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Getting real tired of our elected asswipes promoting environmental genocide in the name of saving the Earth, Click on this link if you want to see what Salazar is encouraging: www.basinandrangewatch.org/Ivan....html
In the meantime we have Southern California Edison and Nevada Energy opposing tax breaks for the roof top solar industry. Mr. Obama is failing on his environmental promises.
Energy chief launches $305 million plan on energy frontier
By KEITH ROGERS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Ken Salazar
Interior Department secretary
Photo by Marlene Karas/Review-Journal
With Red Rock Canyon as a backdrop, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Saturday announces a plan that will provide $26.4 million in stimulus funds this year for more than 40 Nevada projects.
Photo by Marlene Karas/Review-Journal
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar launched a plan Saturday to spend $305 million for creating jobs on what he called the public lands' "renewable energy frontier" to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil while at the same time restoring landscapes and wildlife habitat.
Standing in a sun-drenched parking lot at Red Rock Canyon's fire station with a solar panel behind him, Salazar said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "really believes that Nevada is going to be at the point of the spear in terms of moving this country forward with a whole new renewable energy agenda."
"That work we will do here on solar and geothermal and wind energy is going to be exemplary for the rest of the nation as we take the moonshot on the new energy frontier and tackle the realities of climate change," Salazar said.
The Interior Department will manage $3 billion in investments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed by President Barack Obama. The president's goal is to invest $150 billion over the next decade to speed up renewable energy development.
Bureau of Land Management stimulus funding in Nevada this year will provide $26.4 million for more than 40 projects, including renewable energy, habitat restoration, and building and restoring roads, bridges and trails.
Salazar said the monies are "going to create jobs to get our economy out of the ditch. And second of all, we're going to invest in projects that are going to bring out long-term sustainability to these assets of America and to the initiatives we have."
The Obama administration aims to have 10 percent of the nation's electricity generated from renewable resources by 2012 and 25 percent by 2025.
In all, $41 million authorized under the stimulus act will be spent on 65 BLM projects to spur large-scale production of solar, wind and geothermal energy, in addition to siting transmission lines on public lands to support renewable energy development.
After his announcement to a gathering of BLM employees, conservationists, some local officials and members of the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe, Salazar said he met early Saturday with representatives from more than a dozen solar companies.
He said they have financing for many projects in Nevada, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado, "and they want to get moving on those projects" but the BLM has a backlog for processing applications.
There are 241 applications for wind projects and 199 for solar projects that are in various stages of processing.
Salazar said the BLM plans to open special offices in Nevada and other Western states to accelerate processing renewable energy permit applications.
Groundbreaking on some of those projects will occur next year, he said.
"So we are putting the pedal to the metal to get it done," he said.
Salazar said BLM stimulus funding will translate to more private sector jobs including those for contractors to install solar panels at BLM facilities, including the fire station for Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
"I think there are literally millions of jobs that can be created around the country with respect to renewable energy," he said.
"Overall what we expect from the Department of Interior is somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000 jobs around the country with the total investment we're making," he said.
As part of the $305 million for BLM recovery investments, 650 projects across the nation will restore landscapes and watersheds, protect wildlife habitat, spur renewable energy development, and clean up abandoned mining sites.
Contact Review-Journal reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.
www.lvrj.com/news/442562...blogcomments
In the meantime we have Southern California Edison and Nevada Energy opposing tax breaks for the roof top solar industry. Mr. Obama is failing on his environmental promises.
Energy chief launches $305 million plan on energy frontier
By KEITH ROGERS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Ken Salazar
Interior Department secretary
Photo by Marlene Karas/Review-Journal
With Red Rock Canyon as a backdrop, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Saturday announces a plan that will provide $26.4 million in stimulus funds this year for more than 40 Nevada projects.
Photo by Marlene Karas/Review-Journal
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar launched a plan Saturday to spend $305 million for creating jobs on what he called the public lands' "renewable energy frontier" to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil while at the same time restoring landscapes and wildlife habitat.
Standing in a sun-drenched parking lot at Red Rock Canyon's fire station with a solar panel behind him, Salazar said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "really believes that Nevada is going to be at the point of the spear in terms of moving this country forward with a whole new renewable energy agenda."
"That work we will do here on solar and geothermal and wind energy is going to be exemplary for the rest of the nation as we take the moonshot on the new energy frontier and tackle the realities of climate change," Salazar said.
The Interior Department will manage $3 billion in investments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed by President Barack Obama. The president's goal is to invest $150 billion over the next decade to speed up renewable energy development.
Bureau of Land Management stimulus funding in Nevada this year will provide $26.4 million for more than 40 projects, including renewable energy, habitat restoration, and building and restoring roads, bridges and trails.
Salazar said the monies are "going to create jobs to get our economy out of the ditch. And second of all, we're going to invest in projects that are going to bring out long-term sustainability to these assets of America and to the initiatives we have."
The Obama administration aims to have 10 percent of the nation's electricity generated from renewable resources by 2012 and 25 percent by 2025.
In all, $41 million authorized under the stimulus act will be spent on 65 BLM projects to spur large-scale production of solar, wind and geothermal energy, in addition to siting transmission lines on public lands to support renewable energy development.
After his announcement to a gathering of BLM employees, conservationists, some local officials and members of the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe, Salazar said he met early Saturday with representatives from more than a dozen solar companies.
He said they have financing for many projects in Nevada, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado, "and they want to get moving on those projects" but the BLM has a backlog for processing applications.
There are 241 applications for wind projects and 199 for solar projects that are in various stages of processing.
Salazar said the BLM plans to open special offices in Nevada and other Western states to accelerate processing renewable energy permit applications.
Groundbreaking on some of those projects will occur next year, he said.
"So we are putting the pedal to the metal to get it done," he said.
Salazar said BLM stimulus funding will translate to more private sector jobs including those for contractors to install solar panels at BLM facilities, including the fire station for Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
"I think there are literally millions of jobs that can be created around the country with respect to renewable energy," he said.
"Overall what we expect from the Department of Interior is somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000 jobs around the country with the total investment we're making," he said.
As part of the $305 million for BLM recovery investments, 650 projects across the nation will restore landscapes and watersheds, protect wildlife habitat, spur renewable energy development, and clean up abandoned mining sites.
Contact Review-Journal reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.
www.lvrj.com/news/442562...blogcomments
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Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Sun, May 3, 2009 - 7:15 PMIt is true that in our quest for cleaner sources of energy, we must consider the impacts of our efforts. Certainly, a dessert filled with all kinds of life is not necessarily the greatest choice for siting a solar power plant.
Contrarily, though, let me ask this: Is this a better idea than building another fossil or nuclear-powered plant? I don't ask this to justify, only to encourage discussion. -
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Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Sun, May 3, 2009 - 9:27 PMGlenn wrote:
"It is true that in our quest for cleaner sources of energy, we must consider the impacts of our efforts. Certainly, a dessert filled with all kinds of life is not necessarily the greatest choice for siting a solar power plant."
A dessert seems like the worst place for siting a solar power plant, until you consider all of the other generic siting options.
How about chopping down trees in a Costa Rican rainforest for a solar power plant there? Oops, way too much biodiversity to endanger.
How about chopping down trees in a temperate rainforest in the Pacific Northwest for a solar power plant there? Oops, not enough sun.
No matter where you site it, the solar power plant is going to be in someone's 'backyard'. I'd stick with the original desert plan, and do a reasonable amount of mitigation for the benefit of our reptilian friends. Where would you put the solar power plant? -
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Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Sun, May 3, 2009 - 9:30 PM<<Where would you put the solar power plant?>>
on the roofs that are already an eyesore. -
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Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Mon, May 4, 2009 - 2:32 AMI was hoping that someone would say that, because it is my preferred answer.
It does raise a question, though. What do you do about denser cities?
Cities have their advantages. Even though they are the last place you would *think* were green, it seems to me that a larger, denser city would have a lower per-capita carbon footprint, even though the footprint of the city taken as a whole would be pretty enormous. The reason for my suspicion is that cities have an enormous number of "capitas" for your per capita figure, and they tend to have far more viable transit infrastructures than the 'burbs.
At the same time, there are not nearly enough rooftops (thanks to the tendency of things to be stacked up vertically) to gather enough energy, neither do the lower rooftops receive enough sunlight.
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Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Mon, May 4, 2009 - 2:47 AMThere must be natural sources of energy to power air-conditioning in big buildings. Convection, wind. Heating via steam from solar on the existing roofs. Light from light pipes. Thin solar film on all windows.
Try eliminating carbon fuel vehicles from inner cities only allowing clean vehicles and transit unless you pay an access fee for transport needs. -
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Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Mon, May 4, 2009 - 10:50 AMNew technology is making rooftop solar more efficient than ever. I think there are enough rooftops. Even if there are not, there are the "brownfields. Take all those old agricultural lands near California City, California for example. Plus we can build canopies over parking lots, along highways, etc. It makes little sense to destroy carbon storing, old growth ecosystems to save the Earth. Can you say Oxy-Moron?
Big industrial plans require big transmission lines. Power is lost in transmission lines. People why scream NIMBY at those of us who fight for our backyard ecosystems are pissing in the wind. Us NIMBY's will always be around and always fight the plans. Lett's do something that works. Put stimulus $$$ into things like sustainable recycling of personal solar batterires, FIT legislation. It will still create jobs, but I guess it won't return the favor to Harry Reid's contributers, big energy. Plus rooftop needs no where near as much baseload. Natural gas may be cleaner than coal, but more is required making the amount of carbon equal. All big solar and wind farms depend on a base load backup. More on Salazar here:www.basinandrangewatch.org/Rene...lazar -
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Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Mon, May 4, 2009 - 11:01 AMExactly.
Big power is getting the funding from the gov...how about more money towards small power. There are so many people for whom small solar is not cost effective; senior citizens, renters. Worry about what to do once the rooftops can not provide enough? This would put people to work in private business as well.
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Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Mon, May 4, 2009 - 2:21 PM"There must be natural sources of energy to power air-conditioning in big buildings. Convection, wind. Heating via steam from solar on the existing roofs. Light from light pipes. Thin solar film on all windows.
Try eliminating carbon fuel vehicles from inner cities only allowing clean vehicles and transit unless you pay an access fee for transport needs."
Right here!!!
Couldn't have said better myself thanks "X" All of it and more.
Self generate and use less. Big step forward. -
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Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Tue, May 5, 2009 - 8:48 AMOne of the biggest energy uses in a large office tower has got to be the elevators.
How does one use waste energy to lift 10 people 30 stories?
You could wait until 12 people want to go down in another elevator and use their weight to counterbalance the upward weight.
You could build an intelligent mechanical system of counter weights, like bricks that are placed in empty downward moving elevators and are then lifted by full, downward elevators.
You could use the downward moving elevators carrying people to generate electricity similar to regenerative braking in vehicles. This would offset the overall energy useage of the building. -
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Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Tue, May 5, 2009 - 4:38 PMwww.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cbecs...ml#enduse03
An interesting breakout of energy consumption for our modern edifices. It appears HVAC and lighting are the clear winners for sucking up the watts.
Most elevator systems (for tall buildings anyway) usually have to live up to consumption specs laid out by the owners, and are already counterweighted for greater efficiency... much more so than what most people probably suspect. Hydraulic driven elevators in shorter buildings, as well as escalators, I strongly suspect, are not nearly so efficient. -
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This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Tue, May 5, 2009 - 7:23 PMThat's deep research reading!!!
So after a brief Google of how elevators work, I think the plausible opportunity is to use the moving wheels and pulley system to generate electricity. If the drag of the generator could offset some of the need for counterbalance.
If what you say about lighting sucking up the watts is true, then light pipe solutions could work well, since offices mostly operate during daylight hours. If you could build the thin film solar into the light piping system you might just generate some electricity to maintain into the evening . -
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Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Wed, May 6, 2009 - 9:18 PMThe sad thing about this topic is how off base it really is. We don't need to save the planet, this planet will continue to exist long after we are gone. What we need to do is reduce the impact and changes caused by humans, as our species is the one in danger, not the planet.
Converting to renewable energy sources is a great start, but it is only a start. To really succeed in protecting our species, we must reduce that "capita" number that was mentioned earlier in this thread. It was approximately 200 years ago that the human population first reached 1 billion people, we are now at 6.5 billion heading for 10 billion by 2050. As long as the population continues to grow in this manner, we can reduce individuals impact by half and still loose ground on the overall problem. -
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Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Wed, May 6, 2009 - 10:55 PMIt just means that we got a lot more people to potentially work on solutions. If we could get millions more participating in tribes like this one, ideas and motivation can be stimulated, big time.
There is also another human faction that feel they can build the tech to get off of this deteriorated rock circling the sun. Maybe they can grow a lawn on Mars.
Those that don't want to participate in harmonizing humans to the planet can go to war and kill each other. Another variation of the solution. -
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Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Thu, May 7, 2009 - 6:58 AMIf you look at history, population growth is actually accelerating. We went from 1 billion to 6.5 billion in 200 years despite two world wars and a bunch of smaller disagreements. At that rate, we will be at 42 billion in 2200 and 270 billion in 2400. This planet cannot produce food and fast enough for that many people, and even with smart people developing new technologies, I don't think we will get enough off the planet in that time to make a significant difference.
Our economic system encourages population growth, and without it, would currently fall apart. I would like to see the human race be smart enough to address this problem before famine drives us into wars that make all previous wars look like small scrimmages. It is amazing how many people are pushing to go Green, but continue to have large families. For some reason the human race thinks it is invincible, and as long they keep their head buried in the sand, their views will not change. I strongly support the use of renewable energy, and encourage the development of new technology to make our lives better, but believe that if we don't address the population problem, we are just delaying the inevitable. -
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Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Thu, May 7, 2009 - 12:38 PMWith the economic downturn in China, the factories are sending workers back to the farms where they came from. They have been dealing with a large population for a long time. In America it seems more the vogue to work in the cities and as they fall apart, people live in doorways.
Farmlands need more workers but apart from migrant workers, many people would rather die panhandling in the streets rather than dirty their hands digging in a food garden.
Population control is an active international topic and some European countries populations are decreasing. Practical humanitarian solutions are out there, so are frustrated, violent proposals.
Think tanks, education and good leadership is needed. Many people in city society are living in fear of poverty and at the same time working at non-essential jobs just to keep the economic illusion floating in thin air. At the same time the cities are sucking the wealth of the countryside to feed the almost useless workers in the city. Maybe instead of working in banks, building more than enough automobiles, disposable plastic homes and playing video games is an unsustainable direction. There is plenty of vacant space on Earth and some of it needs humanizing. Like maybe a canal system through the Sahara and turning Area 51 into a research centre for irrigating deserts. With rising sea levels, there is no shortage of water, some of it just needs redirection. Of course if the military wall of fear doesn't redirect it's energy towards peacekeeping, and soldiers put down their guns and pick up shovels then the world will continue towards a very tall precipice and like lemmings the planet will rid itself of us human parasites.
Isn't it amazing how this economic downturn is actually nudging humanity towards a evolutionary avenue. The dawning of a new realization. Realizing a few dreams that have been ridiculed for too long. -
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Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Thu, May 7, 2009 - 3:24 PM"Farmlands need more workers but apart from migrant workers, many people would rather die panhandling in the streets rather than dirty their hands digging in a food garden. "
Have you seen the crap that migrant workers go through? Checked the levels of birth defects and miscarriages and the cancers and other odd illnesses including respiratory? I would rather die from starvation than work in most farms!
They've been known to crop dust with people in the fields spraying crap like round up and pesticides and most of these people have infants and children with them!
Large industrialized farms are stupid! If we really want to change the paradigm then we need to create pods of villages that interconnect, each with their own water and power supply. Can totally be done greenly and if you go to dc power then Led lighting would use far less nrg than anything else we currently have. small intensive gardens for families and group land for crops that require such like oats, wheat and rice and other grains and of course orchards.
China's not going to last much longer as a communist regime because their poisoning of the land is far more heinous than ours, possibly exceeding what we did in the industrial revolution era.
As far as population and wars.. the only thing that has ever put a dent in population growth was the black plague... none of the wars had any measurable effect on growth.
the two biggest obstacles in our society are greed and competition. If we moved away towards generosity and cooperative living including our mindset towards others then we have a prayer of surviving this upheaval. That is just the first step of what must happen. If it doesn't happen then the rest of it doesn't matter at all. -
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Re: Green -washing in the name of saving the planet
Thu, May 7, 2009 - 10:24 PMThe corporate failures heralded by the news media, show a pattern whispering, "out with the old and in with the new." There is a deep inner understanding within us all and even though many don't understand the details the pattern is common to our inner eye. The giant is awakening and our imaginations will paint it with a character.
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