Legalectric

When I look at the Green Chameleon Gov’s Greenhouse Gasbags’ Report, words fail me, good thing… we don’t need more CO2.  But it’s so absurd, the assumptions are so bizarre, counterintuitive, where do I even begin?  I think I’ll just post it first until I find the words.  But that itself is a problem, because they have it all divided up, compartmentalized as it were, and it’s hard to get the whole thing.  So I downloaded them and combined into the Report and the Appendices, while downloading I had the pleasure of watching a doe feeding just up the bluff, about 35 feet up from my door.  Anyway, here we go:

MCCAG Final Report

MCCAG Final Report – Appendices

From their site:

Public Comments – The deadline for public comment is midnight Sunday, April 27, 2008.

The link to the online form for submitting comments is:
www.commerce.state.mn.us/ClimateChangeResponse.html

The form is weird because it’s the only way I see to be able to comment, there are no email addresses… GRRRRRRRR… and they say: “You will need to fill-in and submit one web-based comment form for each policy option on which you are commenting.” And it seems that ONLY these web-form submitted comments will become part of the bigger report: “All comments submitted through the website will become part of the final report to the Governor and legislature after April 27th, 2008.”

So I’d recommending cutting and pasting into the form, keeping the comments in their entirety in another document, and then send separately to our agency buddies, just for giggles:

edward.garvey@state.mn.us

david.thornton@state.mn.us

Now, why would I think this Gasbag report is a load o’ crap?  Try this:

The generation performance standard (GPS) is a mandate that requires entities that deliver electricity to acquire electricity or power plant developers to build and operate new base-load generation, with a per-unit emission rate below 1,100 pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour (MWh).  For base-load projects that are part of a combined-heat-and-power project, the GPS would be raised to 1,300 pounds of CO2/MWh. By MCCAG vote, the two proposed new coal stations for meeting Minnesota base-load demand—Big Stone 2 and Mesaba—were exempted from the GPS. At its final meeting, MCCAG decided that this policy required further study.

Gasbag Report, Ch. 4, p. 5, para. ES-1.  “MCCAG vote, the two proposed new coal stations for meeting Minnesota base-load demand—Big Stone 2 and Mesaba—were exempted from the GPS.” Excuuuuuse me, but how will exemption of 10 million new, NEW, tons of CO2 annually do anything but put us back, worse off then before we started?  The gall, the audacity, whatever are they thinking?  show me how they’ll make up that 10 million tons much less have any net decrease?  What’s the point.

Oh, and here it is again, in the Executive Summary, p. EX 10:

All totals are relative to the underlying assumption that electricity expansion in Minnesota proceeds with the recently legislated Conservation Improvement Program (CIP), Renewable Energy Standard (RES), and all planned additions including the Mesaba and Big Stone 2 stations.

And we’re supposed to take the time to evaluate this piece o’ crap?  How can they put something like this out into the world?