Monday, November 26, 2012

As Regs Stifle Healy Coal Plant, Fairbanks Hammered by Unaffordable Energy | Alaska Dispatch
So what did we get for our lost $400 million?

Well, the AIDEA board of directors, most of whom live in Anchorage (where heat and electricity are cheap), spent those years arguing they could save the world by running the Healy plant as originally intended with negligible pollution, even if it cost Interior Alaskans more money. However, the 12 years of expensive electricity actually prompted many Interior residents to turn to wood boilers for heat and hot water — expelling more particulates than in prior years.

Now we come to the EPA, made up of Lower 48ers with even cheaper space heat and electricity. Why didn’t they come to agreement sooner? Coal power plants are in decline nationwide, so why worry about a single, small, new, clean plant in Alaska? The amount of emissions in aggregate in Alaska with a small population and minimal manufacturing is truly miniscule. Nevertheless, the EPA wanted the old existing plant in Healy made cleaner -- even though it was already permitted -- and it wanted the revised Healy Clean Coal Plant to be made cleaner. The EPA dictates went overboard. [Via S.C.]
Vitter Pushes Treasury for Transparency with Carbon Tax E-Mails
Also asks Geithner to provide economic reasoning for pushing carbon tax
CIA Quietly Closes Global Warming Unit | The Moral Liberal
Instead it was a big joke that accomplished nothing and wasted undisclosed amounts (it’s a national security secret) of taxpayer dollars. In fact, Americans may never know much about what the center actually did or how much cash it blew since it’s all “classified” to prevent compromising national security.
UK consumers lose their taste for green energy - opinion - 26 November 2012 - New Scientist
...mention climate change in the UK and people's eyes tend to glaze over. But mention a rise in energy bills and the eyes narrow and eyebrows furrow in anger. Mention that the rise is to pay for green measures, and you have the roots of revolution.

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