“The debate is no longer about the fear of change or aesthetics. It’s about preserving the health, safety, and welfare of communities from developers hell-bent on sticking turbines on every free acre with transmission access no matter who’s in the way. More than twelve active lawsuits are pending against wind projects in as many states, and more are sure to follow.”
U.S. voters are unhappy with the direction of the country. The big ticket issues — ISIS, Ebola, the sluggish economy — are dominating the national dialogue and will sway votes.
But for many thousands of Americans, next week’s election is deeply personal. For them it’s their best opportunity to drive back the spread of industrial-scale wind power that’s plowing through quiet communities and destroying families. On November 4th, they will be checking the box next to those candidates who promise to permanently end the wind production tax credit (PTC).…
Continue Reading“As a result of the assumed EPA retirements with no resource additions, the SPP network was so severely stressed by large reactive deficiencies that the software used in the analysis was unable to produce meaningful results, which is generally indicative of voltage collapse and blackout conditions.”
– Southwest Power Pool, “Reliability Impact Assessment of the EPA’s Proposed Clean Power Plan,” October 8, 2014.
The states and their multistate organizations are weighting in against the Obama administration’s proposed new regulations aimed at reducing emissions from existing electric powerplants 30 percent from their 2005 levels by 2030. They are doing the math, and both cost and reliability are computing negatively.
Last week, MasterResource highlighted pushback from the Virginia State Corporation Commission, which stated: “As currently drafted, the carbon emission rates that EPA proposes for Virginia are arbitrary, capricious, and unlawful.…
Continue ReadingOpen international borders create mutually beneficial trading relationships that promote peace and prosperity. Tariffs, quotas, and other forms of protectionism and nationalism create conflict and lower living standards for all.
In our imperfect world of state-owned energy companies, some being U.S. foes, the imperative is policy reform toward private property rights, market exchange, and the rule of law. This is the real sustainability issue, not the exaggerated issue of anthropogenic climate change from carbon-based energy usage.
Private ownership of the subsoil, and privately owned energy infrastructure otherwise, would create wealth compared to the current system of political elitism. Private, dispersed wealth, such as initially assigning mineral rights to surface owners, such as proposed by Guillermo Yeatts, whose views are summarized in my post, “‘Theft of the Subsoil’: Guillermo Yeatts on Latin/South America mineral-rights reform,” would increase personal power and civil society, while reducing state power.…
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Virginia to Gina: Your Power Plant Rule Is “Arbitrary, Capricious, and Unlawful”
By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 21, 2014