Category Archives: Law

Florida Southeast Connection pipeline preliminary filing with FERC

What costs less than a latte or a slice of pizza? A day’s electricity from Florida Power and Light, according to FPL VP Pam Rauch who also is NextEraEnergy VP and President of yet another pipeline company shell that wants to pull a 100 foot gas pipeline through Georgia for the benefit of Florida.

Still more names in the pipeline shell game: Pamela Rauch who filed FP14-2 for Florida Southeast Connection LLC (FSC), is Vice President, Development and External Affairs for NextEraEnergy and Vice President of External Affairs for Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) in January since 2008; on her LinkedIn profile she has the NextEra logo next to the FPL name. Here’s a nice picture of her making a case for an FPL rate increase for, among other things,

“our ability to finance the billions of dollars in improvements that keep reliability high and bills low, and that create thousands of jobs for you and your neighbors.”

Those would include “modernizations” as Spectra rep Andrea Grover put it in Moultrie like closing coal plants and building this pipeline through Georgia by Spectra Energy, a company with a corrosive-record of property damage and PCB-spilling environmental damaga for neighbors like hers in Florida. We could have more jobs for people right here through rooftop solar, and we’d get energy, reduced bills, and no risk of PCB or other spills.

What do you think about this, neighbors in Georgia? Maybe you’d like to get the Lowndes County Commission to get Spectra and maybe FSC to come explain themselves?

FERC file list for FP14-2 and text of the preliminary filing approval for Florida Southeast Connection: Continue reading →

WCTV on the pipeline

Spectra said “more rural” “lessens stakeholder impact”. What do you think about that, rural landowners whose land Spectra wants? County Chairman Bill Slaughter said the most positive thing he’s said so far, “we’re going to be looking out for the citizens of Lowndes County”, about this natural gas pipeline potentially ripping a 100 foot right of way through this county and many others in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama for the benefit of Florida Power and Light. And Valdosta, you’re not for sure out of the pipeline path: remember FERC could choose that Option B through Valdosta that is Spectra’s alternate route.

Option B by WCTV

James Buechele wrote for WCTV yesterday, Pipeline Would Cut Through Florida & Georgia, Continue reading →

Sabal Trail pipeline preliminary filing with FERC

Look at the other company names in this filing: Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC (Transco), Florida Southeast Connection, LLC (FSC), and Merjent, Inc. And another one, since filer Lisa A. Connolly is listed by Spectra as with Gulfstream Natural Gas System, LLC. Oh, and she’s also General Manager, Spectra Energy Transmission, according to Center for Houston’s Future. United Way of Houston says she’s General Manager, Rates & Certificates for the Spectral puppet master, Spectra Energy.

All three shells, Sabal Trail, Transco, and FSC, are hoping to get a common environmental rubberstamp with Merjent ghost-writing their Spectral document:

Transco- and FSC-sponsored projects are requesting separate pre-filing reviews. However, you have indicated that these three projects are connected actions and, as such, my staff will perform a single environmental review of these projects and will prepare one environmental impact statement that addresses all three projects….

My staff has reviewed the proposals submitted for the selection of one third-party contractor to assist us in preparing the National Environmental Policy Act documentation required for the Sabal Trail, Transco, and FSC Projects. We have selected Merjent, Inc. (Merjent) as the third-party contractor to work under the direct supervision and control of the Commission staff for all three projects. I request that you, Transco and FSC proceed with executing a contract with Merjent so work may begin as soon as possible.

FERC file list for PF14-1 and text of the letter: Continue reading →

Pipeline complaints heard at Lowndes County Commission @ LCC 2013-10-22

You don’t see this every day. After several citizens spoke in the Commission meeting against the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline and asked for the Lowndes County Commission to help them, four Commissioners stayed afterwards to listen to citizens:

Four Commissioners listening to citizens
L-R: Tim Bland, a citizen who spoke in the meeting, Joyce Evans (District 1), Matthew Woody (VDT), John Page (District 4), Bill Slaughter (Chairman), Carol Singletary, Demarcus Marshall (District 5), and other citizens.
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 October 2013.

Richard Raines (District 2) left quickly, saying he didn’t feel well.

Crawford Powell (District 3) spent the same time talking to County Engineer Mike Fletcher (who was at the Spectra meeting a week ago) about what could be done. There are things the county can ask for, and maybe get, that individual citizens cannot so easily accomplish.

Video of the Commission meeting will follow, including the citizens speaking.

-jsq

You gonna take him, too? –police illegally arresting journalist

It all started with someone handing out DVDs in a Federal Reserve museum, continued with people being arrested on a public sidewalk for doing nothing, and ended with a judge reaffirming that yes, you can video police.

John [?] wrote for Next News Network a 19 October 2013, Federal Reserve Bank Settles Counterclaim with Journalist,

In May of 2011 in Missouri, Bruce Baumann was peacefully passing out DVDs with his local media chapter, WeAreChange Colorado, outside the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City. However, when Baumann and fellow activist Ronald Lewis attempted to enter the Federal Reserve’s money museum, they faced resistance from the private bank’s security, which led to both of their arrest. Although this resulted in ongoing litigation for nearly 30 months following the incident, Baumann was confident that he would not only be successful in defeating the charges, but he would also be victorious in trampling the Federal Reserve Bank with a counterclaim.

Unbeknownst to Lewis, his name was previously recorded on a list Continue reading →

Striping and citing @ LCC 2013-10-08

Catching up with the Regular Session of 8 October 2013, why is the county going to pay $150/month for a traffic signal and $2200/month for offramp lighting (both at Exit 22, North Valdosta Road) when they could install solar panels and batteries once and pay nothing ongoing?

They tabled Nottinghill like the Planning Commission did. They voted to let Barrington subdivision sprawl into the county with no conditions, taking staff’s recommendation instead of one about a fence by the Planning Commission.. They voted to rotate the mostly ceremonial Vice Chairman position every eight months. They decided on a price for tentants in the Leila Ellis Building and will get around to drawing up a lease agreement. Commissioners finally did get that list of roads for striping. Fiddling changes to percentages evidence for juvenile justice and hardware and software for fining people coming off of I-75.

Here’s the agenda with links to the videos and a few notes. See also videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Request pipeline town hall –Tim Bland to LCC

Received yesterday. Tim Bland wrote “This is what I emailed to all of the commissioners on Friday.” I added a few links and pictures. -jsq

Commissioners,

I would like to start by thanking Demarcus Marshall for attending the meeting held by Sabal Trail at Wiregrass Tech on Wednesday. It is nice to know that some of our elected officials are concerned about this project.

After talking with many of the affected landowners at this meeting, it appears that there is a general misconception about the certainty of this proposed pipeline. The officials from Sabal Trail, both in writing and in person, are telling landowners that this pipeline is coming and there is little any of us can do to prevent it. This appears to be the main reason for the high approval rating for the initial surveys. We were told that if we did not willingly participate in the survey, there would be little consideration given to our input and opinions when the pipeline is built. We were also told Continue reading →

Against rate hike and solar fee by Georgia Power

If you missed Savannah, Columbus tomorrow, then Gainesville, Athanes, and Atlanta: you can speak up against Georgia Power’s attempt to charge you for saving them money by generating solar power.

Mary Landers wrote for SavannahNow Friday, Ga. Power proposed rate hike, solar fee blasted,

“Unconscionable” and “theft” were two of the words used Thursday evening to describe a residential rate hike and fee on solar installations proposed by Georgia Power.

More than 50 people attended a meeting sponsored by Georgia Watch and the Sierra Club at the Coastal Georgia Center to discuss the issues.

The rate hike, proposed in July, would have average residential customers paying almost $8 more a month. Some homeowners with solar panels would pay a new monthly fee of about $22 by Georgia Power’s estimations.

Video by WJCL News: Continue reading →

Press freedom is not opposed to freedom –AP

Press freedom is an essential part of liberty, and without liberty there is no security. It’s good to see the CEO of AP speaking up about this, after Julian Assange, Bruce Schneier, and Benjamin Franklin.

Colleen Slevin wrote for AP yesterday, AP CEO: Press freedom v. security a ‘false choice’,

Governments that try to force citizens to decide between a free press and national security create a “false choice” that weakens democracy, and journalists must fight increasing government overreach that has had a chilling effect on efforts to hold leaders accountable, the president and CEO of The Associated Press said Saturday.

Gary Pruitt told the 69th General Assembly of the Inter American Press Association that the U.S. Justice Department’s secret seizure of records of thousands of telephone calls to and from AP reporters in 2012 is one of the most blatant violations of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution the 167-year-old news cooperative has ever encountered.

The Justice Department action involving the AP resonated far beyond the U.S., including Continue reading →

Nukes have always been a government sponsored boondogle as cover for nuclear weapons production –John Pate

From Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace and Matsutaro Shoriki founding the Japanese nuclear industry to Shinzo Abe’s international nuclear salesmanship, nuclear power has always been a whitewash for nuclear weapons, with “peaceful” nukes a boondoggle for big corps subsidized by taxpayers and ratepayers. Yet the sun is rising around the world, on Japan as well as on the U.S.

U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower kicked it off with his “Atoms for Peace” speech at the UN, 8 December 1953,

The Atomic Energy Agency could be made responsible for the impounding, storage, and protection of the contributed fissionable and other materials. The ingenuity of our scientists will provide special safe conditions under which such a bank of fissionable material can be made essentially immune to surprise seizure.

The more important responsibility of this Atomic Energy Agency would be to devise methods whereby this fissionable material would be allocated to serve the peaceful pursuits of mankind. Experts would be mobilized to apply atomic energy to the needs of agriculture, medicine, and other peaceful activities. A special purpose would be to provide abundant electrical energy in the power-starved areas of the world. Thus the contributing powers would be dedicating some of their strength to serve the needs rather than the fears of mankind….

Against the dark background of the atomic bomb, the United States does not wish merely to present strength, but also the desire and the hope for peace.

And “Atoms for Peace” was part of an organized government PR campaign (“Operation Candor”) about Soviet nuclear weapons; see http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/research/online_documents/atoms_for_peace.html”>Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library for sources. Operation Candor was replaced by Operation Soothing Syrup (I am not making this up), according to Continue reading →