PDA

View Full Version : Lights Out In Georgia


Chief
07-01-2008, 08:16 PM
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=299804439197415

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Energy: A state judge has blocked construction of a power plant on grounds that its emissions permit does not set a cap on carbon dioxide. Global warming alarmism wins another round.


Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore of the Fulton County, Ga., Superior Court invalidated on Tuesday a government permit issued in 2007 for construction of a coal-fired plant in the southwestern part of the state.

She based her decision on last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that forced the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate CO2 as a pollutant, even though it is harmless to humans and animals and is necessary to plant life.

Naturally, environmental groups are thrilled that another energy-producing project has been shut down. "We will be taking this decision and making the same arguments to push for an end to conventional coal," said Bruce Nilles of the Sierra Club, which is involved in legal challenges to the construction of about 30 coal-fired plants.

Since environmental groups also oppose nuclear power, we'd like to know if they have plans for providing energy to a world where electricity needs are growing. It seems that their solution is for everyone to live with less and like it.

For Patti Durand of the Sierra Club's Georgia chapter, it's "a new day" in the U.S. Yet between her expressions of glee, she still grumbled that it is "a scandal that energy companies are still trying to build coal plants even though they cause global warming."

The real scandal, however, is that she and others have conned the public — as well as five members of the Supreme Court — into believing that man is causing the planet to heat because of CO2 emissions. They've used conjecture, not scientifically proved fact, to create fear and instill a sense of guilt and duty in the public.

No matter how many power plant projects they block, environmentalists will have no effect on the planet's temperature. Patrick Michaels, senior fellow for environmental studies at the Cato Institute, says that if implemented by every nation, the economy-choking Kyoto Treaty, which would do far more than shut down a few dozen power plants, would prevent warming by a mere seven-hundredths of a degree Celsius.

At 1,200 megawatts, the hijacked facility could have produced enough energy to power a million homes in Georgia, Alabama and Florida. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that it would have created "more than 100 high-paying jobs and millions in tax revenues" for Early County, the state's sixth-poorest.

A reasonable person would have to say those benefits far outweigh the risks of nontoxic gas emissions. Only an extremist would see it another way.


At some point, these lower court decisions need to be appealed to a higher court, and on to SCOTUS so they can take another look at that decision. If not, we are rapidly going to send ourselves back to the stone age over the myth (and Religion) of global warming and climate change.

Waterbuffalo
07-01-2008, 11:32 PM
So what happens if a Kalama plant gets canned for "global warming?" even though it has some of the best environmental constraints and yet its still being downed.

There was a SE2 plant up here Northeast Whatcom County was killed because of Adding vapour pollution that even the British Columbians are doing to themselves with all of their cars, strip mining resources, cutting down rows of forests and minerals extraction.

Along with building tract subdivision after tract home division. Yet they hold up a Washington Energy plant that wants to offer power to the US grid. This project was finally killed by the project sponsor because they did not see a way out from what could have been an international incident and BC's insistance they would not accept the power lines into their grid crossing into the Canadian side.

The location of this plant is in a remote Northeast Corner of Whatcom county, where the town's sewer, water and other stuff crosses an international boundary to be treated instead of having a small 5,000 person community buiild it.

So basically it was either have all the power cross the county and attach into a PUD grid or find some where it could connect into a BPA like line or the shortest route was to follow this same route as the above Town into BC.

Chief
07-03-2008, 07:05 AM
Nuclear power appears to be making a comeback in a big way; I hear there are some 25 nuke plants in the permitting pipeline, and there is some real interest in Congress toward getting the permitting time cut in half.

France is generating 80% of their national power frid with nuclear power, and it's interesting that they recycle their spent nuclear fuel and stretch it way longer than we do. I read somewhere that if the US were to use the same re-processing as the French do on all of the fuel rod assemblies we have in storage around the Country, we could light every house in the Country for 12 years!

Now the downside to the French process is that it also creates plutonium, and there are weapons proliferation questions about that too. However it is possible to burn plutonium in a power plant as well, and the proper technology to do that exists right now.

Frankly, I think that once Hanford is truly cleaned up, it would make perfect sense to build a new, state of the art nuclear generating facility on that land. There is nothing else out that way, which is why it was picked as the site of the Nations' plutonium plant in the first place, and there are long term nuclear storage sites on the grounds as well. It's the perfect site for a big state of the art generating plant, and there aren't any NIMBY's around to stop it. It would be relatively easy to plug it into Bonneville Power's grid too...

Waterbuffalo
07-03-2008, 10:45 PM
On the Hanford Reservation, there are places all ready set right up with power grid and connections with that former utility fiasco from the 1980's?

I agree with you Chief, with a couple new state-of-the-art nuclear plants in Washington the Kalama Coal fired plant would never be needed. Our nation would be less dependant on imported natural gas for natural gas fired plants.

Even our own Clark Public Utilities has one of these for times when its needed to help with power spikes. But with natural gas price spikes on the open market, this might continue to be an ever increasing expensive option. But right now CPU feels this is the best way to make its rate payers the best option for times when rates are at their highest. (Winter with heaters and Summer with Air conditioning?)

Wind and Solar Power is an opportunity for the right utility. Its not going to be a good but maybe a bandaid solution for the Pacific Northwest's energy needs. ( :-) Even our Wonderful Port is helping out in the effort?)

As our population continues to increase with one of the lowest employment rates in the country, best opportunity to start a business and succeed along with Interstate 5, there is going to be a huge need for energy.

With a huger pressure and push by the tribal and environmental interest to remove more and more dams around the dams through out the Pacific Northwest, not just the Columbia Basin or river system to restore ancient fish systems, there is going to be continued pressure to build "something" not just continued bandaids to problems.

Waterbuffalo
07-03-2008, 10:50 PM
:-) Even Enron-Portland General Electric has that former Trojan site with the Power Lines, utility easements, and river front access..

Why not stick an Upriver LNG transfer station or Natural Gas fired plant there?

Gosh, I bet the county that hosts that site would LOVE the economics and benefits of jobs.. I mean there is so many wonderful choices than just that.