Well, it seems that once again something I've written has gotten my various critics' juices flowing.

Actually, based on their accusations, it's not really about something I've written, but rather about their interpretation of what I've written. This is puzzling to me on a number of levels.

First of all, astute readers may have noticed I employ a bit of humor in my work. Aside from holding me in good stead through many rough patches in my life, I have found that humor is a relatively effective tool for communicative purposes. And the purpose of this column is to communicate my opinion on a variety of subjects, including, but not limited to, the electric utility business.

Now the electric utility business is not known as the well spring of hilarity. Indeed, the electric utility business is just about as straight-laced and up-tight as it gets, sort of like Al Gore, only lots more complicated and considerably deeper. But the stuff that happens in the electric utility business is really, really important, especially these days when we've chosen to label things like carbon dioxide as a threat to survival of the planet and as a consequence, energy costs are likely to escalate to a point far past what the economy can realistically be expected to absorb and still remain productive for most Americans.

So I feel an obligation to provide the membership with the benefit or the burden of my point of view, for what it's worth, on these matters of vital importance to the country in general and Columbus Electric in particular. The question then becomes how do I do that in such a manner as to keep your eyes from glazing over? I figure humor is the answer.

This works pretty well, considering what we're talking about here is really just another utility bill-stuffer that other organizations use as a vehicle for the strict corporate line and as a result is usually relegated to the trash way before anybody gives a thought to actually reading it. And that's for good reason because the strict corporate line seldom has much credibility and even less humor.

The Columbus Currents enjoys a very high level of actual readership at least in part because I suspect most folks appreciate a certain level of candor mixed in with a cheerful blend of self-deprecating humor.

You'll notice I said "most folks". There are at least a few types of personalities that evidently don't get it. One type is the poor soul suffering from a pathological degree of humor impairment. How they get through the day in that condition is beyond my comprehension but they have my utmost sympathy for having to live in such a dark and unrelenting environment.

Another type is the zealot. These are the folks who attach an almost religious zeal to their support of or opposition to a particular notion. As applied to the electric utility business, this often manifests itself when I sometimes offhandedly mention nuclear power. Holy moly.

I don't know what it is that inspires such vehement reaction but for me to suggest nuclear power is a safe and proven technology available to accomplish a number of national goals including reducing our reliance on third world energy suppliers and reducing our carbon dioxide emissions, is to invite jihad, Luna County style. They most often voice their outrage in the pages of the local newspaper which is more than happy to accommodate them since it's a whole lot cheaper to print their stuff then paying an actual reporter to do a little fact-checking here and there. I don't respond to these attacks for a number of good reasons, among them being the reality that I stopped selling newspapers when I was 12 years old.

A third type is the alternative energy entrepreneur who dresses their sales pitch in the rhetoric of the New Energy Left and misconstrues what I have actually written to suit their point of attack. They also use the local newspaper which, sooner or later, is going to figure it out and start charging them for advertising. Since I in fact support the prudent development and application of these systems, I figure it's pretty harmless and wish them well.

But they'd be better off if they'd just lighten up.