What is really going on with the air permit?

Right now, Wolverine is still waiting to hear from the MDNRE on whether it will receive an air quality permit, despite Jennifer Granholm’s claim that the issuance of a permit has nothing whatsoever to do with politics.

The beginning of the coal plant saga was May 2006.  In a few months, we will have been talking about a better future for Rogers City for 4 years.

Since writing about a topic helps gain a better understanding of the story, I believe I can help put into perspective how far we have come, and what lays ahead.

In September, 2007, Wolverine applied for an air quality permit with the MDEQ.  It was the last application to the department among 4 major applications from hopeful power companies in the state.  Right now, one  of those four have received the permit.

Interestingly, Consumers Energy, the downstate company that received the permit, only got it because it promised to close 7 coal plants that were older and not considered clean.

Perhaps we are lulled into the belief that if Wolverine gets it’s air permit,
the  fight will be over, and all this contention will cease.  But, that is not true.

As was demonstrated in Marquette, Nothern Michigan University pulled it’s air permit after it was granted, because the Sierra Club appealed the permit to the EPA.  The EPA suggested that NMU hadn’t included CO2 and Nitrous Oxide, so it sent the permit back to the DEQ who really didn’t have clear direction from the Federal Government in those areas.

So the point is, this fight is ongoing, and considering the current administration at the federal level, as well as state, Rogers City, Michigan is in a bad situation.

Those who are really pushing for the plant in the community, and whose numbers are 100-1 with those against, have been paying attention and have been active in pursuing this plant even though they have no ties to Wolverine, other than the fact that they purchase their electricity through them.

Citizens have become part-time activists.  We are in a situation where we don’t have a very loud voice.  Our town is small, we only have one paper, that only publishes weekly, we have no Television news based here, we have no Radio station that originates here.  Among all of the local activists, I suppose I am one too.

I started writing about this plant last year on my blog.  I like to write, and I am interested in politics, so this saga had seemed to me a good muse to write about.  When I began, I was trying to win a trip to Pittsburgh  from a blogging competition.  But when I got into it, I realized just how complicated and sometimes depressing this story can be.  I never finished my series on the coal plant like I thought I would so I could win that trip to Pittsburgh, and now I am so deep into it, I need to share the information.

First, the only reason that this coal plant is not already being built is because of global warming theory.  Let’s first understand that global warming is theory and not fact.

As most of us are well aware, environmentalists from the Sierra Club and other affiliated groups have been very active in the killing of this coal plant.  They have, and continue to use delay tactics, fear and confusion to prolong the process and cause Wolverine to pay money to address their bogus concerns.

Since each and every one of us are part of the Co-op, the environmentalists are really draining our money.

From the board of Presque Isle Electric, to the townships, to the city, to the county commissioners, to the representatives of our area in the Michigan Legislature and the Federal Government, there has been absolutely no negative thing said against Wolverine.  There has been no charges of bilking the public, nor has there been a voice raised in opposition to this plant.

The only opposition to this plant is from the Granholm Administration and The Sierra Club and it’s affiliates both local and out of town.

When this topic is discussed wherever I find myself, it is perplexing to me that some dismiss the Sierra Club as do-good planters of trees.  In reality, they are extremely well-funded economy-crushing advocates.

A report by Judy Pasternak of the Los Angeles Times appeared in April of  2008 titled, “Global warming has a new battleground: coal plants.”  .  Here is some of what it said:

Every time a new coal-fired power plant is proposed anywhere in the United States, a lawyer from the Sierra Club or an allied environmental group is assigned to stop it, by any bureaucratic or legal means necessary.

The plant-by-plant strategy is part of a campaign by environmentalists to force the federal government to deal with climate change.

The campaign against new coal-powered plants has infuriated utilities, which say the environmentalists’ tactics are an abuse of the regulatory and judicial systems.

They are counterpunching with ads, lobbying and court briefs of their own, bringing the clash over coal to a pitch that rivals the environmental and legal fights over nuclear power decades ago.

The environmental coalition, which included the Natural Resouces Defense Council, Environmental Defense  Fund and Environmental Integrity Project, claims 65 victories over the last three years.  The Sierra Club is coordinating opposition to about 50 additional power plant proposals.

“We have a national presence, so we’re sort of mission control,” said Pat Gallagher, director of the Sierra Club’s environmental law program.

“We hope to clog up the system,”  said David Bookbinder, the Sierra Club’s chief climate counsel.  “It’s putting pressure on Congress to put together a comprehensive plan.”

Those of us who have attended the various hearings have been well versed in their tactics.  Many local leaders have been so fed up with the constant nit-picking and false comparisons that they have communicated their feelings publicly about these tactics calling them “death by a thousand paper cuts.”  Again, one of the tactics that has many upset is the delay tactic.

Right now, the DNRE has said that the air permit is being held up as a result of lack of man power.  As some of you may recall, last year, the Michigan Legislature combined the MDEQ with the DNR and the new DNRE is having trouble wading through all the paperwork generated by the Sierra Club and it’s partners in crime.

Also, at the Federal level, the new leader of the EPA, Lisa Jackson mirrors President Barack Obama’s view that man is causing global warming.

I’m not sure how to explain this, since so many factors have come to light in the last three months that should at least generate doubt in the minds of so many supposedly smart people.

Back in November, a hacker gained access to the emails of several prominent global warming experts in Great Britain.

These emails, in part, showed that the most important researcher, Phil Jones willingly chose to hide the fact that the earth has been cooling for the last 10 years.

Since November, Global Warming skepticism has exploded, and most recently, Phil Jones has shown to be an absolute fraud, admitting that several key data entries were wildly exaggerated, including tree rings from Russia and the Hockey Stick graph, and most recently, that he destroyed the papers that prove his science.

The British government has since determined someone at East Anglia committed a crime by refusing to release global warming documents sought in 95 Freedom of Information Act requests

An investigation by the U.K.’s left-leaning Guardian newspaper found evidence that Chinese weather station measurements not only were seriously flawed, but couldn’t be located

An Indian climate official admitted in January that, as lead author of the IPCC’s Asian report, he intentionally exaggerated when claiming Himalayan glaciers would melt away by 2035 in order to prod governments into action.

Russian think tank investigators evaluated thousands of documents and e-mails leaked from the East Anglia research center and concluded readings from the coldest regions of their nation had been omitted, driving average temperatures up about half a degree. (What to say to a Warmer, Mark Landsbaum)

There is more, just two weeks ago, Phil Jones also conceded the possibility that the world was warmer in medieval times than now – suggesting global warming may not be a man-made phenomenon.

And he said that for the past 15 years there has been no ‘statistically significant’ warming.

But since The Granholm Administration and the Obama Administration will not address these new issues, and since so much money and so many reputations are riding on the deeply flawed science of global warming, this fight is very chaotic.

Further, because of the inability of the Obama Administration to pass Cap and Trade through the Senate, they are planning on using the EPA to force regulations on businesses especially coal plants, the likes of which will cause more costs to you and I.

Lisa Jackson, head of the EPA has signaled that perhaps the department will not address the concerns it previously had with coal plants and other industries because of the concern that the economy is doing very badly.

She has said that maybe it is better to wait for the economy to pick up before the administration goes ahead and crushes it.

It is up to us.  Those of us that have been fighting to get the facts of the situation out to the public, and those of us that have been working to improve our children’s economic future.

From my research, I can clearly see how global warming hysteria, political wrangling, and outright lying have delayed the process of Wolverine Clean Energy Venture.  Any questions of medical ailments and pollution have already been addressed by the MDEQ in November of 2008, when they declared the plant meets and surpasses all air quality standards.

The only sticking point in this debate is the regulation of Carbon Dioxide.  We exhale Carbon Dioxide and plants need it to grow.  To illustrate the make-up of our atmosphere,  envision a stadium filled with 10,000 people, only 4 of them would account for the carbon dioxide. (Liberty and Tyranny, Mark Levin)

Environmental groups like to say that 30-40% of all Carbon Dioxide in the air is caused by the burning of coal and oil.  They like to say that we must stop burning these fuels because carbon dioxide is causing global warming.  But they are having a hard time explaining how.

Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth has been shown to be almost completely false, and now, amid all this controversy, the former Vice President has offered a weak argument in the NY Times opinion page, basically saying, ‘well, nobody’s perfect.’

However, last week, at a board meeting, Al Gore, who sits on the board of Apple Inc., was ridiculed by other members.  One member said that Gore “has become a laughingstock. The glaciers have not melted,”  referring to Gore’s views on global warming. “If his advice he gives to Apple is as faulty as his views on the environment then he doesn’t need to be re-elected.

Because of the commitment by the Obama administration to ‘do something about global warming’ I believe they are purposely avoiding all of the information flowing out of media sources outside of the US.  Very recently, some very prominent media sources including major American newspapers have finally started to report these findings.

Additionally, because the Administration is using the EPA to create regulations that congress couldn’t pass through legislation, it is catching major flak from representatives of coal-producing areas and labor leaders.

From the New York Times–The lawmakers warn that federal regulations will be unwieldy and could have crippling economic consequences.
“When Congress passed the Clean Air Act, it never gave EPA the explicit authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions for the purpose of stopping global climate change,”Representative Ike Skelton said in a statement. “But, that is exactly what EPA has proposed to do.”
Skelton said the joint resolution would stop EPA from implementing its proposed climate regulations “that would likely be very costly to farmers, business owners, Midwestern utilities, and consumers.”  That describes us in this little town.

From the Wall Street Journal–A top labor leader warned the White House that his unions fear new rules being crafted by the administration to cut greenhouse-gas emissions may have “severe negative consequences.” —-Aggressive implementation of [greenhouse gas] mitigation options available under the Clean Air Act could have severe negative consequences for our workers,” the labor leader wrote in a Jan. 27 letter to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

The Building and Construction Trades Department has around 1.5 million members in the U.S., with more than a dozen unions representing iron-workers, electrical workers, pipe-fitters, plumbers, and boilermakers.—Just a note, the union that represents the workers at Calcite is the Boilermakers.

The EPA earlier this week said it would delay some of its actions, which Administrator Lisa Jackson said was partly out of economic considerations.
Some industry officials said the delay also may help neutralize the growing controversy as the November midterm elections approach.
But even with the delay, energy-industry officials say they are concerned the EPA’s plans may force the premature closure of some coal-fired power plants and prevent new refinery and natural gas projects from moving ahead.

This story is not over by a long shot, I hope that many of you will begin to tune your ears to any news having to do with what I have layed out in this speech.  It will help you understand just what is happening nationally that is affecting our little town.