Hi Laura!

We could have been working on alternative energy over the last 8 years as a national priority…

Laurra asks:

So how about it — do you feel Defended? Protected, Managed?

No.

This is another example of simple answers…

Defense Department = War Department (Truthful and what it was actually called prior to the post WWII renaming – which should appeal to the “originalists”)

Bureau of Land Management = Bureau of Resource Extraction (again, some truth in advertising)

Environmental Protection Agency = Corporate Polluter Protection Racket/Agency

(With all due apologies to the career staff at the EPA and BLM who are as abhorred by the actions of the admin as the rest of us).

Environmental Protection Agency that won’t = Environmental Unprotection Agency

Why isn’t wind energy being opposed wind mills do kill birds? But Solar cells are a bunch of silicon panes of glass just how do they hurt the environment?
Maybe Bush will ban wind next. Say good bye to American Green energy stocks at least until Obama wins.

Those of us who remember the Seventies think we could have been working on alternative energy for the last thirty years as a national priority…

Another casualty of the “Reagan revolution.”

omg. These people are monstrous. EPA = ExxonMobil Paid Advocate.

Laura:

The New York Times reports the Bush administration has placed a nearly two year moratorium on the construction of new solar energy projects on public land.

Check out the graph [scroll down]

well, if mcshrub gets himself elected, at the end of two years, the study will conclude that solar panels are an inefficient use of public land… ’cause we could be drillin’ in it.

Yup

A Justice Department that sanctions, then covers up crimes.

An anti-terror policy that turns the country into the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism.

An OSHA that helps companies hide occupational hazards.

A DHS that fails to defend it’s citizen’s liberty.

One one word works for all of these: thugs

Criminally insane.

I actually heard a rethug independent power exec argue that his coal-fired power plants are the cleanest energy alternative since his company is better positioned to buy offset credits than the “two bit hippy outfits” that run alternative power plants.

We could have been working on alternative energy for the last 28 years, but we made a desperate mistake and elected Ronnie Raygun instead of a second Carter term.

BC

A fourth world nation ruled by sociopaths.

On the other hand, we do have some progress being made. Hawaii is requiring solar water heating on all new residential construction. Sunshine is something they have in abundance … should cut down on electricity use there a lot.

And when the North Pole melts by September (acc. to Ricky Sanchez last on CNN last nite), be happy that we can sail straight to Sweden through the newly balmy waters.

(he joked about Santa, too.)

Looseheadprop is upstairs.

both wind and solar can be bad for the environment because the infrastructure (roads, fences, lines, etc.) needed to install them fragments habitat on public lands. many of the public lands under the “renewable” gun are the last pristine areas left – areas critical for the preservation of imperiled wildlife species and plant communities that provide services such as water storage, purification, wildlife habitat, and some of the last remaining ecological sanctuaries for human enjoyment and biodiversity. this is why wind and solar are not inherently “green”. Much of the “green” development on public lands is invested in by out of country, centralized utility investors who don’t give a lick about cleaning up. For energy to be “green” it needs to be planned right – there are plenty of marginal agricultural private lands in the West – no longer utilized for agricultural production but already torn up beyond hope for restoration – that would be far more appropriate to develope alternative technologies than the rapidly diminishing wild places we have left.

In the forest defense movement, we called BLM the Bureau of Logging Maniacs…

Earnestly Proffering Alibis?

yeah.. sometimes I think we do need a fourth world designations… those developed countries mismanaged to the point that they are no longer able to provide third world standards of governance for their citizens.

many states (and even cities) are moving forward. the Federal center has now presented itself as a major impediment to state government progress… in a dramatic reversal of the 14th amendment.

BLM plan calls for 4400!! more [oil & gas] wells on the Pinedale Anticline [public land]

Lemme guess. Expedited EPA review.

EPA = Excorticate (the) Public Unlimited

yeah – they’re passing out oil & gas leases like they’re candy — unfortunately – nobody’s litigating. it’s extremely difficult to regulate once a lease is approved — it’s like a property right (even on public land) until the 10 year term of lease is up. rubber stamp as many leases before the next administration – that seems to be the strategy

There’s very little I agree with Derr Gropinator about, but this is one thing he did right, by signing it

http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/press-release/3588/

http://www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/

that’s the kind of solution that’s a win-win for everyone involved. more development on public land is not “green” – keep it where it belongs

angie at 16-”A fourth world nation ruled by sociopaths.”

well, equality rules, a sociopath treats everyone the same!! /s

Thanks Laura

digg

I was just at an Honor the Earth ceremony dedicating solar panels on the only remaining First Nation owned housing community in Mpls. – or anywhere in the US? – a few weeks ago. Winona LaDuke, Van Jones, Clyde Bellecourt…great event here in inner city Mpls. Honor the Earth is set to make a few First Nations entirely self-sustaining energy wise. So imagine all those national parks, many within First Nation treaty land now absconded, not allowing solar power. I bet if there’s oil to be had in the Badlands of North Dakota its making somebody rich, but not honoring the treaties of the original owners.

You just gotta know there’s some funky karma waiting to bite somebody in the ass.

Please stop using stupid memes to excuse the proponents of Big Oil and Nucklar.

Solar power can be very, very, very frikin’ green.

Doesn’t use water.

Doesn’t kill birds.

Uses already existing right of ways.

Uses already existing, now worthless, resources to store energy.

Would provide Billions in high-paying construction jobs to get the job done.

Read:

The Solar Grand Plan

Doesn’t change the carbon footprint one erg.

Get educated and stop saying shit that just is not true.

We’ve got the ReThugs for that.

there are plenty of marginal agricultural private lands in the West – no longer utilized for agricultural production but already torn up beyond hope for restoration – that would be far more appropriate to develope alternative technologies than the rapidly diminishing wild places we have left.

love that concept, begreen. it would also help revitalize rural ag communities by bringing them the income from leases….

Great new names.
I’ll announce on the show tomorrow!

Maybe we can gear up a contest.

Thanks.

Ohmigoodness…. what a VISUAL….I knew it was bad but… so much for “the greatest” etc etc.

not suggesting that oil & gas is ok – in fact, i’ve worked to STOP its development on public lands (sage grouse listing) nor that solar and wind are inherently not green — just that we shouldn’t develop this technology on critical wildlife habitat – that’s what proponents of centralized energy production and privatization of public lands want — instead, i’m suggesting that PLANNING and management matter – there are plenty of marginal ag lands no longer in production adjacent to the very high winds lands proposed — in Idaho for example, a wind farm is being proposed on public land to accomodate LAS VEGAS demand — much of the energy produced on public lands, cutting into critical wildlife habitat will be lost – IN TRANSIT – over transmission lines, to keep vegas wasting energy on exterior lighting of casinos —- THAT’S NOT GREEN – no matter what production technology is employed.

Bush’s rejection of solar panels and wind is not done in good faith — it’s a framing issue — but there are reasons to be critical, and reasons to encourage public oversight. BUSH IS NOT DOING IT FOR THESE JUST REASONS — especially when oil & gas is being rubber-stamped all over the place.

we need to be wise with where and how we develop renewables — simply changing technology will not solve our problems. wind farms on endangered species habitat is no more green than oil & gas or livestock grazing on the same critical habitat — it may be somewhat better — but there are alternatives – plenty of marginal ag lands all over the west NOT BEING USED that are trashed beyond restoration and have the same generation potential as public lands.

the going rate for marginal ag lands permitted for renewables was $10,000 / acre last I checked (a wind guy i’m buddies with deals with these things) — that’s $10,000 / acre more than farmers and rural folk are getting now for that land.

try 35 years……………….

executive oil and corporate treason……….

You demonstrate your ignorance of public lands management, not surprising for a person living in the big city. Among other things involved in permitting (as in issuing a permit) a proposed activity on public land, Public land management agencies are required by law to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, and the American Antiquities Act of 1906. This is typically very involved and is always time consuming. The Bush/Cheny regime has essentially mandated that the BLM prioritize gas and oil permitting. Because of budget cuts the BLM (and other land management agencies) have almost impossible workloads, and they would not likely be able to comply with permitting requirements for solar or wind electrical facilities by 2010. So really the moratorium on permitting solar facilities is how Bush forces the BLM to concentrate on the backlog of oil and gas permitting, which has come about as a result of policy decisions by the B/C Regime.
Also, there is plenty of private land on which solar electrical generating facilities could be located, and I suspect there are plenty of landowners who would be willing to lease some of their otherwise unproductive desert land for the purpose.

this is what I’m talking about – the problem isn’t just production technology, it’s the speculation and centralization of production which hopes to externalize production costs onto the public — it may be (or may not be) cheaper to develop on public land because we lease are public lands to industry for ridiculously below market value (subsidy). Locals may get a few jobs – but all the wealth is sucked out to investors rather than maintained in the communities (prospective wind developers want to put blades in ID on Brown’s Bench – but the company is offshore – the money goes international) — that’s our public lands being leased by foreigners to generate wealth for foreigners. The energy from the blades in Idaho gets piped to Las Vegas — LAS VEGAS. This idea that our energy problem is uniquely about inadequate production would be silly if it weren’t tragic. Does anyone know how much energy is WASTED just as a matter of the loss over the lines from ID to Vegas ? It’s a bunch ! Does anyone know how much energy is WASTED in VEGAS ? It’s a bunch ! Solution : Unscrew every 20th lightbulb on the exterior of every other casino. Solution : Use the energy locally – less transit = less loss.

This is to say nothing of the fact that legitimate renewable outfits don’t look to lease public lands – if you’re investing in an alternative energy utility that is speculating to lease on public lands — PULL YOUR INVESTMENT ! The players that know what they’re doing know about NEPA, they know about the ESA (which WILL become a problem with leasing public lands in the West when sage grouse, pygmy rabbit, etc. get listed), they know about the Antiquities Act, and any number of other laws and they know that trying to fight these things is money in the toilet – it’s more secure an investment for stockholders to lease private lands – private lands enjoy private property rights less complicated by regulation than public lands – and private lands enjoy more wealth kept in the communities as locals get the money from leasing – this is an easier sell for investors who want to convince local governments to support their development.

Look – Bush isn’t doing this for the right reasons – but by doing it, he’s got the left all up in arms about what the radical right has been trying to destroy for decades (think Sagebrush Rebellion) – he’s got progressives thinking environmental laws are bad – that it’s too much red tape. These environmental laws (especially NEPA) are what give the public oversight (and by extension/in addition ~ judicial oversight) over developments on our public lands that do potential harm to the values that we care about – we need those activists on the ground who know what’s going on with their local landscapes to have that leverage if we want to maintain wild places and wildlife – especially in a warming world.

I wrote something over here about how global warming is being spun by Bush with regard to wildlife management.

Global warming prompts doubt about wildlife conservation in the West

They know they’ve lost the battle over whether global warming exists – now they’re moving to frame it such that they get their agenda anyway.

many of the executives behind the mega-conglomerate wind corporations trying to pillage wildlife habitat on public lands are the same “executive oil and corporate” criminals. putting a green cape on does not constitute regard for our natural world – especially when the same corrupt exploitation of the public interest is used as a new vehicle for their new ‘investment’ – i support wind and solar 100% – i support it in my backyard and on my rooftop to power my house and my neighborhood.

it is fine to criticize bush for his hypocrisy at citing environmental laws as a reason not to employ solar smack dab in endangered species habitat – it is fine because he’s green-lighting the usurpation of those same laws to rubber-stamp oil & gas leasing on public lands. but the regulations are not bad — in fact, i’d posit that bush was citing them with solar to frame them as bad – something he and the republicans have been trying to do for years.