Spectra Energy subsidiary Sabal Trail Transmission held
a landowner one-on-one at Wiregrass Tech last night.
Matthew Woody of the VDT was there, as was one Valdosta City Council
member, one Lowndes County Commissioner, and at least two county staff,
plus some landowners (“might as well get something out of this”,
several said at the food bar), one of whom was a match for Andrea Grover.
Matthew Woody, VDT:
Continue readingMonday in Albany, Tuesday in Moultrie, and tonight in Valdosta, the pipeline roadshow is rolling through Georgia towards Florida. These are not public hearings or town halls: the pipeline company seems to be trying to get landowners in the path to show up, but anybody can attend.
Brad McEwen wrote for the Albany Herald yesterday, Residents attend pipeline forum,
Sabal Trail Transmission LLC, which is a joint venture between energy giants Spectra Energy Corp. and NextEra Energy Inc., hosted the event to give citizens an opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the proposed project.
Set up like an open house, the forum had 15 Sabal Trail subject matter experts on hand to greet residents and Continue reading
Spectra Energy will tell us how great their proposed pipeline will be,
as it
cuts a 100-foot wide path from Anniston, Alabama to Orlando, Florida
through south Georgia,
using eminent domain to make you sell your land,
to deliver gas
from fracking in Pennsylvania
for the benefit of
Florida Power and Light.
Maybe you’d like to ask Spectra reps
Brian Fahrenthold
or
Andrea Grover a few questions,
like can we see a map of the proposed route, with parcel numbers,
and what about those
fines for violating federal regulations and Spectra’s own corporate operating procedures?
Added: facebook event.
Tonight (Wednesday) 16 October 2013 5:00-7:30 pm.
The Wiregrass Tech contact is Christy Cobb; she wasn’t in when I called yesterday. Tech’s web server still seems to be down, but Google has cached her as: Continue reading
No fracking France, affirms France’s highest court. No, silly utilities, fracking is not like geothermal power. Yes, utilities, you’ll have to write off a lot of fossils in the ground. But there’s far more money to be made in clean energy, so get on with it!
Mat McDermott wrote for Motherboard yesterday, You Can’t Frack France
After a constitutional court review, France's ban on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas and oil has become "absolute," in the words of Environment Minister Phillipe Martin. In its decision, the court found Continue reading
Nukes cost too much and are too centralized; sun and wind are the power we need and can afford.
Andrew Sullivan on the Dish 8 December 2012, Ask McKibben Anything: What About Nuclear Energy?
In October, Bill spoke to Marlene Spoerri of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs about his views on nuclear power:
I don’t foresee, especially post-Fukushima, a kind of political system in most of the world that would let it happen. Even before Fukushima, it wasn’t happening. The reason basically had to do with cost. Environmentalists helped shut down nuclear power, but really it was Wall Street that pulled the plug on it. It’s too expensive. It’s like burning $20 bills to generate electricity. It requires, if you’re going to do it, massive government subsidy. If you’re going to apply that subsidy, you’re better off doing it with other things that will generate more kilowatt hours per buck.
Now, that said, we should keep trying to figure out if there are some ways to do it that are more acceptable than the ones we’ve got now. You read about developments on the fringes, Thorium reactors and so on and so forth. But my guess is that in the timeframe we’ve got this is not going to be the place we go.
Kevin J. Kelley wrote for Seven Days 10 August 2011, Author-Activist Bill McKibben Gets “Disobedient” About Climate Change, Continue reading
Valdosta wants to survey to prepare for moving and upgrading the
Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The City Council is awarding
retirement benefits,
and the
employee of the month is three people this month.
One rezoning has been
withdrawn
and another
is up for action
Thursday.
Plus somebody didn’t like the Valdosta Historic Preservation Commission
actually requiring preservation and is appealing
to the City Council.
It would be interesting to see what’s in that WWTP surveying and engineering
contract and which parking is being appealed, but Valdosta City Council
doesn’t publish its agenda packets online, unlike for example
Augusta,
which has the second highest high tech job growth in the country.
Here’s the agenda. They also have a Work Session Tuesday 8 October 2013 at 5:30 PM, inconveniently the same time as the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.
AGENDAContinue readingREGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 P.M., Thursday, October 10, 2013
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
One of the world’s largest nuclear reactors was shut down Sunday by jellyfish.
Not a tsunami, not an earthquake, not a blizzard, not even hot water: jellyfish.
And it’s not the first time or the first reactor.
Tell me again how reliable centralized baseload power is?
AP reported yesterday, Jellyfish force nuclear plant shutdown in Sweden: Tonnes of jellyfish clog pipes that bring in cool water to the plant’s turbines
Operators of the Oskarshamn nuclear plant in southeastern Sweden had to scramble reactor number three on Sunday after tonnes of jellyfish clogged the pipes that bring in cool water to the plant’s turbines.
By Tuesday, the pipes had been cleaned of the jellyfish and engineers were preparing to restart the reactor, which at 1,400 megawatts of output is the largest boiling-water reactor in the world, said Anders Osterberg, a spokesman for OKG, the plant operator.
All three Continue reading
What do you the citizens want Lowndes County to be?
Here’s a chance to speak up, so when somebody asks where were you when
the decisions were being made, you don’t have to answer “lying on the couch
watching television.” (Thanks to Nolen Cox for that phrase.)
Corey Hull wrote on facebook today, Help Spread the Word for the Future of Lowndes County,
My office is conducting a survey and gathering public input on Facebook (go to www.facebook.com/valdostalowndesmpo) about what they want the Lowndes County Common Community Vision to be
( www.bit.ly/LowndesCCV). So far our participation has been low. I am calling on all of you to encourage your friends, family and colleagues to spread the word and let us know what you think about the future of Lowndes County and its cities.
Over the next two months there will be future opportunities for public input so stay tuned.
Thanks for your help.
On the Southern Georgia Regional Commission’s website, Lowndes County Common Community Vision, Continue reading
The divestment movement has come to VSU, thanks to Danielle Jordan and SAVE! -jsq
To: VSU Administration and VSU Board of Trustees
Petition: Divest Valdosta State From Fossil Fuels
We are asking Valdosta State University to:
- Disclose information on its investments
- To divest its holdings from fossil fuels within 5 years
- Freeze any new investments in the fossil fuel industry immediately
Why is this important?
As climate change progresses, we become more aware of the hazardous consequences that manifest in relation to a warming planet. We understand that in order to combat the issue, we have to alter our daily practices. However. the lobbying power of the major fuel companies has diminished the voices and power of individuals within our political system. Subsequently, policy has been written to favor the interests of the companies benefiting from the exploitation of our environment.
We are asking Valdosta State to distance itself from this industry and pursue alternatives, knowing that if we wish to address climate change, a collaborative effort must be made. By joining this movement, we can create a more ethical campus and move in the direction of sustainability.
So “the pipe will be monitored 24/7”? That’s not Spectra’s actual practice, according to an employee and according to a federal fine.
By fjgallagher for Natural Gas Watch 19 June 2013, Spectra Energy Employee: We Never Bothered to Check Natural Gas Pipeline for Corrosion,
A Spectra Energy employee acknowledged to federal inspectors that the company never conducted key tests for corrosion on a natural gas pipeline that was already operating at excess capacity, according to documents recently obtained by NaturalGasWatch.org.
There’s much more in the article, including this:
Additionally, according to another May 2, 2013 letter sent under separate cover from (PHMSA) to Holeman, Spectra failed to install equipment to monitor whether or not the natural gas pipeline in question was being affected by corrosion and could not produce any records indicating that the pipeline had, in fact, ever been tested for corrosion or that the pipeline was even structurally sound.
So that’s what “the pipe will be monitored 24/7” means. Good to know.
See Item 2 in that Final Order with fines from the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to Spectra Energy CEO Gregory L. Ebel: Continue reading