The Rogers City High School gymnasium filled up with people one more time last night, in what we were told is the last public hearing for the [...]]]>

The Rogers City High School gymnasium filled up with people one more time last night, in what we were told is the last public hearing for the air quality permit for the proposed power plant.

It has been five years since Wolverine Power announced their plans to build a coal-fired power plant in the world’s largest limestone quarry near Rogers City, Michigan. The hearing was specifically set to help the public understand the emissions limits and best available technology for greenhouse gases, as well as to show the proposed plant will not violate new ambient air regulations.

From the Presque Isle County Advance:

When the state denied Wolverine’s application May 21, 2010, it did so based on a perceived lack of need as determined by an opinion of the Michigan Public Service Commission. Wolverine appealed that denial and a Missaukee County judge agreed that there was no legal basis for the denial, sending it back to the DEQ in January.
DEQ spokesman Brad Wurfel said that without the provision of “need” considered, the applicant would have met all state and federal requirements last year. Modifications in the permit have to made because of new federal regulations enacted in 2010, which Wolverine’s engineers, working with DEQ staff, have strived to meet.
“The department will carefully evaluate comments received, determine whether there should be any changes made to the permit conditions, and develop the “Response to Comments” document. If the permit is approved, the Response to Comments document will be issued simultaneous to the permit,” Wurfel said.

Steve Schulwitz writes in the Alpena News:

The permit to install appears to be the last hurdle for Wolverine to clear in order to build the facility. Hellwig said he hopes to have the matter decided one way or another soon.
“We anticipate closure soon,” Hellwig said. “Following the hearing we consider the testimony and public comment, and then as a decision maker, I will render a decision. Depending on the level of comments, the details of the comments, and the time to do a response document, that will determine how much longer it will take. I don’t anticipate it taking a very long time, but we do have to go through the comments and make sure we rewind to those.”

In short, last year, after waiting 2 1/2 years for an air permit we were promised would take no more than 6 months, the permit was denied based on Governor Jennifer Granholm’s unconstitutional and rescinded executive order that all coal permits be issued on a needs basis. Her administration saw no need for the plant, despite clear, concise documentation to the contrary, and denied the permit. Wolverine Power appealed the denial in court and won, making it abundantly clear that the denial was purely political. This hearing brings us back to October 2008, except for the fact that the federal EPA has tightened emissions limits on two gases that are special to coal burning, NO2 and SO2.
Without going in to too much technical language, the plant passes those standards.

So here we are again. Every standard set by the State of Michigan is met by Wolverine. Every regulation not in place last time has been met now in 2011. Whenever a safety minimum has been suggested, Wolverine has doubled and sometimes tripled their own standards to remove any doubt that they are committed to building a state-of-the-art clean coal-fired power plant in one of the most economically depressed counties in the State of Michigan, and that’s saying something. It is now left, once again, to the State of Michigan DEQ to give the permit an up or down.

Utilities double-counting ‘Renewable Energy Credits’

Okay, this story is going down a new road for me, I have heard of Renewable Energy Credits, (RECs) but like [...]]]>

Utilities double-counting ‘Renewable Energy Credits’

Okay, this story is going down a new road for me, I have heard of Renewable Energy Credits, (RECs) but like you, I don’t care about them. I’m just shocked about how fake all of the green energy is. With RECs, energy isn’t traded, pieces of paper that say you care about green energy are traded. What happens is, the EPA issues pieces of paper to wind power farms. Those farms sell the paper to power companies that do not have wind power as part of their energy plan, therefore they can meet the national quotas for “green energy” and save face with the EPA.

Wolverine Power of Michigan (the one suing the state over a denied air permit) bought some RECs from Huron Wind. Then DTE Energy bought the same RECs, so now there has been a double-counting of useless pieces of paper. The article’s title suggests that it is DTE and Wolverine Powers fault that the RECs (interestingly pronounced wrecks) were double counted. “This double-counting of RECs shows the vulnerabilities of relying on a commodities trading scheme instead of actually buying clean energy,” some ecology nut said. The nut went on, “”What we’re really asking is for the MPSC to do a public accounting..”

Excuse me, but if the wind power place had the RECs to distribute, and they were bought by one utility after being claimed by another, isn’t it the wind power place’s job to account for it? So we have paper from the EPA given to the wind place, and then sold to a utility, who can either also buy the energy, or not, just to prove they are green enough. When things that don’t exist get double counted, the eco nuts look to a governmental unit like the MPSC.

Green Hell Blog: CFL’s Burn Out In California?

Somebody call Upton! CFLs do not last 9 years, they last 6 years, and that screws with the so-called savings they said buying one would produce. Bring back the incandescent!!

Watts Up With That?: Quote of the Week–Carbon Traders Defraud The Fraud

Chicago stopped trading carbon credits and now Europe did, getting all ticked about people who are gaming the system.

Which brings me to my last offering, from the nutjobs at “friends of the earth,”

10 Ways to Game the Carbon Markets

Just a note, when reading anything from the FOE, read it in a high-pitched whine, slightly lower volume than a scream.

Keeping an eye on energy news we don’t hear much about. Below are links to articles and my take on them.

Picking up where we left off last week, the [...]]]>

Keeping an eye on energy news we don’t hear much about. Below are links to articles and my take on them.

Picking up where we left off last week, the final story on the round-up was about how China has been subsidizing wind and solar and coal, virtually their entire energy production roster, and how they are out-subsidizing us. This week NRO’s Greg Pollowitz goes further and shows that despite China’s energy subsidies, you cannot get past the fact that wind and solar do next to nothing in actual megawatts of energy production:

But despite this rapid progress, wind energy still only generates a tiny fraction of China’s electricity. Indeed, even with aggressive government backing and green energy mandates, such “new energy” — including wind, solar, nuclear power plants, and biomass — accounts for less than 3 percent of China’s electricity production, compared to more than 70 percent provided by coal..

This is evidence of why coal power cannot easily be replaced with wind and solar, but also by nuclear:

Just to supply one-quarter of its current energy mix from a resource that emits far fewer greenhouse gases — nuclear power — the U.S. would need to build 1,000 one-gigawatt nuclear reactors by 2050. Yet construction has begun on only two nuclear reactors in the U.S. since 1974. And just to power an electric car and truck fleet to replace the U.S.’s current gas and ethanol-fueled one would require 500 new nuclear power plants. There are currently 442 reactors in the entire world, of which the U.S. has 104 — the most of any nation.

The Green Movement is loud and whiny, but they are not working fast enough to beat what they see as the thing that will kill the planet. Because it cannot be beat, and it will not kill the planet. Coal is part of the planet.

One of the funnier posts on Anthony Watts’ blog, “Watts Up With That?” is the graph in “Alarming Trends” he posted from Bishop Hill’s blog. He added more words to the query to make a funnier and more pertinent example in his final graph. Just how the books that pertain to bullshit and global warming rise at the same time is interesting, no?

Keeping an eye on energy news we don’t hear much about. Below are links to articles and my take on them.

Yes, You Could Say I’m A Global Warming [...]]]>

Keeping an eye on energy news we don’t hear much about. Below are links to articles and my take on them.

Yes, You Could Say I’m A Global Warming Denier, but only if you communicate in negatives. There is not a pink elephant in my kitchen, but that doesn’t mean I’m denying it, it means there is not one there.
Watt’s Up With That? is a blog devoted to the Global Warming Myth, and is where I stole this graph, but also the latest argument killer of the “climate change movement.” Dr. Kevin Trenberth says that since the IPCC says global warming is “unequivocal,” that now we must prove that man has absolutely no effect on climate change. Willis Eschenbach explains.
WHAT GLOBAL WARMING?

What an absolute mess the British Police have made.
They sent a police officer, well actually, many police officers undercover to live amongst the hippies, I mean eco-terrorists. While he was undercover, Mark Kennedy slept with more than a few of the hippy women, even though he is married. The whole undercover police thing fell apart when the eco-marxists planned an attack on a coal plant. Kennedy came clean, (I actually don’t know if he showered or not,) told everything, and now, the police are in trouble for sending him undercover in the first place. Get this, the attorney for the eco-nutso’s is actually suggesting that Kennedy be held up for rape because the women did not know they were compromising themselves with a non-hippy. How does law and order become all jumbled up? Think this is all far-fetched? You are looking at America in 20 years if we don’t stop these environmental whackjobs.

If I told you that if we don’t do something about the climate and how it changes, in a thousand years, things may be different, what would your reaction be?

If we stopped emitting carbon dioxide now, which would bring us close to the 2010 scenario, it’s unlikely the ice sheet would collapse, Gillett said.

STOP EXHALING!

I found it comical to read these two articles back to back. One from Grand Rapids, and one from Ludington.
Pros, cons of wind energy get a closer look at local forum
Residents share wind turbine concerns
Nevertheless, those who don’t necessarily read these types of articles may not see the comedy. The pros and cons of wind energy are being juxtaposed against the cons of coal plants. And, the cons of the coal plants are given only by the wind pros, and they are wrong.
For instance, the wind pros say that their product causes observable “fatal collisions birds and bats have with turbines, counting carcasses and observing feathers flying,” and the other story confirms that by saying, “noise, blade throw, ice throw — if ice formed on the blades loosens and then is thrown from the blade — bats and birds.” All of that is quite unnerving. But, in order to prove that wind turbines are good, the wind pro said, “Acidification of soil and water changes habitats, and mercury is killing animals, she said….Climate change due to coal-driven power could eliminate entire ecosystems that took thousands of years to develop.” That is first of all, not true, and second of all, not a reason to get a wind turbine. Of course, by looking at the video on the Ludington site, you will see just how fun it would be to live by a wind turbine.

Evergreen Solar closing Massachusetts plant because of competition from ‘heavily subsidized solar manufacturers in China’
And lastly, this story is sad, and shows the inevitable end to all the wonderful green energy subsidization in America. Sometimes, we just have to realize that China will always out-subsidize us.

Keeping an eye on energy news we don’t hear much about. Below are links to articles and my take on them.

Down on Upton: Michigan Energy News Undercuts Rep’s [...]]]>

Keeping an eye on energy news we don’t hear much about. Below are links to articles and my take on them.

Down on Upton: Michigan Energy News Undercuts Rep’s Rap
Henderson is in charge of the Midwest Division of the Natural Resources Defense Council, and is upset that Upton has changed his tune on energy. Henderson believes his efforts with the NRDC are helping improve the planet. In my view, Henderson has a God complex, and nothing he is doing is helping our nation improve it’s economy, even though he says his way of fighting “climate change” is creating jobs. If Henderson was so interested in nature, he would have learned long ago that the earth heals on it’s own, and the world’s climate changes and there is nothing we can do about it. I see little reason for Fred Upton to hear him out on this, but I found it interesting that he tries to convince the reader that his point of view has merit after he says, “Whether you agree with the climate science or not, everyone can agree that eliminating the massive toll taken by air and water pollution that comes along with coal plants—as well as eliminating waste from our energy system—is unambiguously good.” With that sentence, he switches the focus from “climate change” to pollution. The new coal plants are very clean, and brand new technology fights pollutants. The fact is, the renewable energy he is talking about cannot produce the amount of energy that coal can, nor the amount of jobs. Henderson is a coal-industry hater, even though coal is part of nature.

U.S. does not have infrastructure to consume more ethanol
A study done by Purdue University says that unless something is done, ethanol production in America is an exercise in futility. There aren’t enough flex-fuel vehicles on the road, and the owners of many of these types of cars don’t know they can use that type of fuel, or won’t, or can’t find a pump. Wally Tyner used information from the EPA to come to the conclusion that the saturation point has been reached when it comes to ethanol. “Even if you could produce a whole bunch of E85, there is no way to distribute it,” Tyner said. “We would need to install about 2,000 pumps per year through 2022 to do it. You’re not going to go from 100 per year to 2,000 per year overnight. It’s just not going to happen.” Tyner goes on to say that ethanol would have to be cheaper than gasoline in order to be energy efficient.

Scientists: BP’s oil lingers, but bacteria ate natural gas
The title of the article is misleading. The story says they can’t find the oil, but the natural gas was eaten up by bacteria. All that really means is they can’t find the oil (but maybe it was eaten up too, but we can’t prove it.) Fair enough, but this story is something Henderson-with-the-God-complex should read. Isn’t nature wonderful? Or, as a friend of mine said, “”gee, bacteria eats cow farts. someone should inform the EPA.” If you don’t get the reference, read this, Cow Backpacks Trap Methane Gas Oh, the jokes are just careening through me brain.

To Complain About Limited Resources is Like a Trillionaire’s Child Complaining About Allowance; The Case for Optimism from the Ocean Floor
Mark Perry is a professor of economics and finance in the School of Management at the University of Michigan-Flint. You should read it, but Henderson-with-the-God-complex should read it too.

Mother Earth is abundant, she has natural cycles, she heals herself, and adapts to adversity. All of nature does this.

First of all, I want to heap lavish praise on Governor-elect Rick Snyder for splitting the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of [...]]]>

First of all, I want to heap lavish praise on Governor-elect Rick Snyder for splitting the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Environmental Quality. In my view, when the state legislature approved the combination of the DNR with the DEQ, it bottle-necked the permit process and lent to the nearly 1,000 day wait for eventual denial of the permit.

At the time, state lawmakers were giddy with the notion that they were helping “streamline” government by combining the two departments. One of our Republican state lawmakers was a facebook friend of mine back then, and beneath her ecstatic status update that trumpeted the great news, I commented, “But, doesn’t this mean that when we try to extract our natural resources, any industry will be shut down due to environmental concerns? It seems to me that this is a windfall for the radical environmentalists.” That comment was deleted very quickly, but I still think it’s true. I thought it was foolhardy to trust Granholm’s bureaucracy especially after all the studying I did about the Wolverine Clean Energy Venture and how the Granholm administration worked hand in hand with the Sierra Club and other radical groups. If you don’t think the Sierra Club is a radical environmental group, you have not seen what happened here in Rogers City.

So now that Snyder has said the two departments will be split, it is along that line that I call on Governor-Elect Rick Snyder to review the permit to install for Wolverine Clean Energy Venture.

The Granholm administration went out of their way to deny this top-of-the-line clean coal energy plant. Granholm, an attorney by profession, utilized her bureaucracy to make up regulations and make new unconstitutional laws by executive order. She and her administration lied repeatedly to consumers, and denied the air permit based on her shredded process, rather than science, and the law.

In accordance with the campaign promise from his commercial during the 2010 election season, “We’ll dump that tax, thin the regulations and jobs will come back,” Snyder must review the Wolverine air quality permit denial.

A brief synopsis, in case this post gets to the governor-elect’s desk.

In May, 2006, Wolverine Energy announced they were seeking to build a base-load clean coal plant in Rogers City, within the largest limestone quarry in the world, which would take advantage of both the limestone for the scrubbing process, and the deep-sea port for the transport of supplies. An air quality permit was sought in September of 2007. A battle ensued with local and national environmental groups, but the process of the most important permit needed for installation of the plant continued when the Michigan DEQ held public hearings and announced that the proposed top-of-the-line clean coal base-load plant was environmentally sound, in October of 2008. All the data was reviewed, the townspeople were assured that even the scientists sitting in front of them, were completely comfortable with the idea of raising their families in Rogers City with the coal plant in operation. In January of 2009, Jennifer Granholm issued her plans to make Michigan “green” and discontinue coal as a source of power, replacing it with conservation and wind/solar energy. She issued an executive order that said that all coal plant permit applications will have to go through the MPSC, but that EO was challenged as unconstitutional by then AG Mike Cox and had to be rescinded. Nevertheless, it was the MPSC that determined that the clean coal plant be denied installation, citing that Wolverine “failed to demonstrate the plant was needed to meet future supply needs,” a finding that was not true, nor in accordance with the law. The Granholm administration continually moved the target on this permit application, and in the end, denied it ignoring the law and scientific fact.

The process of getting an air quality permit, or permit to install from the DEQ was knee-capped by three main reasons. One, the administration sat on the permit for 2 years and 8 months, a typical permit takes 3 months to 1 1/2 years. Two, the DEQ no longer existed to issue the permit, even though they approved the air quality in October of 2008. Three, Jennifer Granholm acted unlawfully and against scientific fact when she used faulty predictions of need, relying on the MPSC rather than the DEQ.

The northeastern lower peninsula has some of the highest unemployment numbers in the state. That plant would have generated 2,000+ jobs within the first year of installation, and put our city and townships at a tax revenue level never before seen here. It was unlawfully denied by an administration with absolutely no thought of improving our economy and our energy future.

More on the Rogers City Coal Plant can be found at jennerationx. com.

Uh oh.

Fred Upton, a Republican from Michigan, is insisting he is worthy to [...]]]>

Uh oh.

Fred Upton, a Republican from Michigan, is insisting he is worthy to chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and has written an Op Ed in the Washington Examiner titled, “Rep. Fred Upton: A new majority for America.” In it, he describes what he will do if in fact he is chosen as chair, and reiterates his manly chainsaw approach to the budget, and unfortunately, uses the words, “shine the spotlight” on the Obama-Pelosi regulatory policies.

Hang on, check the spotlight bulb first, is it the government-mandated type?

But the kicker was when he said,

“I also look forward to working with my fellow pro-life colleagues to protect the sanctity of life, beginning with the passage of Rep. Joseph Pitts’ Protect Life Act and Rep. Christopher Smith’s No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.”

Hang on, gotta check another link. Wait, Mr. Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee points out that Upton’s Pro-Life record is abysmal, voting against Pence’s legislation to cut off funding of Planned Parenthood twice.

“Johnson goes on to highlight Upton’s votes for cloning, embryonic stem-cell research, and the abortion drug RU-486. Johnson also points out Upton’s record on the unborn victims’ of violence act:

During the Administration of President George W. Bush, one of the major pro-life debates in Congress was over this question: If, during commission of a violent federal crime, a criminal attacks a pregnant woman and kills her unborn child, does that crime have one victim, or two? Polls showed that about 80% of the public said “two victims,” but Mr. Upton’s answer was “one victim” – he twice voted for the Lofgren Substitute, which would have codified the doctrine that such a crime has only one victim”

The Weekly Standard posts the entire letter from Douglas Johnson to the House Republican Steering Committee. Johnson points out,

“Throughout his career in the House, Mr. Upton has been a strong defender of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.”

After reading that piece in the the Weekly Standard, Nolan Finley looks like a fool in his, ‘What a great pal Fred is,’ post in Sunday’s Detroit News.

Finley points out that Upton says he’s a conservative and votes with the GOP leadership nearly 100 percent of the time. Well, to quote my mechanic, “there’s your problem right there.”

It is the duty of conservatives to be conservatives first, and unfortunately, Upton is a Republican first, who is not conservative, even though he uses words like cut and chainsaw.

Upton’s record clearly shows he is liberal, and many people I know would call him a RINO, but the idea that he is being considered for the Chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee after all that has come to light is unreal.

Rep. Doc Hastings of Washington has suggested this week that the Energy Committee be enveloped by his Resources Committee for many reasons, which would moot the rejection of Upton altogether.

According to the Houston Chronicle, there are four “contenders to the top Energy job- Reps. Fred Upton of Michigan, John Shimkus of Illinois, Cliff Stearns of Florida and Barton” of Texas. Barton is term-limited by the House’s own rules, but is seeking a waiver from his colleagues to run again. Barton made news during the BP oil spill this summer, when he apologized to BP for the government’s “shakedown.” Barton was immediately back-handed by the leadership and was forced to apologize for his comments lest he lose his committee seat on the Energy Committee. But, Barton’s comment was right by conservatives like Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin, who denounced the leadership for reprimanding Barton. It is believed Cantor and Boehner forced him to apologize, and they are still in charge.

Incidentally, Barton has a 94% rating from the American Conservative Union, Shimkus has an 88% rating, Stearns has a 94% rating and Upton, a 72% rating.

Freedom Works has posted a website titled, “Down With Upton!” that points out his non-conservative leanings and sends visitors to call members of the GOP Steering Committee and to sign a petition against Upton.

After being flogged by conservatives across the board on the banning of the incandescent light bulb, Congressman Fred Upton changes the subject.

He posted an article on Right Michigan, saying, in part, [...]]]>

After being flogged by conservatives across the board on the banning of the incandescent light bulb, Congressman Fred Upton changes the subject.

He posted an article on Right Michigan, saying, in part,

The American people are fed up and demand that we tackle government spending and the federal budget deficit immediately. The days of the administration printing more money as a solution to meet budget shortfalls are now over.

The American people, including many Michiganders are clearly fed up with the overreach of government as well. Banning the incandescent light bulb was just the sort of thing that flipped the switch in most people’s minds.

In his article, he admits that work on budgetary concerns are not the sole job of the Energy and Commerce Committee, he suggests a repeal of unspent stimulus dollars nationwide.

Good thing the $19 Million in stimulus that Whirlpool got has been spent.

The rest of his article is really masculine, using the words cut, cut, cut and chainsaw, which is really good. Where was all this “manning up” when the green lobby told him that the world would end if we don’t ban the incandescent light bulb, and force our society to have no choices in how they light their home?

Now, I agree with Congressman Upton that “sunshine is the best disinfectant.”

From RedState:

THIS IS THE MAN WHO CAME UP WITH THE IDEA TO BAN THE LIGHTBULB!!

Here is the rest of his sorry voting record:

BAILOUTS

* Voted YES for TARP
* Voted YES on the auto bailout
* Voted YES on Cash for Clunkers

SPENDING

* Voted NO on 7 of the last 9 RSC Budgets
* Voted YES on the Farm Bill
* Voted YES on the 2005 Highway Bill
* Voted NO to cap farm subsidies
* Voted YES four times to extend unemployment benefits
* Voted NO to end milk subsidies
* Voted NO to cut sugar subsidies
* Voted NO to cut NEA spending
* Voted NO to cut AMTRAK spending
* Voted YES to increase funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
* Got a 53% on the Club’s 2009 RePORK Card
* Got a 42% on the Club’s 2007 RePORK Card

TAXES

* Voted YES on Patriot Tax – a surtax on high income earners

REGULATIONS

* Voted YES for Sarbanes-Oxley
* Voted YES to increase the minimum wage
* Voted YES on energy bill with new CAFÉ standards and tax hikes
* Voted NO to waive Davis-Bacon
* Voted YES to criminalize “price-gouging”

POLITICAL FREE SPEECH

* Voted YES to force 527s to disclose their donors
* Voted YES on McCain-Feingold
* Voted YES on the 527 Reform Act

ENTITLEMENTS

* Voted YES for SCHIP

GOVERNMENT REFORM

* Voted NO to privatize postal service for 20 communities
* Voted 7 of 9 times to increase congressional pay

SCHOOL CHOICE

* Voted YES on No Child Left Behind

I call on Fred Upton to introduce legislation to repeal his ban on the incandescent light bulb. Then we can talk budgets and committees.