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Author Topic: Fossil Fuels: Degraded Democracy and Profit Over Planet Pollution  (Read 30187 times)

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AGelbert

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Wednesday, November 5, 2014
 
 
WHAT MIDTERM RESULTS MEAN   

The new GOP Senate is already gearing up to cause climate mayhem
Ben Adler, November 5, 2014 (Grist)

“…[Republicans] biggest win by far was taking control of the U.S. Senate…This is not good news for the climate. The party that controls the majority and the committee chairmanships controls the agenda. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will now be the majority leader. McConnell deflects questions about whether he accepts climate science by saying he isn’t a scientist and citing climate-denying conservative pundit George Will. But he is clear about where he stands on fossil fuels, especially coal…Attacking President Obama for not sharing his passion for burning carbon was central to McConnell’s reelection campaign…Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska takes the gavel [of the Senate Energy and Commerce Committee]. Leading climate denier James Inhofe of Oklahoma will be taking over the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and fellow denier Ted Cruz (R-Texas) will be chairing the Committee on Science and Technology…The Republicans have two top energy-related demands: stop EPA from regulating CO2 and approve the Keystone XL pipeline…

Read more stomach turning proof of (see below  :() at link:
 http://nenmore.blogspot.com/2014/11/what-midterm-results-mean.html
 
 
 


He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Investigation Exposes Revolving Door Between Fossil Fuel Lobbyists and Politicians 

Anastasia Pantsios | November 20, 2014

There was much speculation about Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu‘s motivation  ;)   :evil4:  for pushing the first full Senate vote this week on approving the Keystone XL pipeline. Some revolved around her trying to improve her chances in the Dec. 6 Senate runoff against Republican Congressman Bill Cassidy (neither candidate got a majority on Nov. 4). Others say she’s likely to lose anyway and that her grandstanding was directed at oil and gas companies that might provide a lucrative landing spot for her after she leaves the Senate in January.



Politicians and government staff become lobbyists and vice versa, and this new report follows their trails. Image credit: DeSmogBlog/Republic Report


That latter speculation isn’t idle, as a new report from DeSmogBlog and Republic Report indicates. Natural Gas Exports: Washington’s Revolving Door Fuels Climate Threat lays out how corporate lobbyists swap roles with politicians and government officials constantly, leading to excessive influence by corporations on lawmakers, the Obama administration and federal agencies. It describes how this revolving door eased the way for Big Oil to land four permits for liquified natural gas (LNG) export facilities from the Obama administration since 2012. And while the report, the first salvo in an ongoing investigation of what it calls “the LNG exports influence peddling machine,” looks specifically at LNG export facilities, its conclusions could be applied to the entire machinery of climate denier influence in Washington DC.

“The 2014 U.S. congressional midterm elections are now complete, and the Republican Party controls both the House of Representatives and the Senate,” says the report. “Some have forecasted that this could have catastrophic impacts for progress on climate change and environmental protection in general. But below the radar in Washington DC—little noticed by the media or public—a major change on energy policy has already been long in the making. Corporate lobbyists have helped to engineer a transformative shift with little scrutiny or meaningful debate: plans to extract U.S. natural gas and export the gas overseas to more lucrative markets. This shift—if fully realized—will continue to transition the U.S. into a resource colony, where our communities, homes, air and water are exploited and polluted so that large multinational corporations can pursue ever-higher profits by selling U.S. fossil fuels abroad.”

Four permits for LNG export facilities have already been approved, with many more in the pipeline. To feed these facilities and as domestic gas prices rise as a result of export, there will likely be increased pressure to expand fracking dramatically.


“Big oil and gas companies have engineered  this policy outcome through shrewd hiring of Washington insider lobbyists and public relations professionals: Obama and Bush Administration veterans, as well as former Capitol Hill staffers, who have moved through Washington’s revolving door to high-paying influence peddling jobs,” the report authors write.

They go on to enumerate the officials who formerly served both administrations or as congressional staffers, then moved on to new jobs representing LNG companies where they now lobby their former colleagues. Conversely, the report calls out former fossil fuel industry lobbyists who are now elected officials chairing key congressional committees. It describes how many of those officials and lobbyists work specifically within the Democratic Party, often working with those who give lip service to addressing climate change while working behind the scenes to further the interests of fossil fuel companies.”Natural gas interests and the LNG lobby have in fact gone on a hiring spree targeting Democratic officials and those close to the administration,” they say.

The report includes an endless stream of revealing nuggets like this one: “When lawmakers convened for the annual Congressional Baseball Game for Charity in July 2014, they were greeted with packets reminding them of the event’s sponsors: Cheniere119 , the LNG firm that was the first to win an export license from the federal government, and ANGA  , the lobbying association pushing for more exports.”

These influence peddlers have greased the regulatory process that goes through the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), streamlining it with inadequate attention to citizen concerns about community safety, health and climate impacts, the report says. It cites Dominion’s Cove Point facility in Maryland as an example. The proposed and now approved LNG export facility led to a wave of organizing, public testimony, protests and rallies by citizen and environmental advocacy groups like Calvert Citizens for a Health Community and Chesapeake Climate Action Network, charging FERC with ignoring their input in the rush to approve it. The report names former Democratic Congressman Lewis F. Payne, Jr. of Virginia and three former congressional staff members who lobbied for Dominion on behalf of Cove Point.


While activists said their input on Dominion’s Cove Point LNG export facility was being ignored  :(, lobbyists for Dominion  were pushing to speed up the approval process. Photo Credit: Chesapeake Climate Action Network

Meanwhile, a bill was introduced in Congress called H.R. 6, which would have required the DOE to speed up the approval process for LNG export facilities.  The report explains that two staff members of the House committee hearing the bill were former LNG lobbyists and that among the 57 corporate or corporate-backed entities lobbying for it were “Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, Anadarko, Statoil, Eastman Chemical, FirstEnergy Corp, General Electric, Halliburton, Dominion Resources, Dow Chemical, Chesapeake Energy, Chevron, Sempra Energy, Marathon Oil and BP. The bill passed the House but not the Senate.  ;D

“Unfortunately, as lobbying and influence peddling heats up in Washington and elsewhere, so too does the planet,” report authors Lee Fang of Republic Report and Steve Horn of DeSmogBlog conclude. “Relentless fracking and opening the export floodgates with U.S.—harvested shale gas can only make the planet hotter still.”

Agelbert Comment:
The Fascist Fossil Fuel Government is a corporate creation straight from the unethical and predatory sociopathic concept of "LIMITED LIABILITY". In the physical world of cause and effect, as in the biosphere, there is NO SUCH THING as "limited liability". In nature, what goes around ALWAYS comes around. The Con artists just want we-the-people to pay for the pollution and consequent damge form climate change that THEY should be paying.

It is the criminal Homo SAPS among us that have attempted to stuff the  "limited liability" illogic down our collective throats. Limited liability is a MYTH. The biosphere is NOT impressed.

The question is, are YOU going to let the psychopaths make ALL of us pay or are we-the-people going to make the psychopaths that did the crime, PAY THE FINE AND DO THE TIME?!!!



The Exxon Valdez PITTANCE of a settlement: PROOF we have a Fascist Fossil Fuel Government AND the irreparably DYSFUNCTIONAL Court System is its HANDMAIDEN
TINA to a Low Carbon Economy
More Proof that Mens Rea is the DEFAULT criminal position of polluters



He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Sign the pledge: Don't buy these Koch products


by
Rachel Colyer


 
Koch industries and its subsidiaries are expansive—their holdings include everything from gas stations to pipelines, paper products for everyday use, greeting cards, chemicals used to make materials, and the fabric that makes your clothing.  :o   >:(


With an interest in almost everything and status as the number two privately held company in the country–behind Cargill—Koch industries is a behemoth that is hard to avoid.

But knowledge is power and your dollar is your vote. We can become informed purchasers and refuse to support their political agenda by refusing to purchase their wares.

The internet is a wonderful place, full of handy resources. Start by memorizing and avoiding the brand logos listed, which are commonly found throughout our daily lives. Download the Buycott app on your phone and use it while you shop. Buycott has an interesting connection to the netroots you can read about here.

Do some research. Visit Koch industries, Invista, and Georgia-Pacific to see their broad range of products for home, business, construction, clothing manufacturing, farming materials, and chemical additives. They are into almost everything—including fiber optics!

If you are in charge of ordering office supplies for your business, construction materials for your job site, or products for events, catering, or restaurants—avoid buying from Georgia-Pacific and its smaller subsidiaries.

Use your purchasing power to stop adding to the Koch empire, avoid the following products as much as you can. Please sign the pledge to not buy commonly available Koch products.



List of familiar Koch products and brands:
 -American Greetings** (took heavy Koch investment, upwards of $200 million)
 -Angel Soft
 -Angel Soft Ultra
 -Brawny paper towels
 -Dixie products
 -Insulair cups
 -Mardis Gras napkins
 -Perfect Touch cups, paper products
 -Quilted Northern
 -Sparkle paper towels
 -Vanity Fair napkins & paper towels
 -Zee Napkins

-Georgia-Pacific Office products
 -Spectrum paper
 -Georgia-Pacific's enMotion paper towel dispenser
 -Georgia-Pacific's engineered lumber

INVISTA Brands
-INVISTA’s PET polymer is used in oxygen-sensitive packaging for food and beverages.
-ADI-PURE® Adipic Acid
-ANTRON® Carpet Fiber
-C12™ Intermediates
-COMFOREL® Fiber
-COOLMAX® Fabric
-CORDURA® Fabric
-DACRON® Fiberfill
-DYTEK® Idea Intermediates
-FLEXISOLV® Solvent Solutions
-LYCRA® Fiber
-LYCRA HyFit® Fiber
-OXYCLEAR® Barrier Resin
-POLYCLEAR® PET
-POLYSHIELD® Resin
-SENZAA™ Additive
-STAINMASTER® Carpet
-SUPPLEX® Fabric
-SUPRIVA™ Fiber
-TACTEL® Fiber
-TECGEN® Garments
-TERATE® Polyols
-TERATHANE® Polyether Glycol
-TERRIN™ Polyols
-THERMOLITE® Fabric
-TORZEN® PA66 Resin

Koch Fertilizer Company's AGROTAIN® nitrogen stabilizer fertilizer products are used around the world to improve nitrogen efficiency and enhance crop productions.

If you use building materials, be sure to check out the extensive list of Georgia-Pacific building products—including their product app. 

*Disclaimer: The list is a work in progress, we are striving to keep it updated and accurate, please post corrections or additions with citations in the comments.


**Disclaimer: Note that some of these products are made in union facilities by union members. We are working to determine which those are, so you can make your best informed decisions.*

Please sign the pledge to not buy commonly available Koch products.

H/T to users kathybbb, ATexican, PeteInTX, BDA in VA, Melanie in IA, TheNewDeal00, Truth Told Here, workinguy, and geebeebee who've all posted similar information.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/01/1288957/-Sign-the-pledge-Don-t-buy-these-Koch-products

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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 ::)To be filed under a TREMEDOUS CAPACITY FOR THE OBVIOUS about the modus operandi of the  crooked, thieving, larcenous, low down, rigged, monopolistic, predatory, conscience free, polluting, etc. CESSPOOL of modern Capitalism...   :P

When a Bank Owns 100 Oil Tankers, It Can Mess With the Price of Gas  >:(

A two-year Senate investigation of the financial sector has found that banks can meddle with the economy in new and frightening ways.

The investigation was led by Carl Levin, D-Mich., and looked specifically at the impact of investments on the prices of certain commodities—things like oil and uranium.

Deregulation made it possible for firms such as Goldman Sachs to outright buy commodities and commodity suppliers. For instance, Goldman owns a coal mine in Colombia. And that fleet of 100 oil tankers? It belonged at one time to Morgan Stanley, which also held 55 million barrels of oil storage. JPMorgan Chase, according to The New York Times, once owned 31 power plants.

These are some of the same institutions that profit from your credit card debt when the price of oil goes up.

There are myriad other conflicts of interest, and general vulnerabilities besides.

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/when_a_bank_owns_100_oil_tankers_it_can_mess_with_the_price_of_gas_20141119
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Agelbert NOTE: An EXCELLENT, APTLY DESCRIPTIVE AND ACCURATE Comment  on the latest Fossil Fuel "effort"    to use the FASCIST COURT SYSTEM to pillage the planet.

Andrew W Johnson    ·  Top Commenter · Colorado State University

Quote
H. Sterling Burnett    - you are exactly what's wrong with conservatives today. You are so short-sighted you can't see past your brown nose up the Koch brothers' asses.

Anyone who listens to anything the Heartland Institute says about anything is an idiot and cannot be trusted. We are trying to protect our clean air and clean water in Colorado and around the world, you know, so we can continue living.

All you care about is putting more money into your and your friend's pockets without a care for the future of all life on Earth - which includes your own family. You are a Koch brothers supporter which means you are anti-environment, anti-renewable energy, and you use false science to "prove" you position. 

So, every so-called fact and quote in this article can't be trusted just like you.

Stay out of Colorado and Colorado politics. 


Heartland Institute (otherwise known as the Koch F ARTland Bu lls hit factory  )

Colorado’s Renewable Energy Mandate Constitutionality Challenged
 


http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2014/11/24/colorados-renewable-energy-mandate-constitutionality-challenged

 
H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D. (PILED HIGHER AND DEEPER!) worked at the National Center for Policy Analysis for 18 years    


 

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Why Aren’t Rural Electric Cooperatives Champions of Local Clean Power?

 John Farrell 
 November 28, 2014

When it comes to ownership, there are few better structures for keeping a community’s wealth local than a cooperative. So why is it that America’s rural electric cooperatives are tethered to dirty, old coal-fired power plants instead of local-wealth generating renewable power?

There are a lot of answers to this question, but it might start with this: electric cooperatives aren’t quite like other cooperatives.

The Seven Slipping Cooperative Principles

Cooperatives around the world adhere to the “Seven Cooperative Principles,” but electric cooperatives (at least in the United States) fail on several of these principles.

1.Voluntary and open membership. Nope. If you want electric service in cooperative territory, you sign with the cooperative. While it’s no different than rules for other types of utilities in the 30 states that grant utilities a monopoly service territory, it violates the principles of cooperatives.

2.Democratic control (one member, one vote). Not always. Some electric cooperatives award one vote per meter, and some customers (e.g. farmers, industry) have more than one meter. Furthermore, many cooperatives filter potential board candidates with “nominating committees.” And look, here’s a board election with no opposition!There’s also a big gap between cooperative member support for (paying more for) renewable energy and cooperative behavior. This 2013 survey in Minnesota, for example, shows little separation between urban and rural areas (where cooperatives are dominant) in support for renewable energy, yet cooperatives opposed every bill favoring clean energy in the 2013 legislative session.

3.Members control the capital of the cooperative.

4.Cooperatives maintain their autonomy and independence even if they enter into agreements with other entities. Questionable. Many cooperatives sign 40- or even 50-year purchase contracts with power suppliers to supply 95% of their entire sales, mostly from coal-fired power plants. Standard and Poor’s explains this in an evaluation of a Seminole Electric in Florida, a generation & transmission cooperative that sells to rural cooperatives. In their words, one of the utility’s credit strengths is, “A captive retail market and the ability to set rates through take-and-pay, all-requirements wholesale power agreements with nine of 10 members through 2045.”

5.Cooperatives provide educational opportunities to their members and the public on the benefits of cooperatives. Questionable. If you read rural electric cooperative newsletters, you’ll hear a lot about climate change but you’ll often find the phrase in quotes

6.Cooperatives work best when cooperating with other cooperatives. Questionable, refer to #4. Some of these power suppliers are “co-ops of co-ops,” but these long-term contracts have tethered the economic fortunes of cooperative members to the vagaries of the coal market (see below). More than any other type of utility (public or investor-owned), rural electric cooperatives are reliant on coal for their electricity fuel. The average U.S. utility is 38% coal-fired power.

rural electric cooperatives reliant on coal  >:( - public citizen coal prices 2000-11.001




7.Cooperatives work for sustainable development of their community. Not enough. Most cooperatives rely heavily on imported power purchased on long-term contracts with the goal of cheap power, but that ironically leave them at the mercy of unfettered price increases. They also have missed an enormous economic development opportunity from renewable energy. For example:Renewable energy provides significant economic impacts ($1 million per megawatt of wind, $250,000 per megawatt for solar) with multipliers for local (i.e. cooperative) ownership (up to 3.5 times more local economic impact, and twice as many jobs).

Wind and solar provide more jobs per megawatt of power capacity, as well. RE-fossil-jobs-per-MW


Finally, rural electric cooperatives have organized a 1 million comment campaign against EPA regulations of carbon pollution from power plants. Hardly a commitment to “sustainable development.”


How Can Cooperatives Change?


Restoring their 7 principles could do a lot. Improving their structure so that the cooperative directors reflect member opinion on renewable energy would restore the principle of democratic control. Avoiding ridiculously long power purchase contracts would provide local cooperatives with real autonomy and control of their energy costs and options. Broadening their focus on economic development beyond cheap power to include renewable energy would make “sustainable development” much more realistic.

Can it happen? It already has, in Iowa and on Kaua’i, and there are more tools that ever at their disposal. But as with electrification, no one will do it unless they do it themselves.

This piece originally appeared on ilsr.org. For timely updates, follow John Farrell on Twitter or get the Democratic Energy weekly update.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2014/11/why-arent-rural-electric-cooperatives-champions-of-local-clean-power#comment-137671

1 Comments

A. G. Gelbert   
 November 28, 2014 

Excellent article! Thank you.

I would add that the corporate (greed is good and so is profit over planet) 'business' model has infiltrated cooperatives.

We have a grave situation where our environment AND OUR DEMOCRACY have both been degraded to a mere caricature (for propaganda purposes - see lipstick on a predator pig) to keep we-the-people in our state of ignorance about our 24/7 fascist fleecing.

Greed is bad. It's a cancer on society and the biosphere.

We either change the way we deal with each other and the other life forms that inhabit this planet in order to survive and thrive or we continue our suicidal and psychopathic path of conscience free conquest and mendacious accounting tricks criminally contrived to convince logic challenged economists that "creative destruction" is not an oxymoron.

Don't expect help from our Corrupt and irreparable Court System; it's bought and paid for by the 'greed is good' corporate+government (see the definition of Fascism) elite.


You don't believe me? You think this is hysterical hyperbole?

Read on:


The Corporate Business Model is Psychopathic (ONE MINUTE):
http://viewrz.com/video/the-corporate-business-model-is-psychopathic

All about Fracking LEGAL chemical POISONS (3 minutes 31 seconds):

http://viewrz.com/video/all-about-fracking-legal-chemical-poisons-1

Fossil Fuel Fascism in Action (3 minute lesson on our Orwellian world):

http://viewrz.com/video/fossil-fuel-fascism-in-action

Fossil Fuel Fascist Jolly Roger "business" model (8 minutes):
http://viewrz.com/video/fossil-fuel-fascist-jolly-roger-business-model

Fossil fuel Government 2 minute Video Clip from "The Age of Stupid" Video:

http://viewrz.com/video/fossil-fuel-government

FDR on Trickle Down "Economics"
http://viewrz.com/video/fdr-on-trickle-down-economics

Here's a modern example of what happens when you trust the Court System to do what they are supposed to. There is NO Ubi Jus, Ibi Remedium any more in the USA when it comes to environmental damage that brings sickness and death to people and other life forms:

The Exxon Valdez PITTANCE of a settlement: PROOF we have a Fascist Fossil Fuel Government AND the irreparably DYSFUNCTIONAL Court System is its HANDMAIDEN
http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/fossil-fuel-folly/fossil-fuels-degraded-democracy-and-profit-over-planet-pollution/msg2122/#msg2122

How about Corporate control of what you eat by manipulation of our "LAWS"? See Big Ag Fascist Heaven below:


Fascist Big Ag uses Food Disparagement Law and the Patriot Act to threaten Truth tellers!
http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/renewables/sustainable-food-production/msg2033/#msg2033

Read what this giant polluter and OWNER of most of the fracking machinery says about how to 'handle' environmental legislation:
Schlumberger N.V. (SLB): The BIG OIL Planet Polluter you never heard of
http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/fossil-fuel-folly/fossil-fuel-propaganda-modus-operandi/msg2088/#msg2088


Yes, the plutocratic marriage of corporate and government power over the Court System has been there for quite some time. But now our survival is threatened by this unsustainable paradigm of the worship of Conquest:


Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. on what the LAW is ALL ABOUT
http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/who-can-you-trust/corruption-in-government/msg2045/#msg2045

In any LAW dictionary you will learn that the term "Legal" is the antithesis of the term "Equitable". Look it up if you do not believe me.

 The Lady Justice Legal Scales mean the OPPOSITE of what you think they mean

http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/who-can-you-trust/corruption-in-government/msg2041/#msg2041

Don't count on our Court System to defend Americans from Fascism - Here's why the solution to Corporate Profit over Planet is EX CURIA
http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/who-can-you-trust/corruption-in-government/msg2019/#msg2019


Excellent Comment in response to an Anonymous fossil fueler that pooh pooed renewable energy benefits that John Farrell touted in the above Renewable Energy World article:


Quote

John Ihle     

 November 29, 2014 

Anon, the hundreds of millions of dollars/year that are exported out of communities and into neighboring states and provinces may be or are better spent to create local jobs. When you spend more money locally some of that money benefits local stores and businesses and in fact create or support indirect jobs in addition to direct jobs.

Also, local taxes increase (which otherwise you're paying to other states). I know a lot of not wealthy people that would support renewable energy even if their rates rise, depending upon how far they rise (if they rise). It depends how those polls are worded. They've done polling in my state which supports my statements (including a majority of ratepayers would pay some percentage more for electricity for cleaner energy that has more local content) as polling in your area may support your statements (maybe?) and you have no crystal ball to suggest what utilities will "move to" or how lower cost renewables including distributed generation will impact utility business models vs transmission and long distance generation (when you can do it yourself for cheaper).

Renewables keep dropping in cost while fossil fuels continue to rise. Subsidies are doing exactly what they're supposed to do. They are helping to bring the cost of renewables down. They are relatively clean, wind and solar have no emissions (which is important to many) other than those related to manufacturing, lubricants used and perhaps decommissioning which is or may be negligible.


I am a member of an electric cooperative.
After reading the article you apparently  ;) missed some points  ;D. Electric cooperative business models have morphed from those days which the members controlled them  .  Probably through member apathy, or maybe the business of our lives most members don't pay attention to cooperative business matters or perhaps the G&T's as well as some local cooperative managers don't want us to know that much (because we "interfere"  ;)  in a very complicated industry) .

Different things matter to different people and obviously cost of electricity is a big one but it may not be the biggest one. I think it depends on certain important factors. However, it does no one good to make decisions based on erroneous information generated by G&T's and/or other associations that don't necessarily serve the better interests of the local members. Each cooperative should serve the better interests of their members and those members should be making decisions cooperatively. That's a cooperative.  One thing that has bothered me is how "parent" G&T "non profit" for profit (sounds like an oxymoron  ;D)  businesses make several hundred million investments and billion dollar investments (with Wall Street) for the good of their member cooperatives. They are dubious investments, ie for the good of their members , to saddle with debt (through long distance transmission and generation investment) often 30 years or more, at a time when the cost of DG and clean energy is coming down and the local benefits along with participation was/is totally ignored.  >:(

And that is exactly what happened with my local cooperative and the G&T who serves us with locked in contracts which a small board approved without properly informing to their members.
« Last Edit: November 29, 2014, 03:53:57 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Comment just posted at Renewable Energy World
 A. G. Gelbert   
 December 10, 2014 

I must say that absolutely ANY comment that focuses on the alleged LACK of cost effectiveness of PV, CSP or the latest CPV type technology when compared to the horrendously costly fossil fuels and nuclear power is the height of hypocrisy.

Where are all these "concerned citizens" so upset about wasted taxpayer money when this kind of money is HANDED out as a so called loan?

QUOTE:
Department of Energy Issues Final $12.5 Billion Advanced Nuclear Energy Loan Guarantee Solicitation December 10, 2014 - 9:01am UNQUOTE

http://energy.gov/articles/department-energy-issues-final-125-billion-advanced-nuclear-energy-loan-guarantee

WHERE are those claiming the U.S. Government should not be picking winners and losers in future applications of technology when the Chief Scientist of British Petroleum gets named to THE key position in the USA for determining what technology will get the lion's share of we-the-people's money?

QUOTE:
WASHINGTON – Dr. Ellen Williams was confirmed by the United States Senate on Monday, December 8, 2014 as the Director of the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E). UNQUOTE

How believable is our government's "All the Above" statement about developing competing efficient energy technologies that will favor Renewable Energy in the light of billion dollar "loans" for nuclear power?

QUOTE
“With $40 billion of loan guarantee authority available to advance our all-of-the-above energy strategy...

Authorized by Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Advanced Nuclear Energy Projects Solicitation would provide loan guarantees to support the construction of innovative nuclear energy and front-end nuclear projects in the U.S. that reduce, avoid, or sequester greenhouse gas emissions.

While any project that meets the eligibility requirements may apply, the Department has identified four key technology areas of interest in the solicitation: advanced nuclear reactors, small modular reactors, uprates and upgrades at existing facilities, and front-end nuclear projects. UNQUOTE

How believable is our government's "All the Above" statement about developing competing efficient energy technologies that will favor Renewable Energy in the light of the naming of a fossil fuel fossil to spearhead advanced energy technology?

QUOTE:
“ARPA-E is central to the Department’s advancement of energy technology innovation, and Ellen Williams will provide outstanding leadership based upon her combination of world class research in condensed matter physics and insight into how technology impacts the energy marketplace,” said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. UNQUOTE

Is the above statement by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz believable? NO! Why? Because Dr, Ellen Williams was at the helm of BP when the Gulf of Mexico oil well disaster occurred. As chief scientist she was in the key position to know exactly what was happening and had the knowledge with a doctorate in Chemistry to force BP to prevent all the ensuing damage from hydrocarbons and VOCs.

We know she did next to nothing. Was she coerced to keep quiet? We will never know. She has not said.

And THAT is the kind of "leader" which kowtows for fossil fuels, even in the face of massive pollution, that we have in charge of the "all the above" disingenuous US Government policy claiming to be even handed with Renewable Energy.

QUOTE:
Prior to joining the Department, Dr. Williams was the Chief Scientist for BP, a position she has held since 2010. UNQUOTE

NOTE: The Oil Spill by the Oil Rig "Deepwater Horizon" in Gulf of Mexico BEGAN on April 20, 2010 and lasted for several months.

The lack of dollars and sense perspective and common sense cost benefit analysis of the critics of Renewable Energy when compared to fossil fuels and Nuclear power, particularly in view of the FACT that the U.S. Government continues its over half century of choosing nuclear power and fossil fuels as the winners by throwing billions of taxpayer money at them while making comparatively tiny, token investments in Renewable Energy, is breathtaking, deplorable and despicably mendacious.

I urge the editors of Renewable Energy World to monitor as closely as possible the actions of Dr. Ellen Williams as the Director of the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E).

This is a sad day for Renewable Energy in America.

I firmly believe she is a dirty energy status quo defender masquerading as a "new energy technologies" advocate.


What’s Really at Stake in the Florida Solar Battle?

Renewable Energy World Conference and Expo opens in the sunshine state just as the state takes issue with distributed solar power.

 Lisa Wood, Contributing Editor 
 December 07, 2014  |  40 Comments

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/12/whats-really-at-stake-in-the-florida-solar-battle#comment-138303
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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ANOTHER fossil fuel Stalking Horse placed in a key position to FAVOR fossil fuel when handing out we-the-people's money.  >:(

How do I know? This fine fellow was instrumental in the destruction of incentives for Renewable Energy in the 1980's. He's back! Along with the MANIPULATED massive drop in the price of crude oil, every aspect of the fossil fuel industry's "policy" in the 1980's to strangle Renewable Energy is now in place.

I don't think this skullduggery will work this time because the raison d'etre for Renewable Energy is mainly that it is sustainable, not whether it appears to cost more up front. But that doesn't mean the fossil fuel dinosaurs won't give it the old college try; they have a century of 'crime pays' success behind them in buying politicians to fleece us in order for them to continue their irrational and suicidal greedfest of profit over the planet. 

What you need to KNOW about Hezir:

QUOTE
In 1979, he became a senior budget examiner for energy technology
programs. In 1982, he joined the Corporate Planning Department of Exxon Research and Engineering Company, responsible for the development of technology forecasts used in corporate business plans. 

After returning to OMB in 1983, Mr. Hezir was chief of the Non-Nuclear Energy Branch,
responsible for energy technology R&D, conservation, and energy regulatory programs.
From 1986 to 1992, he served as the OMB Deputy Associate Director for Energy and
Science, managing a 25 person division with responsibility for budgetary, regulatory,
legislative, and policy development activities of the Department of Energy, National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, the Tennessee
Valley Authority, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Smithsonian Institution.

He also represented OMB in developing government-wide science and technology policy
initiatives.

Mr. Hezir received the President’s Outstanding Federal Executive Award in
1989.
UNQUOTE

President Bush gave him that award...

Now for the BOILERPLATE press release that makes him appear to be pro renewable energy because of some MIT work on the "Future of Solar Energy". Right. Mr. Hezir wants to make SURE the money for solar energy technology is in the future, not the present.

QUOTE
December 4, 2014 - 10:21am

Joseph Hezir Confirmed as Chief Financial Officer

WASHINGTON – Joseph Hezir was confirmed by the Senate on December 4, 2014 as the Department of Energy’s Chief Financial Officer.

“Joe’s experience in the energy, environmental and budgetary realms and his strategic approach to challenges make him a great fit as Chief Financial Officer for the agency,” said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. “I look forward to working with him as CFO and I thank the Senate for approving his nomination.”

As Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Hezir will work to assure the effective management and financial integrity of Department of Energy. He will help to implement and monitor Department-wide policies and systems in the areas of budget administration, program analysis and evaluation, finance and accounting, internal controls, corporate financial systems, and strategic planning.

Prior to joining the Department of Energy, Mr. Hezir worked as a Research Engineer and Executive Director of The Future of Solar Energy Study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Energy Initiative. He was the Vice President and Managing Partner of EOP Group, Inc. and Executive Vice President of EOP Education, LLC and EOP Foundation, Inc.  Mr. Hezir also held various roles at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Exxon Research and Engineering Company, the President’s Reorganization Project, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and was an advisor to a number of public policy and public service organizations.

Mr. Hezir co-authored two books about government budget and regulation published by the EOP Foundation: Understanding the Budget of the United States Government and Understanding the Regulatory Policy of the United States Government. He also received the President’s Outstanding Federal Executive Award in 1989. Mr. Hezir attended Carnegie Mellon University, where he received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and an M.S. from the Heinz School of Public Policy.
UNQUOTE

I urge the editors of Renewable Energy World to watch carefully the allocation of government funds for energy technology that, as Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Hezir will initiate. I am certain his agenda is to preserve the welfare queen fossil fuel favoring status quo.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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It must be the 17th.  



Swift Energy Company SFY 4.07 +1.09 (36.58%) 163.18M
Swift Energy Company is engaged in developing, exploring, acquiring, and operating oil and natural gas properties, with a focus on oil and natural gas reserves in Texas as well as onshore and in the inland waters of Louisiana.
 
Energy XXI Ltd EXXI 3.23 +0.63 (24.23%) 292.47M
Energy XXI Ltd, formerly Energy XXI (Bermuda) Limited, is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company with operations focused in the United States Gulf Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. The Company is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and operation of oil and natural gas properties onshore in Louisiana and Texas and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico

 Comstock Resources Inc CRK 6.85 +1.31 (23.65%) 279.00M

Comstock Resources Inc (Comstock) is engaged in the acquisition, development, production and exploration of oil and natural gas. The Company’s oil and gas operations are concentrated in East Texas/North Louisiana, South Texas and West Texas.

Approach Resources Inc. AREX 5.69 +1.01 (21.58%) 188.09M
Approach Resources Inc., is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production and acquisition of oil and gas properties. The Company focuses on oil and gas reserves in oil shale and tight gas sands in the Midland Basin of the greater Permian Basin in West Texas, where it leases approximately 148,000 net acres. The Company’s drilling targets include the Clearfork, Wolfcamp shale, Canyon Sands, Strawn and Ellenburger zones. It refers to the Clearfork and Wolfcamp zones together as the Wolffork, and its development project in the Permian Basin as Project Pangea, which includes the northwestern portion of Project Pangea that it refers to as Pangea West. As of December 31, 2012, it owned and operated 594 producing oil and gas wells in the Permian Basin, and had an estimated 2,983 identified drilling and recompletion locations, of which 359 were proved.

SM Energy Co SM 38.22 +6.66  (21.10%) 2.45B
SM Energy Company (SM Energy) is an independent energy company. The Company is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (referred to as oil, gas, and NGLs) in onshore North America. The Company’s operations are focused on five operating areas in the onshore United States.


Bottom Feeding BONANZA!
Dumb money?
Not if you understand the PLAN by the fossil fuel FASCISTS. Don't get suckered by these stocks. Let's turn this insider scam to corner the enrgy market into a path to BANKRUPTCY for fossil fuelers! These dinosaurs think they are smaht! Prove them wrong. Make them LOSE their ASS instead of letting them eat our energy lunch!


What IS IT about the 17th?
  Whatever it is, I think our Fossil Fuel Fascist GOONS have picked up on it (see fracking quakes and MH17 downed on the 17 anniversary of said airline on July 17, 2014  ).

August 17th, 1959, the area just west of Yellowstone National Park experienced an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale. 

Oct. 17, 1989, Loma Prieta earthquake.
January 17th 1995, Kobe earthquake. 

Mar 17, 2014 KTLA Anchors dive under the NEWS DESK while a 4.4 Earthquake rumbles through Los Angeles.

April 17, 2014 3-4pm Central time there were two back to back SURFACE earthquakes at dormant Volcanoes in Nevada.
http://dutchsinse.tatoott1009.com/4182014-surface-earthquake-strikes-illinois-plumes-erupt-from-oil-gas-wells-in-midwest-yellowstone-movement/

July 17, 2014: Kansas Shaken By M3.6 Earthquake: More Fracking Quakes.

Yeah, fossil fuel fascists like to use 666 and 11 to "send messages" too.  ;)  I suggest we tell them to GO AHEAD, MAKE OUR DAY! 


Quote
Robert F. Kennedy Jr: In the next decade there will be an epic battle for survival for humanity against the forces of ignorance and greed. It’s going to be Armageddon, represented by the oil industry on one side, versus the renewable industry on the other.

And people are going to have to choose sides – including politically. They will have to choose sides because oil and coal, they will not be able to survive – they are not going to be able to burn their proven reserves.

If they do, then we are all dead. And they are quite willing to burn it. We’re all going to be part of that battle. We are going to watch governments being buffeted by the whims of money and greed on one side, and idealism and hope on the other.

http://cleantechnica.com/2013/02/06/interview-with-robert-f-kennedy-jr-on-environmental-activism-democratization-of-energy-more/
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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The Military Industrial Complex has been DOING what it DOES to SUPPRESS accurate scientific studies that endanger corporate profits for a LONG TIME.

From using CREDENTIALED bought and paid for scientists to distort studies and produce innocuos "peer reviewed" papers on the "SAFETY" of ASBESTOS (Mellon Institute), TOBACCO, Tetra Ethyl LEAD, FLUORIDATION of Water (Mellon Institute) and FRACKING (this is a tiny list of the "scientific" defenses of horribly damaging industrial pollutants and technology we have been assaulted with for about a century) to the destruction of the careers of scientists who have gone public with the truth, this profit over people and planet fascist modus operandi continues to this day.

If we do not impose ethical behavior on our scientific community and MIC, we are dooming future generations to an unsustainably degraded biosphere and corporate dictatorship. IOW, lack of ethical behavior will cause our species to go extinct.
 

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Nice video! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmcOknIp6YQ&feature=player_embedded
The REAL real world makes an inroad into the  "real world" of Zero Hedge, TBP, Nicole Foss, Ilargi, Gail Tverberg, Charles Hall, SLB (stock symbol) and the local Fracking defenders at the DD. 


Renewable energy=                                 =Fossil Fuelers
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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More Evidence that the Fossil Fuel Industry in general, and the Frackers in particular, are involved in a market cornering "cheap" oil price HEAD FAKE.

If energy stock raters weren't convinced that dirty energy producers will be successful in their conspiracy to recapture market share, said raters would be UPGRADING Renewable Energy and DOWNGRADING Polluting Energy Stocks.


But the opposite is the case.

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) was upgraded by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating on Tuesday. Previous closing price of $92.83. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.55.

Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company.

http://www.americanbankingnews.com/2014/12/30/exxon-mobil-upgraded-to-market-perform-by-bmo-capital-markets-xom/

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) was upgraded by analysts at RBC Capital from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating on Tuesday. Previous closing price of $39.49. This rating was viewed 984 times.

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) opened at 40.00 on Tuesday (December 30, 2014). Halliburton Company has a one year low of $37.21 and a one year high of $74.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $43.91 and its 200-day moving average is $59.81. The company has a market cap of $33.898 billion and a P/E ratio of 9.99.

Halliburton Company also saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 24,555,422 shares, a decline of 18.3% from the November 28th total of 30,068,632 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 32,742,507 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.7 days.

Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company.
The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $68.17.

The above information was obtained at the following link: http://www.americanbankingnews.com/2014/12/30/halliburton-company-upgraded-to-outperform-by-rbc-capital/

So what do these Research Analysts know that they aren't telling us?    
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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How Fossil Fuel Fascists "DO THE MATH" that makes their poison "competitive".   

Quote
It shows that with rising costs for hard-to-reach reserves, and falling coal and oil prices, generous public subsidies are propping up fossil fuel exploration which would otherwise be deemed uneconomic.

The worst villain is, not surprisingly, the U.S.
which splashed out $5.1 billion annually in subsidies for fossil fuel exploration in 2013—ironically  ;) almost double the level in 2009 when the G20 pledged to phase out fossil fuel subsidies.   

Although President Obama has proposed to cut subsidies, the oil-washed Congress has failed to pass any subsidy cuts. 

http://ecowatch.com/2014/11/11/fossil-fuel-bailout/

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

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Coal industry chemicals and waste “have tainted hundreds of waterways and groundwater supplies, spoiling private wells, shutting down fishing and rendering streams virtually lifeless,” the Associated Press reports.

And here’s the damning detail from this important AP investigation: “Because these contaminants are released gradually and in some cases not tracked or regulated, they attract much less attention than a massive spill such as the recent one in West Virginia.”

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/21537-another-chapter-in-coals-trail-of-pollution


West Virginia: First State to Repeal Renewable Portolio Standard!

SustainableBusiness.com News

Congratulations, ALEC and Koch Brothers - your hard work is starting to pay off. 

West Virginia is the first state to completely repeal its Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) - its incentives for renewable energy. 

The state Senate voted unanimously for repeal and the House passed the bill, 95-4 (all four are Democrats). They discussed it for about an hour before the vote.

 Enacted in 2009, the RPS requires utilities with over 30,000 residential customers to get 25% of electricity from renewables by 2025, with as much as 10% from natural gas.


It would have been phased in, reaching:
•10% renewables from 2015-2019
•15% from 2020-2024
•25% by January 1st 2025

While utilities no longer need to worry about adding renewable energy, the House bill keeps net-metering for individuals and businesses that choose to install solar. We'll see if it remains in the final legislation.

"I rise to oppose repeal of this bill," said Nancy Guthrie (D-Kanawha), one of the four Democrats that voted NO. "For the life of me, what I can't understand is why this body wants to make a name for itself," she said during the brief debate, reports WOWK TV. 

"We are running out of coal, it's that simple. We are going to wear coal around our neck like a yoke that will drag all of us down. This is just political theater, this piece of legislation," she said.

Gary Howell (R-Mineral) retorted that coal is a "diamond necklace hanging around the neck of West Virginia."   

Another legislator, Randy Smith (R-Preston), who is also a coal miner, said he ran for public office specifically to repeal the RPS.  ;)

In the Senate, Minority Leader Jeff Kessler (D-Marshall) offered an amendment asking a study of the economic and job impact of the RPS. It was rejected. 


Mountaintop Removal Mining  

Other than North Carolina, West Virginia is the only southeastern state with an RPS - Virginia's is voluntary. Yes, coal rules in West Virginia, even though its residents suffer under an industry that doesn't care about their health or the environment. 

ALEC and Americans for Prosperity are working hard across the states to eliminate support for renewable energy.    Last year, Ohio voted to freeze its RPS, which has already resulted in wind and solar companies leaving the state.

Read our article, West Virginia, Where Solar Growth Would Help.

South Carolina Approves Net-Metering


Late last year, South Carolina became the 44th state to institute solar net-metering, and unlike many states, people will be paid at the full retail rate when they send excess electricity to the grid.

 "We can expect that public support for local solar power will gain more traction as customers are fairly compensated for the power they generate," Hamilton Davis of the Coastal Conservation League told The State. Environmental groups negotiated for the policy, which keeps the retail rate in place for 10 years. Also, utilities can't lobby for any fixed solar charges until 2021.

 Additionally, the state will allow third party solar leasing, one of the few in the Deep South. 

Read more about the bill:

 
Website: www.utilitydive.com/news/is-south-carolina-solar-about-to-explode/334164/

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/26113

Agelbert NOTE: This is scientific evidence that the bought and paid for politicians of West Virginia are helping the biosphere naturally deselect Homo SAPS. It's wonderful to be able to watch natural selection doing what it does (i.e. SUBTRACTING faulty genetic material  ;D). I hope they enjoy the ride.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

 

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