Legalectric

RIGHT NOW! It’s the PPSA Annual Hearing… sigh… here we go again.

Go to webex, Event # 146 311 2620. The powerpoint slides will be here (and will also be filed on eDockets).

To be able to comment, you have to get on the phone 866-609-6127, Conference ID: 4449079, and to comment, you need to press #1 and get in queue.

Here is the Commerce info about this year’s projects:

And for the record, folks, note that wind is not exempt from many of the parts of the PPSA:

Emily Murphy’s email and the Government Service Administration (GSA) contact page are working again, so you can contact her!

GSA Contact Form

Or if that’s not working (and just now it looks like it’s down again, as down as the White House comment line, it’s been chugging along for 15 minutes now):

emily.murphy@gsa.gov

Why? Because she’s the one who has to sign the “transition papers” for Biden’s administration so the transition team can start work. She’s supposed to be an independent signer but instead she’s furthering the denial of the Mango-in-Chief.

Trump appointee refuses to sign document allowing Biden transition to officially get to work: report

I first tried the GSA site, and her email when the GSA site didn’t work, back on November 9, and the email bounced, “too much traffic” it said… so I tried again on the 12th, both the “Contact” form, which did come up, and a direct email. Got this form response — so it did get through:

She’s getting the message, well, a message:

The Trump Appointee Blocking Biden’s Transition Is Reportedly Trying to Line Up a New Job for 2021

… but if she did her job, that might help her get another!

Here’s how transitions work:

Presidential Transition Act Summary

What’s the Center for Presidential Transition… hmmmmm… damned if they don’t have that front and center on their home page!

Here’s a study from 2018 that I found in connection with a recent article about the controversy over the Colstrip coal plant and whether it will be rehabbed, whether it will continue to provide Idaho with some power after withdrawal from Washington state.

Idaho regulators have Colstrip concerns

Here’s the study:

Carbon Capture was to be considered in the plan for Colstrip rehab, but here’s the conclusion:

45Q CO2 tax credits? Get out the waders. From our “good friends” at Great Plains Institute, its Primer: Section 45Q Tax Credit for Carbon Capture Projects.

To implement the reformed 45Q, the US Treasury requested public comments in IRS Notice 2019-32 on several key issues. The IRS issued guidance on beginning and continuous construction requirements along with a revenue procedure for business partnerships that include investors claiming the tax credit. The IRS released proposed regulations to address additional implementation issues, including requirements for demonstrating secure geological storage, credit recapture, credit transferability and contractural assurance, and requirements for lifecycle analysis of emissions reductions for projects that beneficially use CO2 or CO to convert manufacture fuels, chemicals, or other useful products like cement.

https://www.betterenergy.org/blog/primer-section-45q-tax-credit-for-carbon-capture-projects/

Yes, Great Plains Institute has a big money-suck program AGAIN, pushing “carbon capture and storage/sequestration.”

Money suck? Yes, look at this from 2017 IRS 990, most recent I could find, but for sure there is more since:

Current Legalectric post, and going back… been there, done that, must we?

More Carbon Capture PR BS

February 21st, 2020

CO2 pipelines? It’s a red herring!

March 22nd, 2017

Do really need to go through this again? Apparently, because as Bill Grant, formerly Deputy Director of Commerce on the Energy side, and before that Izaak Walton League forever, said circa 2005 and coal gasification and CCS, “we need to find a way forward for coal.” We’ve been there, done that, and carbon capture is a pipedream:

And even though we knew it then, the science and economics were in the record, regulators and applications paid little attention until plant after plant was blocked, denied, and withdrawn. Then again, they got a LOT of money to promote coal gasification and carbon capture, but those of us without funding, without resources, kept at it, and prevailed.

IEDC gets carried away

February 15th, 2007

And here are the presentations from that fiasco, the shameful promotion of CCS contrary to science and economics:

Presentations at IEDC

February 16th, 2007

CO2 sequestration is so… like… not happening!

January 26th, 2007

Great Plains Institute – is Joyce getting their $$ worth?

January 18th, 2007

Last of the trips for 2020, last of TWO, that’s it, just two this year! Thanks, COVID!

Mirror Lake State Park books up as soon as sites are reservable, and when the parks opened up again, this was the only time “our” site in the Cliffwood loop was open. Weather was great, cool but not cold. But we did hit more parks than Mirror Lake. Usually when here, we head to Madison, do some visiting, but everything’s closed, so we instead went to the state parks that were close. Good weather until we went to Devil’s Lake State Park, and the wind blew and rain came crashing down just after we got there:

And the next day, went to Rocky Arbor State Park. We’d been there before, once in summer and the bugs were so bad, couldn’t stick around. This late in the fall it was just right, sunny and NO BUGS, though the park was closed. We parked at the gate and hiked up the hill to the campground, wanted to check it out, and yes, you can find a rocky arbor or two here:

The campground is HUGE, and apparently VERY busy in the summer. Doesn’t really appeal to me because it’s so near the highway, lots of road noise, more than Mirror Lake!

Most of the sites are large and spaced well with foliage between sites, and these big sites are more common in Wisconsin than Minnesota.

From the campground, we headed down to the boggy part, down the stairs to the buggy part, and they were GONE!

There’s a lot to be said for taking a “Time Out!” First trip of the year was up to Tettegouche for solstice, and it was too crowded and people were uniformly non-observent of COVID precautions. After that, we declined two camp hosting gigs, no way was I up for dealing with people and cleaning and stocking bathrooms in that situation.

I am on several camping lists, one of which is the North Dakota State Parks, which sends out a list of weekend sites available. Little Missouri State Park ALWAYS had sites. It looked interesting, was a horse camp with 2 assigned corrals for each site (!) so I called, and horses aren’t required. So I grabbed the best site starting after Labor Day – 13e!

Sunset, right? Well, it is that time, but that’s an oil well flare. The campground was surrounded by oil wells (satellite view here).

North Dakota oil production on the upswing again but may plateau this fall

Some nights, they were audible, both a sound like a jet taking off and a very high pitched whistle. That was countered by the coyotes yipping and howling at sunset and an hour before sunrise.

Little Sadie loves to travel, and she’s learned to be cool around strangers and wildlife.

We took a trip to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit one day, North Unit the next. Campgrounds are closed at both. From the looks of it, the wildlife is benefiting from not having people around.

The picnic ground was FULL of buffalo!

The buffalo walking along the road found a snake, and stomped it but didn’t kill it, and they took turns checking it out, the snake opened its mouth wide, hissing, they’d dance away, and come around again for a look-see. It was as if it was bison school, to learn how to recognize danger and what to do about it.