Althouse: "No matter the type of fireplace, whether it’s wood-burning, pellet-burning, natural gas or electric, using one typically generates some amount of greenhouse gases..."

December 28, 2022

"No matter the type of fireplace, whether it’s wood-burning, pellet-burning, natural gas or electric, using one typically generates some amount of greenhouse gases..."

"... and other emissions that can be damaging to the environment and human health. To avoid these effects, [one woman] said she recently bought flameless battery-powered candles and placed them inside her fireplace. “It’s exactly the effect with none of the muss and fuss'...."

From "The healthiest ways to light up a fireplace/Different types of fireplaces, such as wood-burning, natural gas and electric, can have varying environmental and health effects" (WaPo).

63 comments:

wendybar said...: Tough shit. Tell us again how the Government isn't trying to kill us all off, as they climb upon their private jets to jaunter off to St Croix for vacation as America freezes.; 12/28/22, 9:55 AM
Dave Begley said...: Screw that!

China is building a coal-fired power plant every two weeks. India probably the same.

Nothing - and I mean nothing - we do in the US will make one bit of difference.

This is all insane.

CAGW is the biggest scam in the history of the world.; 12/28/22, 9:56 AM
tim maguire said...: Where is it written that we should strive to have zero impact on the environment? What other animal is held to this standard? Literally the only way to achieve this goal is to have died a few years ago.; 12/28/22, 9:56 AM
The Vault Dweller said...: I doubt it is exactly the effect.; 12/28/22, 9:57 AM
The Drill SGT said...: lol, except for the enviro waste in battery production without any warmth benefit; 12/28/22, 9:57 AM
LuAnn Zieman said...: And I will continue burning wood in my woodstove which basically heats one end of the house. It continues heating even when the electricity goes off! AND I use battery operated candles for lighting in that event. Batteries aren't exactly Green either! Not in candles OR Electric vehicles!; 12/28/22, 10:02 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: There is so much wrong with this tiny excerpt I might have to read more to see just where the writer goes from there. I’ll just note that the only time Mrs. MJB asks me to light a fire is when she wants to warm the den, usually a morning like this when it’s raining and colder outside.; 12/28/22, 10:02 AM
Earnest Prole said...: Healthy trees regularly fall down on my mountain property, victims of winter wind and snow. I split them in the spring and dry the lengths for six months in California’s bone-dry Mediterranean summer, then burn them one by one during winter in my Jotul 400 ivory enamel stove. The pleasure I derive from this each day is no doubt a sin in someone’s book, but it’s always gotta be something.; 12/28/22, 10:07 AM
Dude1394 said...: Might as well try a tv; 12/28/22, 10:09 AM
Bob Boyd said...: One woman said she recently had a dead cat convincingly stuffed by a local taxidermist so that it will "sleep" on her lap while she strokes its fur. “It’s exactly the effect with none of the muss and fuss."; 12/28/22, 10:15 AM
Owen said...: She puts flameless battery-powered candles in her fireplace? But what about the manufacture and transportation of the candles —and the batteries? Highly carbon-intensive processes! She has not thought this through. The taint of OCS (Original Carbon Sin) goes very deep, and her silly posturing only temporarily hides, does not expunge, the terrible wrong.; 12/28/22, 10:24 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Please- everyone - freeze to death while the elites of DC and elsewhere live large.
Thank you.; 12/28/22, 10:26 AM
gspencer said...: “It’s exactly the effect with none of the muss and fuss'...."

And comes with an incredible amount of stupidity. But she's woke, so it's all to the good.; 12/28/22, 10:28 AM
Biff said...: Somehow, I read articles about how "unhealthy" gas stoves or any kind of fireplace might be, and I get the feeling that rather than our health, the author wants us all dead and thrown onto a compost heap.; 12/28/22, 10:32 AM
Wa St Blogger said...: Burning wood is a new positive for the environment (but it is hotly debated.) Burning emits much more carbon than natural decay, but natural decay emits a lot of Methane, and methane is 100 times more greenhousie than carbon, so it sounds like burning trees is better for the environment than letting them rot. So grow forests for wood, burn the wood, feed the next round of forest with the carbon. Circle of life.; 12/28/22, 10:32 AM
cassandra lite said...: The suicide of the west continues apace.; 12/28/22, 10:33 AM
gilbar said...: Don't ALL ACTIONS, result in greenhouse gases? Isn't The Best Option; Always SUICIDE??
IF You CARE about The World... Fucking KILL Yourself!!! YOU Are The Problem!!!; 12/28/22, 10:35 AM
gilbar said...: Of Course, To Be Fair; Not Having Children, IS a form of long term suicide; 12/28/22, 10:36 AM
Robert Marshall said...: I'm sure those flameless battery-powered candles, and their repeatedly-replaced disposable batteries, were produced and transported, and will be recycled upon discharge, by processes which emit no carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Otherwise, it would be stupid to think you had avoided damaging the environment and human health, and surely the WaPo wouldn't print anything stupid.; 12/28/22, 10:37 AM
Mattman26 said...: I wonder how the batteries come into existence.; 12/28/22, 10:39 AM
Temujin said...: These people would have really hated the Vikings. And, the Vikings would have put an end to them.

Here I am, in the midst of the good cheer of the holidays wishing we had a few good Vikings around.; 12/28/22, 10:39 AM
Joe Smith said...: It's a fucking cult...; 12/28/22, 10:49 AM
Quayle said...: We made a family decision after considerable discussion to not put any active volcanoes in our fireplace this year because of the negative impact on the environment that active volcanoes have.

We’re also as a family opposed to solar flair ups. And we will not vote for any politician of either party who supports moving the planet even one centimeter closer to the sun, because such a measure would warm the planet above historical norms (so far as we have the data to set the norma, meaning the last blink of the eye of the full history of the planet).

so we’re trying to do our part.; 12/28/22, 10:55 AM
dbp said...: My wood burning stove produces no net carbon emissions. All of the wood I put in, harvested from our lot, would have rotted on the ground had it not been burned in the stove. The decay process emits the same quantity of CO2 as burning.; 12/28/22, 10:56 AM
Carol said...: I suppose they object to Crackling Fireplace 4K on streaming TV too.

It's surprisingly soothing to stare at.; 12/28/22, 10:59 AM
Ambrose said...: Here’s the difference- if some woman wants to put battery-powered candles in her fireplace, I say good for her, after all it is HER fireplace.; 12/28/22, 11:00 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: natural decay emits a lot of Methane, and methane is 100 times more greenhousie than carbon

Really? And yet when the earth was covered with carbon-dioxide-emitting [I assume by "carbon" the commenter meant CO2] swamps that became the coal beds we need now, the earth somehow survived! First of all, there is no evidence of the "greenhouse effect" of CO2 since the most common "greenhouse gas" is water vapor, which might, in your inarticulated formula of "more greenhouse than carbon [dioxide gas]," actually be true as written.

Now consider the fact that both "natural decay" and "forest burning" are naturally occurring events throughout time and yet the earth has been both much warmer than now and much colder than now. The simple fact is that warming scammers have yet to find a greenhouse gas that behaves anything like greenhouse glass so far as trapping and keeping in the heat. The known facts of gases do not comport with your green dream fantasies. Heat makes gases expand and move, even in the atmosphere, making them unlikely suspects for your crime of global warming fiends.; 12/28/22, 11:03 AM
Owen said...: Near-unanimity in the comments that the WaPo lady is a moron. Probably a posturing illiterate moron, which is like a triple-word-score in Scrabble.

So here’s my question. The climate change moronitude is evident everywhere and seems to be growing in militancy and urgent tone: and, more to the point, it seems to be moving from vapid bleating and endless editorials, into enforceable policy and serious taxpayer funding of systematic and very concrete changes that will —no joke— destroy civilization in short order.

Am I wrong to think that things are close to crossing the Schwarzschild Radius?; 12/28/22, 11:10 AM
Sebastian said...: "emissions that can be damaging to the environment and human health"

Our very existence can be damaging to the environment and human health. Ergo:; 12/28/22, 11:11 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Joe Smith said, "It's a fucking cult."

Yes. Yes it is. One that has captured industry, media, research, academia, and most sadly government. The reliance on federal research "grants" and NGOs has done more to erode the stature of Science and trust in government than anything else. This shares maddening details with the border "crisis" Joe manufactured: official policy is opposite of official actions being taken, and Congress is paying NGOs our tax dollars to manage the border in a way inconsistent with our immigration laws and any sense of national security. But the DNC Media (including the newly woke FNC) will only report on the border in relation to Title 42, which is never clearly explained, but is credited with somehow "holding back" some illegals even though more than ever are poring across and numbers continue to set records; and then the same Title 42 is some kind of talisman that will, upon ending, somehow break the border even more? Never ever mentioned in any news report is what current law is, what exactly caused the explosion in illegal crossing simultaneous with Joe taking office, and how much we are paying non-government groups to "help" illegals do the things we collectively, allegedly do NOT want them doing. Why are we funding people who are breaking laws? Why doesn't ANY politician or "news" reporter ever mention all the NGO billions put to work destroying out immigration system, overwhelming it?

We call it "waste" but it is very purposeful, targeted funding that can only come from Congress, and it is doing exactly what some -- perhaps many or all -- lawmakers want it to do. Just like the "power grid" crisis.

Who? Whom? Cui bono?; 12/28/22, 11:17 AM
stlcdr said...: Coincidentally I read an article from The Guardian's biggest idiot regarding wood burning stoves:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/27/wood-burning-stove-environment-home-toxins

It demonstrates how completely and utterly thick these intellectuals are.; 12/28/22, 11:24 AM
richlb said...: An electric "fireplace" isn't a fireplace. It's a heater. Designed to look like a fireplace.; 12/28/22, 11:32 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: Isn't everyone sick of the enviro-scolds by now?; 12/28/22, 11:34 AM
reader said...: About a decade ago my father-in-law got me a gaming chair for Christmas. It barely fits the depth of the hearth of our fireplace. That is my favorite spot anytime it’s cool enough (without a red flag warning) to have a fire. I do end up sharing space on the hearth with our cats.

I know when my husband feels like I have been running around to much and need to slow down. I’ll wake up and come downstairs to a roaring fire. My schedule for the morning gets thrown out until the fire dies down.; 12/28/22, 11:44 AM
Leland said...: WaPo is owned by Jeff Bezos, who also owns Amazon and Amazon Web Services. Compared to Amazon's fleet of aircraft and the data service centers for AWS; one person's or the entire readership of WaPo's decision not to use a fireplace as intended to "save the planet" is insane.; 12/28/22, 11:45 AM
iowan2 said...: We are in the midst of an upgrade/remodel of our house.

We had a breeze way between the house and garage. But he windows on the east were bad and the framing was rotting away. So, we kicked out the east wall/windows, headered off the rafters and extended the room 12 more feet to the east. The addition is all windows and patio door.
Putting in a split unit for heating and cooling.
But we are also adding a gas fired, decorative, stove. For the precise reason of providing heat in the event of a power outage. We suffered through 2 over a 7 year span. One for 5 days, one for 4 days.

This is all because the east side (Back) of the house is where all the wild life move through, Turkeys, Deer, coyotes, Birds. So we have built an expensive, and hopefully comfortable, viewing room. So far its over $100 sq ft.

As several have noted, People believing their actions will have some impact on the climate is hubris to the nth degree. For every 10of those, there is one of me, going the opposite direction.; 12/28/22, 12:15 PM
Just an old country lawyer said...: Sitting here in front of the fire in my wife's cabin in the mountains of East Tennessee, my instinctive,
as well as soberly considered reaction to this is: LOL! Get fucked.; 12/28/22, 12:16 PM
Aggie said...: Just a quick question, does she also have to pretend to be warm as she's gazing at the flickering battery-powered candles that she's stuck in her firebox or does she really feel toasty? Has she convinced herself she can feel the radiant heat on her face too? Has she hiked up Mt. Washington lately? Darwinism, in action.; 12/28/22, 12:26 PM
MikeR said...: This is all stupid. They should be going nuclear. Safer and better for the environment.; 12/28/22, 12:27 PM
phantommut said...: Why do so many people seem to want to be post-human?; 12/28/22, 12:35 PM
Rusty said...: Freeman Hunt said...
"Isn't everyone sick of the enviro-scolds by now?"
Yes. Yes I am.; 12/28/22, 12:35 PM
Creola Soul said...: The US has 200GW of coal, China has 1100GW. By 2025 they will bring another 270 GW online and by 2030 another 500GW. Nothing the US does matters. All this solar, wind and EV business is just virtue signaling. It’s like wearing a mask while you’re driving your car alone. It means nothing.; 12/28/22, 12:52 PM
Ampersand said...: Our world is full of people like Allyson Chieu, the author of the WaPo piece blogged by AA. For them, the performance of caring is an excellent strategy. The worst that happens is a series of futile fulminations by the commenters like me on message boards like this. Allyson has now feathered her publication nest and further established herself as a proponent of Correct Thinking. That may have benefits more tangible than mere self esteem. The Vikings of Temujin's imaginings will never specifically come for her. When the (metaphorical) Vikings arrive, they will demolish people and things quite indiscriminately. Eloi like Allyson will have performed their function for the Vikings and will disappear in some random order. Who knows? Maybe the Correct Thinkers will be the last to go.; 12/28/22, 12:56 PM
ngtrains said...: Does she use rechargeable batteries or just toss the used ones in the trash?

maybe use a solar panel to charge them?; 12/28/22, 1:16 PM
EdwdLny said...: Recently these ignorant pompous shit heads held their global warming circle jerk in Egypt. They flew there in 400 private jets spewing tons of carbon. I wonder how much carbon will be saved when the proles have had enough and start shooting down said private jets with those pompous asshats and their families aboard . Seems like a win - win for society and the planet.; 12/28/22, 1:28 PM
Michael K said...: All this solar, wind and EV business is just virtue signaling. It’s like wearing a mask while you’re driving your car alone. It means nothing.

Yes, but it is making some people rich. There are a few, mostly children, who believe in magic but most are just grifters.; 12/28/22, 1:40 PM
ALP said...: Battery powered flameless candles are the way to go if your house is an Airbnb. Would you want clueless clients trying to start a fire in your house?; 12/28/22, 2:29 PM
n.n said...: A net-positive Greenhouse effect has been observed in the lab, models, publication. A net-positive Green house effect is observable in social, financial, environmental progress: one step forward, two steps backward.; 12/28/22, 2:58 PM
Mason G said...: "It's a fucking cult..."

Perhaps fate will smile upon us and they'll stop fucking.; 12/28/22, 3:06 PM
madAsHell said...: "The meek shall inherit the earth."

I always wondered how that would manifest, and now I know.; 12/28/22, 3:06 PM
jaydub said...: Sod off Allyson, you ignorant bimbo.; 12/28/22, 3:23 PM
boatbuilder said...: Most of the very poor in the world heat their "homes" with indoor fires--wood and dung. Per Bjorn Lomborg the health effects of living in such conditions are the equivalent of smoking 2 or 3 packs of cigarettes a day. And there's a lot of carbon involved. Not to mention deforestation.
When it is that or your children freezing to death, you don't worry about the carbon footprint.
But the Eco-scolds want to continue to deprive them of the means to break away from this--cheap, abundant energy in the form of nuclear and gas.; 12/28/22, 3:37 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Thank you Aggie. I waited to see if someone would point out the absurdity of using LEDs to simulate a fire, while others are worrying about literally freezing to death for lack of power, when the point is to warm up during a "bomb cyclone." Everything about her act was wrong. Fire and gas are used to HEAT the space, otherwise why even simulate a fireplace? Her little LED candles made of toxic materials and using toxic batteries gets dirty power from somewhere to charge up yet the heat energy of that conversion happens far away, also not providing her any heat.; 12/28/22, 4:10 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: The best thing the WaPoo could do for the planet would be to shutdown. No more newsroom emissions, no trees cut to produce the dead-tree wood to produce the fish wrap paper. No more CO2 generated by its employees nor to keep them airconditioned in comfort in the summer and no nat gas burned to keep them warm in the winter.

Win, Win for everybody!; 12/28/22, 5:48 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: The Sun is the dominate player in the climate with the oceans having a secondary effect. CO2's main contribution is to make the planet greener, not to heat it up above some number that the fascist bureaucrats came up with.

When the temperature stopped warming in 1997 while CO2 continued to rise, the climate hysterics changed the brand from AGW to "climate change." Well, the climate is always changing, so their new theory is rubbish and is not science since there's no test to see if that's true or not.

We had about 17-years stable temperatures from 1997 to about 2013. The current flat temperature trend has stretched 8 years, so far.

The Winter Gate Keeper Hypothesis explains the climate while the hoary old CO2 model doesn't. The heat transfer from the equator to the poles is largest during the Northen Hemisphere winter when the Sun is quite (displaying few sunspots) and the Earth cools. When the Sun is active, the UV radiation in the stratosphere reduces that heat transport, and the Earth warms.

During the 1980s and most of the 1990s the Sun was active and the Earth warmed. Since them, the Sun's been mostly quite and the warming has stopped.; 12/28/22, 6:01 PM
Known Unknown said...: Fuck this article.

That is all.; 12/28/22, 6:41 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/28/22, 8:47 PM
Peglegged Picador said...: 12/28/22, 11:45 AM
Blogger iowan2 said...
"For every 10of those, there is one of me, going the opposite direction."

Tell me you don't understand evolution without...; 12/29/22, 12:52 AM
Peglegged Picador said...: (It also sounds like none of you lovies has ever had to burn wood to stay warm).; 12/29/22, 12:54 AM
Lawnerd said...: Wood fuel is sustainable and carbon neutral. Putting battery powered candles in my fireplace isn’t going to do shit when it’s -20 outside.; 12/29/22, 1:57 AM
Big Mike said...: Shorter article: freeze to death in the dark, you worthless plebeians.; 12/29/22, 8:25 AM
holdfast said...: Send these stupid anti-human progress morons to Germany to freeze in the winter or something.; 12/29/22, 2:27 PM
Rusty said...: " Her little LED candles made of toxic materials and using toxic batteries gets dirty power from somewhere to charge up yet the heat energy of that conversion happens far away, also not providing her any heat."
Boron is used in our LEDs and batteries. One of the large boron mines in S E Asia is a pit mine. There are 15,000 people in that mine working by hand to mine the boron.; 12/29/22, 6:55 PM