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Monday, July 26, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.
The news last week that the Senate will not take up comprehensive climate and energy legislation is disappointing, but I am very grateful for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s hard work on this issue over the past two years. Additionally, the early and courageous support by Reps. Shelley Berkley and Dina Titus gave Nevadans hope that we would see a new energy policy that would bring jobs to our community.
Nevadans understand that the stakes are too high to ignore climate change when our hotter and drier climate imperils our water supply, public health and our way of life. Nevadans understand the need for diversifying our economy and that comprehensive energy reform will create thousands of new jobs and attract new industries to Nevada.
This clean energy economy will bring much-needed revenue to our state and local coffers. I expect we will hear a lot of commentary from those who either bury their heads in the sand about our energy and climate future or, worse, do the bidding of Big Oil and Big Polluters. Be mindful of their agenda.
They subscribe to a shortsighted doctrine of limited regulations and government oversight, even during the largest environmental disaster in our country’s history.
Please understand — our country has nothing to gain by doing nothing to change our nation’s failed energy policies. Doing nothing is simply a strategy to protect the profits of the oil and coal industries. Fossil fuel costs will only get higher as their supplies diminish. Our failed energy policies, if left unchanged, will continue to threaten our country’s security, our public health and our economy.
The writer is executive director of the Nevada Conservation League.
Over a third of Democrats could NOT support the Harry Reid energy package.
Democrats tell us The Heavy Lifting is Over.
In the lazy days at the end of July 2010, the Barack Obama Administration declared mission accomplish in the war to transform America.
- First Joe Biden was sent out to boost that all the "HEAVY LIFTING IS OVER".
- Then Obama came out and enumerated all of HIS personnel accomplishments to expand the Federal Government.
- Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi decided they needed to take off for the rest of the summer without a 2011 budget in hand
- Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi decided they needed to take off for the rest of the summer without passing the Bush Tax cut extension for the middle class.
There is a fifty-fifty chance of a double dip recession
American unemployment well OVER 17%,
the housing market in the dumpster,
no abatement of healthcare cost,
a SQUANDERED Payola Stimulus,
no reform of Fannie and Freddie,
a 2010 deficit of $1.47 trillion,
no help for small businesses,
a long gulf cleanup ahead,
no renewable energy bill,
no immigration reform,
still two wars raging,
no card-check,
North Korea and Iran are freewheeling nuclear powers,
Several thousand pages of new anti-business regulation are in the making, etc, etc,.
------------------------------------------
Barack, Joe, Harry, and Nancy are so please with themselves and happy that all the heavy lifting is done.
---------------------------------------
Listen to Bill Clinton "It the economy stupid."
Listen to Obama's Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke who said we have "Unusual Uncertainty"
"Unusual Uncertainty" of higher taxes, higher energy cost, higher health insurance cost, higher cost for capital formation, and more regulations.
The Dept of Energy was established more than 30 years ago for a single purpose, to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Billions of Energy Dept budget dollars later, we are more dependent than ever on foreign oil. So much for government leadership.
If Pres. Obama wants to lead us into a clean economy (a goal as lofty as that of the Dept of Energy), let's do it! But do it in a REASONABLE way.
Shutting down all domestic off-shore energy production in the Gulf, with no consideration to the consequential job losses and no other alternative to replace it, is UNREASONABLE.
Even though Pres. Obama declared a moratorium on off-shore drilling in the Gulf, this did not stop off-shore drilling. Companies just moved their drilling rigs to other places that would allow them to continue production. Many rigs went to offshore Brazil.
In an "unrelated" matter, Pres. Obama signed an executive order to loan $2Billion to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company to start drilling operations. That Brazilian company is owned by George Soros. The Chinese government is under contract to purchase all the oil the company will produce. This "unrelated" business news appeared in the Wall St. Journal. By the way, that loan came from us, the taxpayers.
JanK,
Where did the Wall St. Journal get this conspiracy theory from?
"In an "unrelated" matter, Pres. Obama signed an executive order to loan $2Billion to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company to start drilling operations. That Brazilian company is owned by George Soros. The Chinese government is under contract to purchase all the oil the company will produce. This "unrelated" business news appeared in the Wall St. Journal. By the way, that loan came from us, the taxpayers."
What is the Wall St. Journal's source and why should you or anyone believe them?
New climate legislation is loaded with goodies for oil, nuclear and coal. If you are worried over climate change, the new legislation is not your best friend.
Reid's attempts to make Nevada a more ugly place with energy sprawl still undermines using distributed generation (rooftop) in a way that would preserve open space.
Consider the remote siting of renewable energy. Construction equipment and construction workers will all need massive amounts of fossil fuels to run equipment. If Ivanpah gets built, hundreds of workers from Vegas will commute 100 miles a day round trip to get to work. After construction, remote energy facilities will require a commute with gas powered vehicles. Many solar and wind facilities depend on a natural gas base load to keep energy on a 24/7 schedule.
New transmission lines emit sulfer hexafloride, a greenhouse gas 24,000 times more potent than C02. Reid's plans will make climate change worse.
It is also a myth to say renewable will bring down the cost of energy. Sadly it will not. Being honest about this would make the transition much easier.
It is hard to tell if the priority of our lawmakers is climate change, reducing dependence on Middle Eastern oil or creating jobs. The reason seems to always shift with the political tides.
Who knows what people will think of this. The Department of the Interior is considering giving tax breaks and other federal goodies to the guys who want to build a wind farm on about 40,000 acres in Mojave County, Arizona. The company is British Petrolium! A few federal tax breaks will sure help their drilling projects!
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-...
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: British Petroleum Wind Energy North America
(BPWE), has applied for a right-of-way (ROW) authorization to
construct, operate and maintain a 500 megawatt (MW) wind farm on
approximately 31,338 acres of Federal land managed by the BLM and
approximately 8,960 acres of Federal land managed by the Bureau of
Reclamation (BOR), totaling approximately 40,298 acres of Federal land.
The project area is located in the White Hills area approximately 40
miles northwest of Kingman, Arizona, approximately 9 miles south of the
Colorado River, and approximately 20 miles southeast of Hoover Dam. The
project will consist of up to 335 wind turbine generators (WTGs).
The Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424...
It's true.........
JanK - "In an "unrelated" matter, Pres. Obama signed an executive order to loan $2Billion to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company to start drilling operations. That Brazilian company is owned by George Soros."
Here we go again, more bogus misinformation.
One - Obama didn't stop offshore drilling, the moratorium was for DEEP water drilling, keyword being deep. He didn't succeed because the Supreme Court justices were holding stock in oil companies and voted against him.
Two - Obviously you are one of those people who receives spam mails and believes them. The one you got about Brazilian off shore drilling is bogus.
http://www.factcheck.org/2009/09/bogus-b...
Three - George W. claimed we needed to drop our dependency on foreign oil but our consumption went from 53% to 60% of foreign oil.
At one time the quote, "The mind is a terrible thing to waste" was appropiate.
Now it's, "The biased mind is a terrble thing."
Thank you for the letter Mr. Rutledge.
Sunlizard and JanK have both fallen for propaganda as the article linked to by VernosB makes clear:
"FULL ANSWER
This claim stems from a "preliminary committment" made back on April 14 by the board of directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. The bank intends to loan up to $2 billion to finance exports to the Brazilian oil company Petroleo Brasileiro S.A., known as Petrobras, over the next several years.
The e-mail is false on two counts.
The message falsely says the decision was due to an "executive order" by the president. No presidential order was required. Furthermore, none of President Obama's appointees had joined the Ex-Im board at the time of the vote, which was unanimous, and bipartisan. The Ex-Im Bank states: "In fact, at the time the Bank's Board consisted of three Republicans and two Democrats, all of whom were appointed by George W. Bush."
The message falsely claims that "we have absolutely no gain" from the loan. In fact, the loan is being made specifically to finance purchase by Petrobras of U.S.-made oilfield equipment and services. The mission of the Ex-Im Bank is to encourage exports by making such loans.
The bank's chairman and president, Fred P. Hochberg, underscored the purpose of the loan during a trip to Brazil at the end of July:
Ex-Im Bank President Hochberg, July 29: I chose Brazil as my first international destination for good reason: Brazil is a powerhouse among South American economies and offers tremendous opportunities for U.S. exporters in many sectors. I want Brazilians to know that Ex-Im Bank has the will and the capacity to finance their purchases of U.S. equipment, products and services
Obama appointed Hochberg to the Ex-Im Bank on April 20, nearly a week after the board voted to approve the loan. He was confirmed May 14 and sworn in May 21.
The message claims that George Soros would "benefit most" from the loan, but that is also a baseless accusation. Soros is a favorite whipping boy of conservatives because of his early financial help to the liberal group MoveOn.org. And he is indeed a major investor in Petrobras, through his New York-based hedge-fund firm, Soros Fund Management LLC. But the hedge fund recently sold 22 million shares of common stock in the company (which carry voting rights) while buying 5.8 million shares of preferred stock (which is non-voting.) As reported by Bloomberg News, Soros reduced his stake in the company before any of the Ex-Im Bank's promised loan has been dispensed." Continued
continuation:
"There is some truth to the claim that China would benefit, but not much. Brazil recently agreed to export 200,000 barrels of oil per day to China in coming years. But that was in return for a loan by China of $10 billion, five times more than the U.S. Ex-Im Bank is lending to finance purchase of U.S. gear.
The Ex-Im Bank also would like it known that no loan has yet been made, and that the "preliminary commitment" could eventually result in either a direct loan or a loan guarantee. Either way, the Ex-Im Bank states, "no taxpayer dollars are involved." The bank is self-sustaining.
-Brooks Jackson
Either way, the feds are pouring money into corporate welfare.
The green energy economy will not sustain itself without stimulus.
As usual, the Republicans stonewalled, denied, and ultimately served their corporate energy masters by killing climate legislation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/opinio...
The U.S. has the wonderful distinction of being the only 1st world country that did not sign the Kyoto Protocol--even though the U.S. is the world's #2 polluter and creator of greenhouse gases.
187 nations have signed the protocol, in addition to the entire European Union. The U.S. is the only holdout.
Or I should say--the Republican Party is the only holdout.
That should make us all proud--especially with this record heat wave across the nation and the fact that the north pole continues to disappear much faster than initially predicted. Hey--maybe Nevada will ultimately end up having some beach-front property as the oceans rise?
I guess there could be a silver lining.
Meanwhile, one of Sharron Angle's positions is to have the U.S. withdraw from the U.N. because the U.N. not only believes that global warming is reality--but is doing something about it.
Hope she's enjoying the nice, hot summer!
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/...
AP
Future writes his usual litany of things he doesn't like about the present administration. Future did not vote for Obama. So he is hopping mad. The trouble is, Future has a hard time distinguishing between "cause and effect." Hence his post:
"American unemployment well OVER 17%"
Where did you get that number? And where did that unemployment come from? Last I heard, it was the result of the economy having imploded beneath the feet of the last president.
"the housing market in the dumpster"
I could have sworn that the housing market collapsed during the Bush administration, in 2007-2008. I better go back and check. Seems like you have moved it forwards by a couple of years.
"no abatement of healthcare cost"
Since health care reform just began, I'm not sure what metric you are using. And please remind me--what health care reform did your party pass in the last 30 years?
"a SQUANDERED Payola Stimulus"
Pretty funny. You're from the party that does not even believe in government stimulus--unless the economy is in free-fall. Then you call it TARP.
"no reform of Fannie and Freddie"
Not yet. What did your party do to reform it? Or any other part of the financial sector? I could have sworn that the Republicans voted 100% against financial reform--and introduced none of their own. Hmmmm.
"a 2010 deficit of $1.47 trillion"
Reagan tripled the deficit.
Bush I doubled it.
Clinton balanced it and began paying it down.
Bush doubled it.
Obama is following the prescription of 95% of all economists, who recommend ignoring balancing the budget during a severe recession and using the govt to "stimulate" the economy.
Funny how you take that last bit out of context and totally erase previous history. Hmmmmm.
"no help for small businesses"
Says who? I guess real estate is not "small business," so the recent tax back incentive for first time homebuyers did not exist. Or cash for clunkers. Certainly car dealers are not "Small businessmen." Or highway projects, which contract local supplies, etc, etc. You're willfully blind.
"a long gulf cleanup ahead"
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/6/24/...
"no renewable energy bill"
That's hilarious. Your party just killed it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/opinio...
"no immigration reform"
Bush tried to get immigration reform passed. The right wing of his party killed it. Obama has been in less than two years. And we both know that immigration reform is next on his list. You just want to pretend otherwise.
"still two wars raging"
Hillarious. Who started those wars?
"North Korea and Iran are freewheeling nuclear powers"
Hmmmm. I could have sworn that North Korea developed nukes while Bush was in power. Let's see--they exploded their first one in 2006. Was Obama president then?
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/dprk/nuke/...
Last I heard, Iran did not have nukes. Do you know something we don't?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_and_we...
As usual, Future and JanK dump their mixture of lies, half-truths and mania, then depart, hoping that some of them stick.
Which is pretty much the overall strategy of the Republican Party.
Hence Michael Steel's recent comments that Afghanistan was "Obama's war of choice."
Funny how much the Republicans have obliterated the history of the previous administration and tried to pin its failures on Obama. Talk about "rewriting history." Kinda scary, really, what the human mind, made desperate, can stoop to.
http://www.newsweek.com/spectrum/2010/07...
AP
This list is just a few items of the crap you wingnuts hear and believe.
Obama:
Will indoctrinate our children
Has Fema internment camps
Armed the Peace Corps
Will remove "in God we trust" from coins
Will change the American flag
Is a communist/nazi/socialist
Is a Muslim
Took his oath on the Koran when sworn in
Is a Kenyan
Locked his white grandmother in the basement to hide her
Is the Anti Christ
Puts his feet up the the Oval Office desk
Takes his jacket off in the Oval Office
Will take your guns and bible
Is weak on terrorism
Has endangered our nation
Is responsible for the recession, stock market crash
Will raise your taxes and cap your paycheck
Raised taxes on the middle class
Obama has all sorts of czars
Breeds Climate of Hate Against Jews
Is introducing Sharia Law
Will not stop a nuclear attack
It's no wonder why you people are so clueless.
Off Subject
Debunked:
Charges that the Obama administration withdrew criminal charges against the
Panthers (in fact, the Bush administration decided not to pursue criminal
charges, with Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez testifying that the Bush
Justice Department "determined that the facts did not constitute a
prosecutable violation of the criminal statutes"; a civil lawsuit was filed in
the last days of the Bush administration, and a judgment won by the Obama
Justice Department in May 2009).
The 10 member NBP are idiots as are the wingnuts who blog nothing but trash and lies.
If you doubt that info, try finding info that isn't skewed, it's not hard if you really try.
Keep watching Fox News, they will lie about anything to frighten you air heads!
I guess the Obama list posted above has no true facts? Is that why you left out the Goldman Sachs stimulus rewards? Truth is a dirty thing! Did Obama even thank the tax payers for treating Goldman so well?
No Sunlizard, I left TARP off because that was under Bush, duh? And they are still trying to locate $350 billion Hank Paulsen gave away without tracking the funds.
Need a history lesson? Gadds! Don't you people ever remember anything?
Introducing Sharia Law. she needs no introduction. She is a top notch golfer and will win 3 majors this year.
I'll tell you who scares me....Ed Shultz...from MSNBC....what a flannel mouth. He is scarier than Beck and Beck is really scary.
Ed Shultz makes Fox look like Mr Roger's Neighborhood.
JanK: I wish you were around when I was selling used cars. You'll believe anything!
doyen - "I'll tell you who scares me....Ed Shultz...from MSNBC....what a flannel mouth. He is scarier than Beck and Beck is really scary"
Bwaahaha .. Ed Shultz was a Republican, and did a 180 when he saw how returning vets were treated.
Hey Scot - "Please understand -- our country has nothing to gain by doing nothing to change our nation's failed energy policies."
We do, however, have much to lose by doing something. If you think our government is capable of accomplishing something without horrendous costs, huge pay-offs and monumental waste and fraud, you're a little out of touch. Put Harry Reid in charge of developing the plan and the costs will triple.
Our government needs to begin the practice of doing nothing if it's not an emergency (like the situation at our southern border.)
Only stupid people think climate change isn't
an emergency.
Typical ignorant republicans.
Try to grasp this, teamster.
From Wikipedia: "There have been at least five major ice ages in the Earth's past. Outside these ages, the Earth seems to have been ice-free even in high latitudes."
We are generally recovering from an ice age. One degree in a hundred years is nothing in the vast scheme of universal time. But we see some ice melting and the Gore-heads freak out.
The ice caps will melt and within a few thousand years - or less - the earth will be uninhabitable for humans. Neither you nor Al Gore nor the Prius drivers can change that. Cap and Trade type legislation is done for profit and power.
Is the climate changing? Of course. It always has been changing in one direction or another. Is it an emergency? No more or less than it was a billion years ago or two centuries ago. Can we mere humans do anything about it? That's preposterous.
If you need something to worry about, find a cause you can do something about.
Haven't you heard? Global warming is over...the Earth is actually cooling now...that's why you don't hear "global warming" anymore...it's now "Climate Change" as the buzzword...this way no matter what the weather does, we can be subjected to new taxes based on a climate that changes....wow...guess the climate never changed until Al Gore got involved. Tax him...not us. I pay enough in electricity costs. Build nuclear power plants if you want clean, efficient energy. The rest of the world is laughing at us, and Scot...keep drinking the koolaid...it may keep you cool so you can turn your thermostat up a bit when Cap & Trade hits your pocket.