Mr. Bowers’ visit and his comments are almost comical, particularly his
quote that “the government is stimulating for renewables to give them a
running chance but, when you remove them, the question is can they run
on their own two feet?”
A good question! Fact is that neither coal nor nuclear would be able to
“run on their two own feet” if it wasn’t for the large subsidies both have
received for decades. Now these are nicely hidden subsidies so that the
average consumer thinks he is getting a bargain, without realizing that it
is us, the consumers, who have actually paid for this “inexpensive rate”.
At the same time truly renewable and clean energies
Please note that
the following was inspired by a letter (attached as a
photograph) that appeared in the Valdosta Daily Times in response to my
earlier piece on
“Solar: Infinite and Clean”. The Valdosta Daily Times
seems to enforce a quota of sorts at this time, so they won’t publish
my additional information for Mr. Blankenship and other “skeptics”.
Sources for the Skeptic
I have no idea why anyone would call companies in Mexico or Canada to
research the feasibility of local solar energy projects. I also do not
know what type of freezer the writer of “Seeking affordable solar
energy” has. Either way, I will be happy to share more information,
so that anyone interested in solar energy can do more research and
educate himself.
At the state level you can contact the “Georgia Solar Energy
Association” (www.gasolar.org/)
to learn more about the viability
of solar power in 2011, which is quite different from the situation
in 2001. A larger solar firm our community
Continue reading →
If we are to believe Fox News and the Tea Party, solar doesn’t work
because the solar panel manufacturer Solyndra went belly up, despite the
fact that it received $535 million in subsidies. While wasting an enormous
amount of tax dollars on a company with a flawed business concept should
raise everyone’s eyebrows, the conclusion that the Solyndra mess means
“solar doesn’t work” is mind-boggling. It’s like saying “cars don’t
work” because Chrysler went bankrupt in 2009, or “T-shirts don’t work”
because Fruit of the Loom filed for Chapter 11 in 1999.
Solar is one of the most attractive renewable sources of energy throughout
Dr. Noll, president of WACE, welcomed VLCIA’s new executive director Andrea Schruijer, and
then reminded the board that the honking cars outside
indicated an ongoing community assessment of biomass,
and he encouraged them to consider previously presented
materials and to prevent the biomass plant from
finding a back door to come back in.
He remarked that he had visited his mother in Germany:
One and half years ago she was in the intensive care unit for about three weeks
because she had severe lung issues.
She moved away after that
to an area where there isn’t the kind of air pollution she was
exposed to before hand,
and every single day she wakes up she feels like she’s on vacation.
Because of my mother —Dr. Noll @ VLCIA 19 July 2011
Regular Meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
Norman Bennett, Tom Call, Roy Copeland chairman, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett,
Andrea Schruijer Executive Director, J. Stephen Gupton attorney, Allan Ricketts Project Manager,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 July 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
It is unbelievable that despite all the concerns in our community about
biomass, the Industrial authority is still considering to sell the
land to a company like
Wiregrass Power LLC.
This is the same company
the Industrial Authority once stated
it had no faith in anymore.
This is the same company
that just missed another deadline as stipulated by
their contract. And this is the same company that apparently does not
have the best interest of our community in mind.
Our community could subsequently also “monitor” increases in respiratory
illnesses, cancer rates, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality
rates. Just ask the American Lung Association, the American Cancer
Society, and the American Heart Association.
This is incredible. A city council member who still hides behind an
EPD air permit, and who chooses to ignore the testimony of thousands of
medical professionals throughout the United States. At the same time,
we have a City Council that continues to isolate itself from its citizens
with a policy that undermines open dialogue.
The continued silence of our City Council and Mayor in regard to biomass
is mind-boggling. Haven’t they noticed the developments of the past
couple months? The regular protests? Hundreds and hundreds of signatures
and voices in opposition to biomass? Ashley Paulk’s statement? George
Bennett’s statement? Even a statement, it appears, by Wesley Langdale
who said that biomass is economically not feasible … which is something
WACE stated as far back as October 2010, supported by an article from
the Wall Street journal called “(Bio)Mass Confusion”.
Dr. Mark George once asked all City Council members the following
question: “What is it you still need from us, so that you understand
that biomass is a bad deal”? To my knowledge that question was never
answered.
Last night I shared a letter from a local physician
Dr. Noll has a few questions. This came in as a comment Saturday.
I’ll be happy to ask VLCIA Chairman Jerry Jennett these and other
questions when he calls me back. -jsq
Let me see if I got this right:
The week before the last meeting of the Industrial Authority (IA)
Wiregrass Biomass LLC sent a letter to the IA asking for an extension
of the agreement to build the biomass incinerator. (June 1, 2011, is
the current deadline.)
Based on comments made by Chairman Paulk and others, all indications
were that the IA may have been ready to vote down such an application
for an extension of the agreement.
However, the vote on biomass never came up at the IA meeting, and
as a matter of fact, biomass wasn’t even discussed, as it was not even
on the agenda. Apparently a few hours before the IA meeting, “biomass”
(or a vote on the extension of the agreement with Wiregrass Biomass LLC)
was removed from the agenda.
This change of events (i.e. the removal of a vote on biomass)
was based on an initiative by Mr. Jennett (Chair of the IA board),
Mr. Ricketts (Project Manager of the IA) and Mr. Gupton (the IA lawyer)
who went to Atlanta to have a little chat with Wiregrass Biomass LLC
(or Sterling Planet).
As a result of that talk, Wiregrass Biomass LLC withdrew their
application for an extension of the agreement. Thus, there was no contract
(or an extension of a contract) to vote on at the last IA meeting.
Ashley Paulk agrees with my mother about
what the Industrial Authority should do.
At the Lowndes County Commission meeting last night, Chairman Paulk
discussed the biomass plant with Dr. Noll, and said:
Certain people won’t share it with you, and I don’t think it’s fair.
We were approached … almost three weeks ago by the Industrial Authority
and we were asked to … ask them not to extend the contract.
Well, it’s not our contract; we could do that, but … we didn’t.
And then last week the Tuesday of their meeting, I received a call
… on my way back fromm Atlanta and they had gone up
there to talk to Wiregrass Power,
because they’d written a letter asking for an extension.
My understanding was that they asked Wiregrass to write another letter
to remove that extension request.
These are things, I think should be public knowledge.
Regular meeting of the Lowndes County Commission, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 April 2011
Video by Alex Rowell for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
He told me several weeks ago about the commission being asked to vote not to extend.
Continue reading →
More from the person posting as Mayor John Fretti, this time
responding to
Dr. Noll’s recent post. -jsq
Update 12:40 AM 23 April 2011: Mayor Fretti confirms that the post was by him. -jsq
Perhaps this is my last post: It is in regards to Michael Noll’s most
recent post. I will attempt to cut and paste the section that I would
like to respond.
“What I found most disturbing are actually the following things that
happened at last night’s meeting:
1) A Mayor in absentia because he is celebrating his birthday and decided
not to attend because of a lack of agenda items for the meeting.”
Michael – I hope that I have always been polite and respectful
Dr. Noll posted a comment today about last night’s Valdosta City Council
meeting, and we thank him for his report:
What I found most disturbing are actually the following things that
happened at last night’s meeting:
A Mayor in absentia because he is celebrating his birthday and decided
not to attend because of a lack of agenda items for the meeting.
A mother being harassed by Mr. Taylor who makes sexist comments when
her daughter is receiving an award for an essay contest.
A City Council and ALL of its members who continue to hide behind a policy
that supposedly does not allow them to respond during meetings. As if
they would respond before or after meetings.
City Council member Yost going into a tirade about my wife’s comment in
regard to “boring” meetings, when she is referring to the experience
of our children who have been sitting through quite a few of them by
now. Such meetings are indeed “boring” to a 9 and 12 year old.
Council member Yost then goes on to “thank” all of us for staying until
the end of the meeting so that we could witness the important work
they do. Like what? The replacement of two belt press sludge pumps, the
renaming of a street? If there is an important piece of work Mr. Yost
and his colleagues could impress us with, it would be a resolution to not
sell water to a biomass plant that threatens the health of our community!
-Michael Noll
Sometimes sludge replacement parts are boring,
but if we don’t replace them and the wastewater treatment plant
overflows, it may pollute your yard or your creek.
Best we take of it ahead of time and be proactive, rather than reactive.
Let’s take care of a problem before it happens!
-gretchen
PS: Don’t forget to go to the Planning Commission on Monday.
A good question! Fact is that neither coal nor nuclear would be able to “run on their two own feet” if it wasn’t for the large subsidies both have received for decades. Now these are nicely hidden subsidies so that the average consumer thinks he is getting a bargain, without realizing that it is us, the consumers, who have actually paid for this “inexpensive rate”.
