Colorado Legislature Work 3/20/08

Colorado’s New Energy Economy will continue to grow if CO HB1164 (pdf) is passed. The bill would helps mitigate our carbon footprint by opening the market to the creation of new energy technologies including large-scale solar power production. It also directs the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to consider purchasing utility-scale solar power when it’s feasible to do so, and to take into account the future cost of carbon-based energy sources and the impact of greenhouse gases when purchasing energy. Instead of wishing the past was still the present, Democrats like Rep. Judy Solano (D-Brighton) and Gov. Bill Ritter are looking forward into the 21st century. The first step, recognizing the dangers climate change pose, and the second step, recognizing we can’t drill our way out of the problem, have been taken. This bill, like others introduced during this legislative session, work under the world-view that the “free-market”, if it indeed exists, has not led the way and more action is needed.

Colorado has one of the five largest potential solar markets in the nation. Colorado’s San Luis Valley, which is experiencing an economic downturn, would especially benefit from passage of HB 1164. The San Luis Valley has been identified as one of the best solar energy producing regions in the nation, and this type of legislation has the potential to drive tremendous economic growth. Estimates suggest that even one large scale solar plant could lead to as many as 250 new high-skilled jobs and as much as $2 billion in private investment.

On Tuesday, the House approved the measure with bi-partisan support by a vote of 43 to 21.

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The other item that caught my attention is a little more fun: the western painted turtle has been voted as Colorado’s official state reptile by the House. One more Senate vote and the Governor’s signature are all that await final designation.

Bob Schaffer & The Roan Plateau Decision

This is interesting. In response to the BLM’s decision to throw Gov. Ritter’s proposal for the Roan Plateau’s drilling plan out of the window, Bob Schaffer (Republican candidate to replace Sen. Wayne Allard) told the press that he “believes Congress should move to embed the governor’s proposal is federal law before the year is through to prevent his opponent, Congressman Mark Udall, D-Colo., from attempting to shut down all development atop the gas-rich Roan.” What world is Schaffer living in? Rep. Udall stated after the BLM decision that he might introduce legislation with Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo. and Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo. that would make Ritter’s proposal law.

Ah, the politics of lying and fear from Republicans runs rampant. Why you might ask? It likely has roots in the fact that Dick Wadhams, in addition to being the CO Republican State Chair, is one of Shaffer’s campaign advisers. Why is that important? Dick Wadhams was on George “Macaca” Allen’s campaign in 2006 (VA Senate race) as well as John Thune’s campaign in 2004. He has also worked with former Gov. Owens’ and Sen. Allard’s campaigns.

This latest development occurred after Schaffer was taken to task by the GJ Sentinel regarding his silence surrounding the Roan controversy. Schaffer has been silent about nearly every issue that he would have to address as a Senator. Given a choice between silence and lying about Rep. Udall’s intentions, I would go with the former. I expect plenty more lies as this campaign gets more attention. Schaffer and Wadhams can’t help themselves. They certainly can’t proudly run on conservative policies as America is clearly fed up with their failures when implemented.

Schaffer and Wadhams are trying to rile up the folks on the Western Slope with this latest lie. If folks hear Rep. Udall wants to shut down all development and that would cost them income, of course they’re not going to hear any counter-argument. Further, Schaffer is simply doing the bidding of his Big Oil & Gas check-writers.

I eagerly await the dawning of November 5th when Colorado has a new Democratic Senator.

(h/t Deep Trunk)

Bush: We Built Too Many Houses

Something short and sweet this morning. While perusing the headlines, I came across this CNN article, with the headline “Poll: 71 percent think Iraq spending hurts economy”.

This is like saying 7 out of 10 Americans can count. If we’re borrowing money at the rate of billions per month to occupy Iraq, that’s billions we don’t have to spend on climate change or education or health care or investment firm bailouts.

But the quote of the day from Bush is this: “I think actually the spending in the war might help with jobs … because we’re buying equipment and people are working. I think this economy is down because we built too many houses and the economy’s adjusting.”

How’s That Global Cooling Again?

Climate change denyers and delayers jumped all over January 2008 temperature data as ‘evidence’ global cooling was taking charge. Never mind the fact that one month’s data taken completely out of context of any other temperature record has no bearing on the climate change discussion. No, one month of temperature data is more than enough to help make up their minds as they desperately search for information to support their weak hypothesis.

So instead, how about let’s examine Northern Hemispheric winter data. Hmmm. Isn’t that interesting. Despite the presence of a La Nina event (average to slightly cooler conditions, the globally averaged combined land and sea surface temperature was the fifteenth warmest on record for February, the sixteenth warmest for boreal winter (December-February), and the January-February year-to-date period ranked twenty-second warmest.

I’ll say it again: during a cooling event. What will happen when we get to a warming event like a moderate El Nino? 9 degrees Fahrenheit over Siberia is deeply disturbing. I’m sure all the delayers and denyers are going to flock to the right-wing media to trumpet the warming evident in February and the entire winter. Right?

Note the location of the warming: the ‘permafrost’ areas of the Northern Hemisphere. We’re going to to have to rename those areas. The permanent portion of the frost will not last much longer. If those regions release some or all of the methane they’ve trapped underground, we’re in for a painful lesson. Methane is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Combine that with the unprecedented levels of ice cap melting that occurred last year (during the La Nina event) and the outlook for the Arctic ice cap does not look good.

Read the details here.  (h/t climate progress)

Leadership on Iraq

A group of folks running for Congress released a plan for Iraq yesterday. Entitled “A Responsible Plan To End The War In Iraq“, it starts by recognizing that helping Iraq move forward is no longer in the hands of the military. In fact, a military-led solution hasn’t been viable for some time now. Maintaining our military presence in occupation fashion will not lead to a situation in which the Iraqis will be able to take complete control of their country.  It also addresses examining what went wrong in the lead-up and execution of the invasion and resulting occupation.  In order to not make similar mistakes in the future (ahem, Iran), we need to understand how we got to this point.

Darcy Burner (WA-8), Chellie Pingree (ME-1), Donna Edwards (MD-4), Jared Polis (CO-2), Tom Perriello (VA-5) and Sam Bennett (PA-15) were in attendance at the unveiling of the detailed strategy document at the Take Back America Conference in Washington, DC.   Other challengers participating in the effort but unable to attend the event included Eric Massa (NY-29), Larry Byrnes (FL-14), George Fearing (WA-4) and Steve Harrison (NY-13).

From the press release: “Originating outside the Beltway and based on consultations with retired generals and other national security experts on a path forward to end the war, the challengers’ document lays out a series of actions for Congress to take to end United States military involvement in Iraq, strengthen America and improve our standing around the world, restore accountability and checks and balances to our government and work toward energy independence.”

It’s about time we’ve had some leadership displayed on the most critical foreign policy issue this country is facing.

Random Pieces 3/17/08 – Updated

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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I’m sure more than a few of us read that the Federal Reserve and JP Morgan Chase bailed out the large investment firm Bear Stearns last week. Actually, we’re the ones that bailed the bank out. Jeff Blum at OpenLeft has some darn good questions. For instance, why can’t we provide a few billion dollars to help out the borrowers? What benefit will bailing out this firm provide the rest of us?

My feelings on this are: we shouldn’t be bailing out large investment firms that knowingly took on incredibly risky investments. It’s interesting to listen to the economic elite put all the blame on the sub-prime mortgage mess on the people who signed the papers. According to the lenders, if people didn’t know what they were signing for, they shouldn’t have signed. Therefore, they deserve what happens to them. Well guess what, turnabout is fair play. If the borrowers should have known what they were getting themselves into, what responsibility should the lenders have? Apparently none.

Additionally, I find it very interesting that this move is reminiscent of activities last undertaken … in the Great Depression. But according to Bush, the economy is doing just fine! Why do Democrats constantly have to clean up Republican’t messages?

I also think it’s disgusting that these same elitists want government to stay out of their business with regard to application of regulations, but as soon as things look bleak they think it’s the government’s responsibility to bail them out. Seriously, WTF?! Does the ‘free market’ work or does it not? Really, who are the real welfare queens? Bear Stearns and the other large firms got themselves and the rest of us into this mess, more knowingly than those who borrowed from them. I have absolutely no pity for these entities who operated for years as though they were above the law. They should reap what they sowed – maybe a couple large firms’ failures would serve as a wake-up call to the remainder of them to work with regulators in the future. Bailing this firm out sends a message to all of the firms that taking on too much risk is okay since the taxpayers allow themselves to be fleeced time and time again.

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I love conservative economic policies. The U.S. is no longer the world’s largest economy.

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Update – Well isn’t this interesting: Bonuses handed out in 2006 at Bear Stearns totaled $2.6 BILLLION. As of today, the company is only worth 1/10 of that, down from $40B back in January. Tell me again why taxpayers got saddled with a multi-billion dollar bailout please. Oh yeah, because regulation is bad and greed is good.

Remember this when you pay your next insurance premium: we can’t afford universal health care because it’s more important to bail out Bear Stearns.

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Update 2 – Granny Doc nails it.

Space and Science News Updates: 3/16/08

NASA astronauts are making good progress this weekend at the International Space Station. Work includes installation of the first portion of Kobi, Japan’s science laboratory, and assembly of Canada’s Mr. Dextre, a large robotic appendage designed to perform tasks on the outside of the ISS so that humans don’t have to suit up and do them.

Kobi

Everything has run smoothly and the initial module of Kobi was opened for the first time Friday. The hatch was opened at 7:24 MDT March 15, marking the first time the space station’s 15-nation program has full on-orbit participation. Kobi is in a temporary berth at the station, and will likely be moved prior to the arrival of the next portion.

Dextre

Not everything ran smoothly with Mr. Dextre’s installation. A power problem prevented its initial deployment. The problem was eventually traced to a flawed cable in the pallet containing the robot during shuttle delivery. Once power from the station was introduced, the robot responded to controls. The cable ended up not being the correct type for the powering system.

Last night’s work focused on attaching Dextre’s two arms. Work with the arms was temporarily slowed due to stubborn bolts, but things were wrapped up by 12:57 MDT this morning. Initial tests of Dextre and it’s two arms indicate a nominally operative piece of equipment, which is excellent news.

Cassini

I wrote a post a few days ago regarding Cassini’s planned fly-through and testing of Encaladus’ eruptive geyser. Unfortunately, a software glitch prevented instrument from determining the make-up of the geyser material during the fly-through. The good news is that cameras were operating at the critical time. They discovered that the north pole of Enceladus appears much older than the moon’s south pole.

All is not lost with regard to determining the make-up of the ejecta. NASA officials said that Cassini’s Wednesday flyby is the first of four close-up swings past the moon this year. A similar plume pass is slated for October 9th.

And that’s just Enceladus. Cassini continues to probe the remainder of the Saturnian system.

Decent Bill Name

The best example I’ve seen thus far in the CO legislative session of naming a bill well: The B.E.S.T. (Building Excellent Schools Today) plan – House Bill 1335 (authored by Rep. Andrew Romanoff)– will address health and safety issues by providing funds to rebuild, repair or replace our most dangerous and most needy K-12 facilities. The BEST plan calls for a statewide needs assessment, an expert-guided process for the selection of schools and projects, and leveraging up to $1 billion in funds without raising taxes or fees.

Now, it’s not immediately clear from the bill’s acronym what BEST is all about, but it’s a much better title than most others I’ve seen this year.

BLM Blows Roan Decision

The Bureau of Land Management on Thursday released its management plan for drilling on the Roan Plateau, home of a great deal of biodiversity as well as large amounts of oil and gas. Last year, Gov. Ritter proposed a number of environmental compromises to establish more responsible drilling plans on top of the Plateau. The BLM’s decision disregards the majority of those proposals.

“In December, Ritter sent recommendations to the Bureau of Land Management—a division of the Department of Interior—asking for areas considered the most environmentally sensitive under the bureau’s plan be expanded to 36,184 acres from 21,034 acres. [The] plan also suggested phasing in leases on top of the plateau rather than leasing the land all at once, effectively increasing the protected areas on the plateau.

But the federal government ignored most of Ritter’s suggestions, submitting a plan Thursday without significant changes from one issued last June.”

Xcel’s First Smart Grid City: Boulder

Xcel Energy has chosen Boulder as its first “Smart Grid City” using technology to help customers conserve more energy while helping the utility reduce outages.

“Xcel said Wednesday it will work with partners to create a fully networked “smart grid” that can deliver renewable energy such as wind and solar power, along with fuels like coal, to customers with a largely automated system. It would be able to sense when part of the system is overloaded so power can be rerouted to prevent an outage.”

While Xcel hasn’t been on my list of favorite corporations, they deserve kudos for finally getting a program like this in place. The first phase of the project is expected to be in place around August. In 2009, the project will start evaluating data. If all goes well, other states could start seeing smart grid projects as early as 2010.

“Boulder Mayor Shaun McGrath said the Smart Grid City initiative represents an opportunity to help the city meet its goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

“We know energy conservation and energy efficiency must be key components of our energy future,” Gov. Bill Ritter said in a written statement. “We also know the least expensive energy is energy that’s never used – the ‘nega-watt.’ New smart-grid technology will allow us to better manage, reduce, monitor and understand our energy use. It also will integrate, for the first time, solar rooftops as a recognized part of our energy infrastructure.””