Once upon a time on a hill far away stood a colossal 50 story
boiler. The boiler's shiny stainless steel cylinder contrasted
strongly with the various greens of the surrounding hills and
meadows. Atop the boiler perched a gold-plated cone which made
visitors, even ten miles back, think of the golden dome of
Jerusalem's temple.  The stark designation of the boiler by the
power utility's bigwigs was Kr-50mg2000.

Super-heated steam from the boiler flowed through four massive
pipes to eight turbines which provided electricity for the
surrounding towns and cities. 10 % of the steam heated huge
greenhouses where green peppers and cucumbers grew. Since 1985
German scrubber technology had reduced harmful boiler stack
emission to minuscule levels. Taking into consideration the steam
heat, the green peppers and fifty tons of cukes the Kr-50mg2000
was as green as the frog on a lily pad.

This was no nuclear generating facility. So top-notch highly
trained maintenance crews worked on a tight schedule and
meticulously cared for the boiler and turbines. The plants safely
record was impeccable.  However, the boiler had a major problem. Over
the years the operating crew had divided into two factions over what
was termed "our diverse philosophies" of optimum steam and power
production/management. Of course, the "philosophies" really went beyond how
power was produced to more "human" matters of control and"pecking
order." For labels you could say it was the conservatives against
the liberals or traditionalists against the modernists.

The conservatives wanted to operate the boiler and turbines much
as folk had back 100 years back."It was good enough for James
Watt, it's good enough for me." Change was good for nuclear power
stations. But boilers were perfected many, many years
ago. So why monkey with success. Lets stay with the tried and
true. This was the motto of the workers belonging to OPPOSE. And
60% of the boiler crew belonged to Organized Profitable Providers
of Steam Energy. But, more adamant and vocal, the rest of the
workers had banded together to form  SPONG.   Steam Providers
Organization of New Gersy was dedicated to increased rates of
energy production to match  modern realities, namely a growing
population of sophisticated power consumers. The two groups of
steam makers got along well enough to maintain plant production
quotas. And though the two groups proponents never resorted to
violence or bloody tactics as had been rumored in the early days
of the boiler, the two groups were constantly bickering and
taking verbal swipes at each other in the press and public
forums. This unhappy situation persisted for many years but when
the "philosophical differences" increased to the breakingpoint
Kr-50mg2000 was set to the scene of real tragedy - loss of
revenue, and life, too.

The SPONG's made the first move. SPONG's president, with five board members, cranked up the heat of the boiler. First they merely added a few extra logs into the combustion chamber. Six minutes later OPPOSE workers detected the "hostile" act, and spun down the valves on the delivery pipes. Thus, they restricted the steam output to the "good old" levels.

 A week later, the Spong's were at it again. This time they added
logs and injected natural gas to raise the thermal output. OPPOSE
swiftly tightened the valves but heavy added steam pressure on
the valves only allowed a modest correction of the pressure to
the old normal levels.  In clandestine meetings OPPOSE planned a
crash program to install new type valves in series with the old
one. Installed when certain turbines were off line for
maintenance at the end of the month. When SPONG's realized the
low blow thrown at them they worked more feverishly to skyrocket
steam production. Gas, used oil, logs,and even oil -soaked
railway ties where thrown into the combustion chamber.The heat
was searing and one or two SPONG'ers began to think maybe Hell was
a reality. Of course, neither side was keen on recognizing human
limits. It's always the sky is the limit. And that's exactly where
the boiler headed.
 

KABOOM!

In a Krakatoa blow-your-top explosion the boiler and the
surrounding towns were erased from the map. For two years the
water vapor and dust thrown into the stratosphere produced rosy
sunsets around the world.

Now I ask you, Who is responsible for the devastating explosion?
The  SPONG's  who are always turning up the heat, yelling for more
energy to cater to modern needs?  Or the  OPPOSE's who, trying to
reduce the flow of steam, crank down the valves to the point of
seriously obstructing the flow of energy and power???????

     Same  Idea  More  Prosaically  Expressed