City of Red Wing to tear down incinerator
March 25th, 2014
Last night at the Red Wing City Council meeting, the Council voted to tear down the City’s incinerator.
Don’t ignore big burning issue
CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE DISCUSSION (they take a break, restarts at 38:50):
And not a moment too soon:
WHO – 7 million premature deaths annually linked to air pollution
One down… Now it’s time to shut down Xcel Energy’s two unit garbage burner! This is a view from the bluff just above our 8th Street house!
Hornstein/Jensen Bakken oil rail safety bills
March 25th, 2014
Rep. Frank Hornstein and Sen. Vicki Jensen have introduced three bills related to rail safety, triggered by the recent Bakken oil rail car derailments and explosions.
Here’s a pdf with clickable links to check out the specific language and status:
TO DO: Contact House Committee members and urge passage:
In the House, all the bills have been referred to Transportation Finance (HF 3134 after a trip through the Transportation Policy and Public Safety committees), so now we’ve got to contact those in Transportation Finance to move HF 3133, HF 3134 & HF 3135 on to the House floor — it’s Frank’s committee so he shouldn’t have any trouble getting a hearing!!! Contact info for House Finance members HERE!
TO DO: Contact Senate Committee members and urge passage:
In the Senate, two have been referred to Transportation and Public Safety (SF 2795 and SF 2796), and one to Environment and Energy (SF 2797). Contact info for Transportation and Public Safety HERE! Sen. Scott Dibble is Chair so there should be no problem getting a hearing here either!! Contact info for Environment and Energy HERE!
Senate Transportation and Public Safety Committee will hear them tomorrow:
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Committee on Transportation and Public Safety
Chair: Sen. D. Scott Dibble
03:00 PM
Room 15 Capitol
Something very noticeable here in this district is that Rep. Matt Kelley and Rep. Steve Drazkowski have not signed on. ???? This is a huge issue for those of us along the Mississippi with the rail line running right through town.
TO DO: Contact these legislators along the tracks and urge them to sign on (and also those towards Fargo too, don’t know where the train runs there):
Reps: rep.tim.kelly@house.mn (21A); rep.steve.drazkowski@house.mn (21B); rep.gene.pelowski@house.mn (28A); rep.greg.davids@house.mn (28B); rep.pat.garofalo@house.mn (58B).
Senators: sen.jeremy.miller@senate.mn (28); sen.dave.thompson@senate.mn (58).
Why aren’t state Representatives and Senators in SE Minnesota acting on this explosive issue?
Here are notes from a City of Red Wing meeting with CP on March 17th:
HF 2834 – Most bizarre amendment I’ve ever seen…
March 25th, 2014
Sure, it’s Sheldon Johnson’s birthday, but check this amendment coming up in committee today:
Maybe introduce this NEXT Tuesday too???
MISO Utilities 2014 1Q Update
March 24th, 2014
No, not that kind of MISO, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or is it Midwest Energy, or… (they’ve been changing the name lately) anyway, it’s the electric market kind of MISO:
They’re having a shindig at the Minnesota MISO HQ:
10:00 a.m. – High Noon Friday, March 20, 2014 MISO Eagan Office 2985 Ames Crossing Road Eagan, MN 55121Here’s the Notice:
Where it talks about the “MISO report” that is to be reviewed, here’s what they’re referring to:
And apparently this is being constantly updated, so the link is the most recent update.
Convention time… Resolutions!
March 22nd, 2014
It’s that County Convention time of year, so we hustled on down to Goodhue for the DFL convention and voted on resolutions. Alan spoke to let people know what his most important resolution was about:
Energy
2) That the words “the heat value of mixed municipal waste or refuse derived fuel” be removed from the definition of biomass included in Minn. Stat. 216B.1691: Renewable Energy Options.
They screwed up the Resolutions, mislabeling statutes” as “legislation#” or “legislative bill #” — very strange.
Anyway, I wasn’t really in the mood this morning, it was kind of hard to stomach the DFL when the headlines today state that the legislature passed, and Dayton signed, a bill that “kills some taxes for businesses.” Here’s the STrib article:
Dayton signs $444 M in tax relief; more than a million Minnesotans to see tax breaks
TAX RELIEF FOR BUSINESSES? If businesses are paying lots of taxes, they are making lots of money, and that’s after they take deductions for expenses and then some — there is NO excuse for cutting taxes for business. AAAAARGH!