Plains & Eastern Clean Line DOA — thanks DOE!
March 23rd, 2018
This says it all!
CONGRATULATIONS TO BLOCK PLAINS & EASTERN!!!
DOE Drops Its Deal With Clean Line; Wind Project Won’t Cross Arkansas
Failure of “clean coal” in The Guardian
March 2nd, 2018
Yes, we know it doesn’t work. Learned that in stopping the Mesaba Project:
There were IGCC – coal gasification – plants proposed all over the country, and they fell, one by one. Some not fast enough, the Kemper project, in today’s Guardian, is an example of protracted misrepresentations to keep that money coming in to fund the scam:
The best thing that came from the failed Mesaba Project was the information about the technology that hadn’t been disclosed before. We were able to use this information all over the country to stop these plants, and stop this one before Minnesotans were utterly and hopelessly screwed as they were in Mississippi with Southern’s Kemper and Indiana with Duke’s Edwardsport. Read the rest of this entry »
Drumpf’s “Questionnaire” to Dept. of Energy
December 9th, 2016
Trump’s energy agenda, vague as it is, has been essentially to promote “clean coal,” nuclear and to deny climate change and dismantle federal climate change and “renewable” energy programs, of course with no move to eliminate subsidies for coal and nuclear. The “transition team” sent a big laundry list of questions to the Department of Energy, and it’s pretty broad. It’s also something that would be both telling and intimidating to receive. Looking at this, there’s no doubt where they’re headed.
Here’s the document — read it and see what you think… and note how many of these questions are “Can you provide…” which are easily answered with just a “Yes” or “No” and that’s the end of it!
But wait… there’s another version (similar, but different order, etc.):
I think Trump needs somebody to write his questions for him, somebody new that is. He obviously didn’t come up with this, but his staff person who did, well, if they worked for me, “YOU’RE FIRED!”
DOE and SWPA sued in Federal Court
August 16th, 2016
YES!!! On to federal court!!! I love it when this happens! Downwind and Golden Bridge have sued the Department of Energy (DOE) and Southwestern Power Administration (SWPA)! Here’s a copy of the Complaint, give it a read:
Downwind, LLC & GoldenBridge LLC-v-DOE & SWPA – Case 3:16-cv-00207
Here’s the bottom line, what they’re asking for:
It’s focused on the DOE and Clean Line’s most vulnerable issues, those of improper potential use of eminent domain for private purpose and private company, and, as David Ulery says:
“Landowners were never offered an appropriate avenue for due process during the DOE’s review of Clean Line’s application,” he said. “An opportunity to comment is not the same as an opportunity to directly participate in the matter in an official capacity. Review is meaningless if those most affected are not given ample and significant opportunity to engage on a meaningful and substantive level.”
Clean Line and the DOE were asked, demanded, expected, to provide due process, and nope, nada, not the most basic opportunities to participate. Seems they’ve never heard of due process — how dare they! From June, 2015, here are multiple filings demanding due process:
BLOCK Plains & Eastern Clean Line docket filings
Here’s the first of articles to appear about the federal suit:
Opponents sue to block Clean Line project
By John LyonArkansas News Bureaujlyon@arkansasnews.com
Womack’s bill cleared the House Natural Resources Committee in June.
DOE proceeds with Clean Line?!?!?!
March 28th, 2016
Here’s their press release:
And here is the full “Record of Decision” of DOE:
There’s a lot to read here, and I’m just starting. The primary question I have is what exactly it means that the DOE will “participate” and what that decision confers on the project proponents. Much of that is in the “Participation Agreement” of which there were drafts, this is the “Executed Version” that has conditions that CLEP must meet. Section 1222 is a financing provision, and having worked on a couple of projects that are USDA RUS funded, how do they get from financial wheeler-dealering to the idea that DOE participation could circumvent state jurisdiction and powers?
The entire Arkansas delegation has come out strongly against it, slamming the DOE decision. Now how about they introduce a bill to repeal Section 1222? That ought to take care of it!