A relaxing week with… Badger Coulee transmission?
May 16th, 2017
How could I forget? Badger Coulee transmission is marching through Wisconsin, and here it is, framing the entrance to Mirror Lake State Park. UGLY!
And it goes from bad to worse:
See the trail by the I-90 and I-94 signs in the upper left, it’s a dashed line? That trail is right under the transission line. The park ranger said ATC/Xcel was good to work with, that they paid them to move the trail, though it still goes right under the line in one place.
Rulemaking Initial Comments – Minn. R. Ch. 7849 and 7850
May 12th, 2017
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission rulemaking for Minn. R. Ch. 7849, Certificate of Need, and 7850, Routing and Siting, is slowly moving forward. Here are the final drafts up for review before they go to the Commission for a rubber stamp and release for general comment:
Final initial comments on drafts were due on Monday and here they are, in alphabetical order:
20175-131687-01_Goodhue Wind Truth – Marie McNamara
20175-131650-01-1_Great River Energy
20175-131683_ITC Comments and Attachments
20175-131686-01_NoCapX – U-CAN – NRG & GWT
Reply comments are due by 4:30 p.m. on May 31, 2017. eFiling is preferred! If you need to register to eFile, GO HERE! It’s easy, quick, and makes filing a breeze. Get to work — there’s a lot here to comment on!
Comments due – Minn. R. Ch. 7849 & 7850 Rulemaking
May 1st, 2017
Comments on the Minn. R. Ch. 7849 and 7850 rulemaking are due next Monday! Are you making any progress? Info on who, what, where, why, when of filing comments is here:
What to comment on? 
Here are the latest draft rules:
Get to it!
Tonka has arrived!
April 21st, 2017
Tonka has arrived from GSRAW in Wisconsin, who gave us Summer”
Ode to Summer…
Tonka is quickly adjusting to her home and her new roommates. She did well on the trip, and today, greeted me by running up to me smiling. Here ears are up, her chin is up, and she’s a happy grrrrrl.
She’ll do fine! She even met Nigel, nose to nose (note the powerline in the background):
… and they’re fine, although she’s a little unnerved by the chickens!
Wyoming is fossil fuel country, coal plants everywhere, here a mine mouth plant on west side of Kemmerer:
And gas… EVERYWHERE, there were wells all the way up 30 and 89 up until the mountain pass, where the rain turned to snow, UGH! This is what Wyoming looks like just north of Little America:
Remember that 2005 National Geographic article about the gas wells in Wyoming? Here’s my post with links to that article and videos — in particular, check out the “Bad Water” section, the woman holding a glass of “water” from her well reminds me of Nancy Prehn and her water when they’re pumping at the gas underground storage near Waseca:
Drilling in the West – in National Geographic this month
Up here towards Jackson Hole there are no gas wells, I don’t know if that’s because there’s no gas, that it’s not BLM land up for “lease” (at way too reduced rates), or because if the impact of $$$ in this area.
Heading back soon… and yeaaaah to GSRAW for making this adoption happen!
Keystone XL Pipeline – Complaint for Injunctive Relief
March 30th, 2017
tRump signed a Memorandum pushing Keystone XL (and Dakota Access) pipeline inviting them to reapply, which they did two days later:
#notmyPresident – Keystone XL pipeline is baaaaaaaaack
And today, a Complaint has been filed by Northern Plains Resource Council, Bold alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club to stop KXL from going forward:
Complaint filed 2017 03 30 FINAL
The focus is on the extensive record of the earlier proceeding, the prior rejection of the Presidential Permit, NEPA violations, and the arbitrary and capricious nature of the Memorandum and moving forward with this project. The specific claims are:
- Violation of the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq., and Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 701-706, by Defendants State Department and Under Secretary Shannon
- Violation of the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq., and Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 701-706, by Defendants Interior Department, Bureau of Land Management, and Secretary Zinke
- Violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 701-706, by Defendants State Department and Under Secretary Shannon
The third claim is what I’d been noting after tRump issued the Memorandum. With the lengthy and voluminous record, and the denial, to with the stroke of a pen say “go ahead,” that’s arbitrary and capricious on its face. From the Complaint:
The State Department has failed to adequately explain and justify (a) its reversal of positions on whether Keystone XL is in the national interest, and (b) its reliance on a stale and inadequate environmental review. Its approval decision is arbitrary and capricious.
… and oh, what a good example that Memorandum is, itching for challenge. Well, here it is.