Legalectric

OH NOOOOOOOO… We’re losing another big beautiful tree today.  Diesel fumes are particularly intense.  The noise these days is unreal, industrual-strength jackhammer on a bucket breaking up rock and digging down to build the wall foundation.  They’re getting down, all right!

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For those of you interested in how we got to where we are on this, take a look at what the Olmsted County Regional Railroad Authority has been doing:

Board Packets & Minutes

 Regional Railroad Authority

Meeting Date	Packets	Minutes
June 23, 2009	Packet (117KB)	Minutes (13KB)
January 19, 2010	Packet (38KB)	Minutes (9KB)
June 22, 2010	Packet (11KB)	Minutes (10KB)
December 14, 2010	Packet (43KB)	Minutes (8KB)
January 18, 2011	Packet (49KB)	Minutes (13KB)
September 27, 2011	Packet  (837KB)	Minutes  (11KB)
October 25, 2011	Packet (69KB)	Minutes (29KB)
November 22, 2011	Packet  (23KB)	Minutes (14KB)
January 17, 2012	Packet (65KB)	Minutes (8KB)
February 21, 2012	Packet (60KB)	Minutes  (12KB)
April 24, 2012	Packet (26KB)	Minutes (15KB)
September 25, 2012	Packet (1140KB)	Minutes  (51KB)
January 22, 2013	Packet (28KB)	Minutes (9KB)
August 27, 2013	Packet (161KB)	Minutes (17KB)
January 21, 2014	Packet (296KB)	Minutes (17KB)
June 24, 2014	Packet (36KB)	Minutes

Nearly 400!  And asking questions that need to be asked, and expecting answers about a project that could have immense impact and even more cost!  “The people” get it.

For more info, see www.goziprail.org  and  Midwest High Speed Rail Association.

Comments due by August  6, 2014.  Send comments to:

          info@goziprail.org         or

MN DOT Passenger Rail Office ATTN: Zip Rail

395 John Ireland Boulevard, MS 470

St. Paul, MN 55155

So last night, I’m at the Zip Rail meeting, blasted down from Red Wing, greeted everyone at the door, handed out some flyers, didn’t have nearly enough, and was standing in the back listening to the same ol’, same ol’ rap, on and on.  Chuck Michael, then Garneth Peterson, then Chuck again, yawn… and getting irritated hearing the song and dance with little of substance, so I went into the commons, the meeting was broadcast out there, writing out a few things to hand in, zzzzzzzzzzz … it’s pushing 7, meeting end time, and I’m following the discussion, nothing exciting, winding down, so I hit the road.  I felt good about getting some questions and info on how to comment into people’s hands.  All in a day’s work…

But DAMN!  Left too soon!!!  This meeting, the people stood up and let them know what they were thinking!

Here’s the report in the Post Bulletin:

Fireworks erupt at Zip Rail meeting in Kenyon

BRETT BOESE, bboese@postbulletin.com

Today was the Zip Rail meeting at the Kenyon High School, and it was PACKED.  I printed up 80 flyers, but ran out and could have handed out another 80.  WOW!  It’s great to see people so interested.

I’ve been learning about this project, and it takes some digging to get information.  My goal is to encourage people to ask questions, and where there’s the opportunity, to file comments.  In this case, we have until August 6, 2014, to send comments in for scoping on the “Tier 1” EIS.  This means that we should tell them what all we think should be covered in the environmental review, and send the comments to:

Comments due by August  6, 2014.  Send comments to:

          info@goziprail.org         or

MN DOT Passenger Rail Office ATTN: Zip Rail

395 John Ireland Boulevard, MS 470

St. Paul, MN 55155

 

What I’ve found is that it’s hard to find anything.  Start looking, and what do you find?  Zip!  The best information source is the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, and to look at their “Studies/White Papers” page.  I’m most interested in “Midwest” “HSR” (high speed rail) and “Economics,” and HERE IS THE RESULT for that.

Here is my favorite for basic information, it’s got some basic cost estimates, particularly on p. 105 of 151, for the Metro – Chicago route, take a quarter of that and it’s a good starting ballpark figure, just over $7 billion (the number I hear being thrown around is $1 billion, and no way, no how, so just pay no attention and do some digging):

Economic Impacts of High Speed Rail 2011

And some others:

ROCOG Presentation ZipRail_011714

tac-02

Zip Rail Report

NOI_posted_051313

And remember, here is from the Minnesota Zip Rail site, their documents, sparse, but this is what we have:

Title	Document Type	Date	Format	File Size
1 Page size: select  10 items in 1 pages
Zip Rail Open House Flyer	Public Meeting Materials	Jul 16, 2014		132 KB
Newsletter – July 2014	Newsletters	Jul 07, 2014		885 KB
Technical Advisory Committee Meeting No. 4	Other	Jul 07, 2014		5 MB
Zip Rail Scoping Package	Reports	Jul 07, 2014		7 MB
Technical Advisory Committee Meeting No.3	Reports	Oct 17, 2013		3 MB
Draft Purpose and Need Statement	Reports	Oct 07, 2013		634 KB
Public Involvement Plan	Reports	Jun 01, 2013		4 MB
Notice of Intent	Reports	May 13, 2013		28 KB
Technical Advisory Committee Meeting No.2	Reports	Apr 04, 2013		1 MB
Technical Advisory Committee Meeting No.1	Reports	Feb 28, 2013		1 MB

The Alabama Public Service Commission joining with the state’s representative to the Republican National Committee to object to EPA rules, “Who has the right to take what God’s given a state?” he said.   The last two lines of this article say it all:

The press conference was held in the offices of the Alabama Coal Association.

The EPA hearing was to be held Tuesday at the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center but has been relocated to the Omni Hotel because of a power outage.

This reminds me of the Mayor of Hoyt Lakes, who said in promotion of the Excelsior Energy Mesaba Project after a discussion of mercury, “Mercury?  We’re used to mercury here.”

And then there’s the “Obama war on coal” fiction — if only… but dream on.

Congressman Byrne joins fellow Republicans in denouncing Obama ‘war on coal’

The good news is that since the EPA hearing was moved to hotel, a building other than a federal building, the two ID requirement to enter a federal building will not apply.

Here’s the full article, read it and snort — if it weren’t so tragically absurd:

Pray God blocks EPA plan, chief regulator of Alabama utilities tells consumers

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Alabama’s coal industry will lose jobs and consumers will see their utility bills increase should the EPA implement proposed regulations on coal-fired power plants, Alabama regulators said at a press conference in which they invoked the name of God in the fight over fossil fuels.

Two members of the Alabama Public Service Commission, a member-elect and an Alabama representative to the Republican National Committee said proposed EPA regulations that aim to reduce power plant carbon emissions by 30 percent represent “an assault on our way of life” and are a purposeful attempt by the Obama administration to kill coal-related jobs.

“We will not stand for what they are doing to our way of life in Alabama,” said PSC President Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh. “We will take our fight to the EPA.”

Cavanaugh and several other Republican leaders from Alabama plan to offer testimony at an EPA hearing in Atlanta on Tuesday.

The EPA announced in June its intent to implement new standards meant to curb carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. Such emissions are among the biggest contributors to global warming. According to EPA documents, the proposal would require Alabama to lower emissions from its coal-fired plants by 27 percent from 2012 levels.

A spokesman for Alabama Power Co., which has six coal-fired plants in the state, has said it’s too soon to know what action the utility would have to take to meet the new standards.

At their news conference today Cavanaugh and PSC commissioner-elect Chip Beeker invoked the name of God in stating their opposition to the EPA proposal. Beeker, a Republican who is running unopposed for a PSC seat, said coal was created in Alabama by God, and the federal government should not enact policy that runs counter to God’s plan.

“Who has the right to take what God’s given a state?” he said.

Cavanaugh called on the people of the state to ask for God’s intervention.

“I hope all the citizens of Alabama will be in prayer that the right thing will be done,” she said.

Also speaking in opposition to the EPA plan were PSC Commissioner Jeremy Oden and Paul Reynolds, an Alabama representative to the Republican National Committee.

Oden said he believes the EPA has dramatically underestimated the economic impact that the proposed regulations will have, and that the 600-page proposal represents overreach on the part of the Obama administration. Reynolds said the Obama administration has more important issues with which to contend.

“The Obama administration should be concerned about a potential world at war instead of something dumb, like a war on coal,” he said. “What we’re dealing with is government run amok.” 

The press conference was held in the offices of the Alabama Coal Association.

The EPA hearing was to be held Tuesday at the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center but has been relocated to the Omni Hotel because of a power outage.