes it back into the room.
 
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It's actually mostly good for ambience and atmosphere (compared to central heating).

A fireplace actually makes the rest of the house colder (unless you have a fireplace in each room).

Yes, there is something warming about a fireplace that touches more than just the body, specially on cold and dreary winter evenings.

I leave the rest of the house on the central heating thermostat and warm up the living room a few extra degrees with the fireplace, which has its own thermostat. That way, the bedrooms are nice and cool for a good sleep when I finally retire for the night.
 
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A few pages ago I showed a video walk through of a typical new starter home very close to a major city (not much land , houses close together). That was done by a young couple who happened to have a video camera. Real estate brokers don't even waste their time making videos of these homes since they are too busy making them for more higher priced homes.

So I finally stumbled upon one. A starter home in a starter town in Massachusetts 50 kilometers from Boston (obviously other parts of the country are different). Close enough to still be commutable but far enough where you aren't squished next to your neighbors. The sun-room attached to it is a bonus that I wouldn't typically expect.

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The Rise of Environmentalism

You can now swim and fish again in the rivers of New York City

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The Rise of Environmentalism

The Charles River in Boston was once one of the most polluted rivers in the USA.
Back in the 1980's they actually had TV shows daring people to jump in for money. Most wouldn't do it for ANY amount as it was almost considered suicidal.

Now:
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Rowing races:
Head of the Charles Regatta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"It is the largest 2-day regatta in the world, with nearly 9,000 athletes rowing in over 1,900 boats in 61 events."

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The Rise of Environmentalism: Water cleanup


1972 Clean Water Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution...the objective of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, commonly referred to as the Clean Water Act (CWA), is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters by preventing point and nonpoint pollution sources, providing assistance to publicly owned treatment works for the improvement of wastewater treatment, and maintaining the integrity of wetlands."

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1974 Safe Drinking Water Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"is the principal federal law in the United States intended to ensure safe drinking water for the public. Pursuant to the act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to set standards for drinking water quality and oversee all states, localities, and water suppliers who implement these standards."

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The Rise of Environmentalism: Air cleanup

1963: Clean Air Act (United States) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The Clean Air Act is a United States federal law designed to control air pollution on a national level. It requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and enforce regulations to protect the public from airborne contaminants known to be hazardous to human health. The 1963 version of the legislation established a research program, expanded in 1967. Major amendments to the law, requiring regulatory controls for air pollution, passed in 1970, 1977 and 1990.

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The Rise of Environmentalism: Making cars run cleaner

196?: All cars must go to inspection stations (mostly yearly) and pass Vehicle emissions control - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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1972: Leaded gasoline phase-out

1975: Requirement all cars must have a Catalytic converter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Rise of Environmentalism: The BIG Problem

So with all these environmental laws coming out in the early 1970's Nixon and later administrations had a problem: How do we keep consumer prices low if we have to put in all sorts of controls to prevent pollution? How do we even manufacture certain things since terrible air/water/land pollution is an inevitable by-product? It was a huge dilemma that needed to be solved.

Solution: Send the worst manufacturing overseas. Let somebody else deal with it.

But what country would allow that upon themselves without a huge public uproar? What government had total control of their population and resources and had lax laws on pollution. What government would put money above all else. Nixon found an answer.
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And so as expected...




Meanwhile back in the USA

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