See the power behind FERC get it very wrong.
About China emissions, about energy and economy, about solar power, and all in one speech.
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), YouTube, 3 December 2009 (posted 15 Dec 2009), U.S. Senator John Barrasso speaks at ALEC in December 2009 in DC. Part 3,
Just look at China, Continue reading
Road trip to Callaway Gardens for the annual question time with Tom Fanning, questions provided by environmentalists and Southern Company (SO) stockholders from at least four states.
This figure from page ii of the meeting Notice illustrates both the problem and the solution for Southern Company.
Natural gas has replaced coal as SO’s top energy source, and Nuclear is still
in there.
But renewables are up to 4%.
And over on the right of the same page:
- Growth in Renewables
Approximately 3,800 megawatts of announced or added renewable capacity since 2012. This includes the development of what is expected to be the largest voluntary solar portfolio in the U.S. (at Georgia Power Company).
Interesting use of “voluntary”, but never mind that. If SO keeps that up, it will Continue reading
Solar high schools: not just for
Dublin, Georgia anymore.
New York City, and Rochester, NY, too!
How about solar Lowndes High School?
Or the new Valdosta High School?
Or since Valdosta has already
put solar at its Mud Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant,
how about on other city buildings?
How about on the county palace?
Or in Hahira, Dasher, Remerton, or Lake Park?
Erin Durkin wrote for New York Daily News 29 September 2014, 24 NYC schools getting solar panels in $28M project — and City Hall could be next, Continue reading
If Europe can do it, the U.S. can do it.
And we know
Georgia can get a third of its power from wind,
and even Spain is north of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida,
which have a lot more sun for solar power than anywhere in Europe.
Solar power
is already winning, even in Georgia.
Let’s help it win even faster, plus wind.
PR from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) 16 January 2014, EU could cut emissions by 40 percent at moderate cost,
The costs of achieving a more ambitious EU climate target are estimated to be moderate. Upscaling greenhouse-gas emissions reduction from the current 20 percent by 2020 to 40 percent by 2030 would be likely to cost less than an additional 0.7 percent of economic activity.
And that apparently doesn’t count the additional economic activity that would be produced by all those wind and solar deployments, not to mention related activities like electric cars. This is actually a pessimistic study, because it doesn’t account for such likely positive corollaries.
Many options to choose from—wind power could expand sevenfold
Continue reading
Continue readingRecently on Thursday December 16th, State Judge Ronit Walker denied air quality permits for a proposed coal plant in Sandersville, Georgia. Judge Walker cited the Georgia Environmental Protection Divisions failure to properly review permits, and their lack of enforcement of basic Clean Air Act standards for several hazardous emissions.
Flashback to April 27th in Valdosta Georgia when Environmental Protection Division Air Branch Manager Eric Cornwell openly admitted to having NOT READ the air permit application for Wiregrass Biomass LLC’s proposal to build a hotly contested 40mw power plant&emdash; during a Valdosta EPD hearing meant to evaluate those permits.
Today, the Valdosta Industrial Authority is hazardously entrenched
The
WSJ article about economic problems of biomass plants
goes on to suggest the government subsidize biomass more.
Clean Technica suggests
a better idea:
If solar got the
same subsidies as fossil fuels,
solar would be cheaper than current grid power everywhere in the U.S.
Each taxpayer has spent about $521 towards coal over the past five years
and only $7.24 towards solar.
How about we reverse that?
Solar needs no fuel, no truck deliveries, and no emissions.
-jsq
Dear Valdosta City Board of Education,I just wanted to thank you for responding to my concerns about the proposed biomass incinerator by seeking further information. I also want to thank Dr. Brad Bergstom and Dr. Gretchen Bielmyer for coming and speaking before the board. Their expertise in the area of ecology and toxicology provided valuable information to the discussion. At the same time, I greatly appreciate that these two professors’ comments were succinct and to the point.
I am deeply disappointed that the Industrial authority chose to consume the board’s time with a 45 minute presentation that never answered the question: Is this plant safe for our students? Never did Brad Lofton or Allen Pickett come close to discussing the air pollution emissions and their effects on the health of our children. Anecdotal information from hand-picked people in Cadillac, Michigan does not convince me as to the safety of this proposed plant for my children.
Meanwhile, the American Lung Association, a group that I trust, has spoken out against biomass and its emissions in regard to children’s health:
http://www.lungusa.org/get-involved/advocate/advocacy-documents/Letter-to-Reps-Henry-Waxman-and-Edward-Markey-re-American-Clean-Energy-and-Security-Act.pdfThe American Heart Association collected many specialist to look at the relationship between Particulate matter and our health and their findings are frightening:
The American Cancer Society finds that extended exposure to air pollution increases risks of cancer:
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/news/News/epa-estimates-cancer-risk-associated-with-air-pollution
Lastly, the world Health Organization presents air quality guidelines to prevent health risks, which pertain to most of the emissions from the plant:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs313/en/index.html:
I am appalled at the disrespectful tone that Brad Lofton took when addressing concerned citizens of this community. I am ashamed that the Industrial Authority would be so callous as to waste the Valdosta City Board of Education’s time with an endless sales pitch.
I truly appreciate the board’s effort to become informed about the issue and hope that we can get to the bottom of the paramount question: is the proposed biomass plant safe for our students?
Sincerely,
Karen R. Noll
Here’s an interesting
video interview
with Dr. William Sammons,
the doctor who spoke in Traverse City just before that biomass plant was nixed.
Is it more important to reach the target … or to say we have new information and we need to revise the targets and what qualifies?He’s talking about potential billions of dollars of health costs from particulates, about “waste” wood (what they say they will burn) vs. whole trees (what they end up burning), and most importantly about sustainability.
Biomass plants don’t have to report their CO2 emissions, so if all the proposed biomass plants get built we’re talking about as much as 800 million tons of CO2 from biomass plants by 2020, 12 to 14% of total CO2 emissions for the U.S. (not just power emissions: total national emissions). Trees don’t grow fast enough to suck all that back out of the air in ten years. Continue reading
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Environmental Protection Division (EPD) Air Protection Branch issued a
Press Release on April 12, 2010 announcing a meeting:
EPD will hold a question and-answer (Q&A) session and a public hearing on Tuesday, April 27, from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. in the multipurpose room in the Valdosta City Hall Annex. The city hall annex is located at 300 N. Lee Street.The subject is “on Proposed Biomass-Fired Power Plant Application Submitted by WireGrass Power, LLC”
You can also submit questions and comments in writing: Continue reading
This appears to be the date and location for the Georgia EPD
air quality hearing for the Wiregrass Biomass plant proposed
for Valdosta:
6:30 PM, 27 April 2010We’ve been waiting on this date for a while. EPD is going to send a press release to the VDT a few weeks in advance and post it on its own website, www.georgiaair.org. Assuming, of course, that the date and place don’t change again.
Multipurpose Room
Valdosta City Hall Annex
300 North Lee Street
Valdosta, Georgia
Why should you care? This plant proposes to burn sewage sludge, which can release numerous hazardous chemicals into the air. Here is Seth’s letter to the editor of the VDT of 21 Feb 2010: Continue reading