A Scientist for Congress

At the bottom of this article I've placed a link to a youtube video featuring Sheldon Schafer going over why he's qualified to represent us. Notably, he mentions his scientific background quite a bit.

He mentions that he, as a scientist among other reasons, is qualified to evaluate good science vs. bad science and the issues that in our modern era need a scientist to understand the complexities present therein.

It turns out, I learned first hand why this is important.

As a conservative, I tend to lean towards having the government not branch too far into some things. One thing that had been (only slightly) troubling me was why was the government getting involved in the HDTV broadcast mandate. After February 19, 2009, full-power television stations in the USA will broadcast in digital only (source).

So I brought this up with Sheldon, and his first question/statement to me was "Surely, the government should regulate the electro-magnetic spectrum." ...and he's right ...the importance of the electro-magnetic spectrum cannot be overstated ...and further, since we have a finite number of frequencies available, we need regulation to ensure the public's right to the public airwaves. If the government didn't regulate this, we wouldn't get to enjoy our modern conveniences like TV, radio, cordless phones, wireless internet and cel. phones. Without regulation the frequencies these things operate on would be a wash with garbage. So, like roads, rivers and airways, these things need regulation.

This was something I already knew to be true, but conceded, that yes, in fact, the government should be able to regulate these things. So, there was no conflict, just a "why bother" question left in my head.

So, then he goes on to tell me something I didn't know, and have verified with an acquaintance of mine at a television studio. Watt for watt, digital broadcast is more energy efficient. My source at the television station told me that their amplifier (before gain produced by the antenna array) is designed to output between 50-100 kilowatts, and broadcasting that strength digitally saves between 75 and 100 kilowatt hours per month. As of now, the mandated date only applies to full power stations at this time ...these number at around 1800. (the 7,100 low power and Class A stations are being encouraged to convert, but have no mandated date at this time) Also of note, the station my acquaintance works for is a low power full-power station ...full power UHF goes all the way to 5.5 megawatts worth of broadcasting power. I have tried and failed to find the average broadcasting power across these 1800 stations, so let's assume that the average is the median of 2.7 mega watts, meaning their savings (if all other variables, and there are a lot of them, are equal) would be 2,700 kilowatt hours a month across the country.

To put it into perspective, I calculated the cost of the last 100 kilowatt hours I purchased, and came up with roughly $380. So, using my many assumptions, this mandate conserves $120,000 worth of energy a year out of the gate. If I get more aggressive with my assumptions, that figure becomes a quarter of a million dollars of conserved energy a year just for the 1,800 full power stations ...it is not inconceivable that down the road, once all stations convert it could be up to half a million dollars worth of savings EACH YEAR ...or in terms of kilowatt hours, over 130,000 kilowatt hours of energy savings.

The FCC is doing a good job of letting us know about the multicasting abilities available in digital broadcast as well as the fact that the frequencies that they are, in a sense, getting back from analog broadcast can be appropriated to civil services. But short of having a source at the television studio, or an extreme level of knowledge regarding how broadcasting works, you can't find information on the net about this energy savings. The FCC Digital TV Consumer Facts Page

...but Sheldon knew. ...right there on the spot, he told me about the energy savings ...which is a good thing for all of us ...not wasting our resources.

...to sum up, he's a scientist who knew on the spot the subtle details of this mandate ...so when similar things come up in Congress in the future, wouldn't it be great if we had a scientist there who knew all about it and could vote based on sound reasoning, not what his donors are telling him to do?

Sheldon's Video

Note that the numbers I used are extrapolated from what little data I had readily available …there are many factors that go into broadcast power, including the initial amplifier signal and the gain produced in antenna arrays, and the Quality of Service (QoS) and Effective Radiated Power (ERP) (which are products of the former variables). Further, the dollar figures are based on consumer pricing in today’s dollars, so are likely to be slightly different for commerce and in the years down the road.