ALERT: Marty’s Mega-Horrible Xcel deregulation bill advancing

By on May 5, 2015 in Uncategorized

This may be the last meaningful opportunity to influence S.F. 1735.  Suggestions:

Call/Email Sen. John Marty asking him to WITHDRAW S.F 1735, the Xcel deregulation bill, but act to defend the Community Solar Garden law: (651) 296-5645, jmarty@senate.mn

Contact the members of the Committee on Rules and Administration.  Especially the Chair, Tom Bakk, 651-296-8881.  Ask them NOT to approve S.F. 1735

Ask Attorney General Lori Swanson to stand up for ratepayers and OPPOSE S.F. 1735: (651) 296-3353 or 1-800-657-3787, Attorney.General@ag.state.mn.us. Continue Reading →

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ALERT: Ramsey and Washington County Commissioners need to HEAR FROM YOU

By on April 27, 2015 in Uncategorized

Important vote on May 28th:  Ramsey and Washington County Commissioners need to HEAR FROM YOU

STOP County purchase of the Newport Garbage Grinder

START a serious “zero waste” study

CONTACT INFORMATION for Ramsey/Washington county commissioners is below.  PLEASE call or email them.

Upcoming “Open House” meetings:

Monday, April 27, 2015, Newport City Hall, 596 7th Avenue, Newport
Tuesday, April 28, 2015, Wilder Foundation, 451 Lexington Pkwy N, St. Paul

(both 6:30 to 7:30)

Key Points to Know:

– A “Fact Sheet” (Unfact Sheet?) being distributed by county commissioners and others contains the falsehood that trash is “converted into electricity.” Actually, it’s converted into toxic ash and air pollutants, with a small, incidental yield of energy.

– Most of the money collected by the counties under the guise of “environmental charges” goes to subsidize this incineration rather than to increase recycling.

– Your tax dollars: Over the past 27 years the two counties have spent $227 million subsidizing garbage grinding in Newport.

– The “Resource Recovery” board plans to vote on May 28th to buy the now-privately-owned garbage grinder in Newport.

– Eureka Recycling is pushing back, and has posted a fact sheet entitled “Â Say No to Newport.”

– The only purpose of the Newport Garbage Grinder is to “process” wastes for incineration, so buying it could commit us to burning long into the future. Continue Reading →

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Eureka Recycling speaks out against Washington/Ramsey county Minnesota, incineration scheme

By on April 27, 2015 in Uncategorized

[Note:  Originally published in the Villager newpaper –content not online– on April 22, 2015.0  Scan of original article here.]

Up in smoke: To burn garbage or prevent waste

By Tim Brownell and Bryan Ukena

Eureka Recycling has been tracking the discussions of the Ranset/Washington Counties Resource Recovery Authority [note:  officially called “project” not “authority”] regarding the potential purchase of the Newport Waste Processing Facility.  The Resource Recovery Authority’s approach is troubling to many of the residents of these two counties, as it is to us, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to demonstrate that waste is completely preventable. Continue Reading →

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“Union Pacific aims to be first railroad to haul liquefied natural gas”

By on April 3, 2015 in Liquified Natural Gas, LNG, Union Pacific

Comments: 

Note the secrecy here, from both the Union Pacific and the Federal Railroad Administration (more a servant of than a regulator of the industry).

In the course of fighting a proposal for an LNG terminal in New Jersey, we learned a lot about the hazards of LNG.  Unit trains of this would make crude oil look benevolent by comparison.

The Union Pacific provides these maps of its system in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Could this be a foot-in-the-door for trains even more dangerous than the oil (bomb) trains?

am Continue Reading →

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Action alert: Some good bills and another mega horrible bill

By on March 26, 2015 in Bills, Minnesota Legislature, Uncategorized

A look at the bills up before the Senate Environment and Energy Committee on March 26th illustrates how mixed the bag is.  Good bills, questionable bills,  and bad bills, and one mega-horrible bill. Continue Reading →

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Promised updates on details of mega-horrible bills….

By on March 19, 2015 in "biomass", air pollution, climate change, Energy, Incineration, Minnesota energy policy, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Uncategorized, Xcel Energy

This is the promised further detail on the “mega-horrible” bills being heard in a Senate committee at 4:00 pm this afternoon (Thursday, March 19th.

For the utility “deregulation” bills

see Carol Overland’s Legalectric.org post, “the problems with SF 1735″ .  Overland has been practicing utility regulatory law for a long time and knows the history behind the present scams.  This is complicated stuff that just can’t be reduced to sound bites, but here are two anyway:  (1) Utilities, expecially Xcel Energy, can pretty much afford to buy off everybody, and (2) Nobody in Minnesota government or politics seems to be publicly standing up for ratepayers, the environment, or the public interest.

Attorney General Lori Swanson has the authority to act on behalf of the public.  Ask her to do so:  (651) 296-3353 or 1-800-657-3787, Attorney.General@ag.state.mn.us.

[Note:  There is a “delete-all” amendment to S. F. 1431 which we received at 10:30 pm.  This new version does not seem to correct any of the problems people are objecting to.  It has new sections, some of which seem to raise new concerns.]

[Update:  The AG’s office DID appear at the hearing and oppose both the original bill and the delete-all amendment.  Kudos to Lori Swanson.]

For the “Energy Omnibus Bill, S.F. 1431,” see below

Continue Reading →

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Residents prevail: St. Paul abandons biomass incinerator scheme at Ford site

By on March 18, 2015 in "biomass", Incineration, St. Paul

Anne Hunt has written a letter to the Highland Villager, appearing on March 18, 2015,  saying: “the site is not appropriate for that technology[biomass incineration]” and it’s been eliminated from consideration.

Below are two letters that appeard in the previous week’s Villager, one from Nancy Hone and one from Alan Muller: Continue Reading →

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RED ALERT: oppose mega-horrible utility deregulation bills

By on March 18, 2015 in Energy, Garbage, Legislative, Minnesota energy policy

Well, I’ve been trying to warn about this.  On March 9th I wrote:

“The breadth and depth of NSP’s [Xcel’s] current efforts to gut the utility regulatory process and impose its will on Minnesota energy policy is breathtaking.  Stand by for more details on this.  And: expect some really horrible legislation to sneaked through the Minnesota Legislature.”

The really horrible bills are here: Continue Reading →

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Garbage prospers in the Minnesota Legislature

By on March 12, 2015 in air pollution, City of Red Wing (Minnesota), Covanta/Hennepin County "Environmental Services", Garbage, Incineration

Photo of Senator Scalze

Sen. Bev Scalze

 

[This was my testimony on March 10, 2015, to the Senate Environment and Energy Committee on S.F. 1132.  My statement was not prepared in advance and may have varied a little from this after-the-fact writeup. The authors of S.F. 1132 are listed as Senators Scalze, Ingebrigtsen, Saxhaug, Benson, and Schmit.  Scalze appeared to be the manager of the bill. She said repeatedly that “it came from the counties.”  She also said repeatedly that “the hauler community” (garbage haulers) had input.  During the meeting Scalze seemed to consult closely with one Trudy Richter, who she also presented as a witness on behalf of the Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board, a joint powers board closely associated with the incineration industry. Ms. Richter is Executive Director of the state garbage incineration lobby group.  Audio recordings are available here.  Consideration of S.F. 1132 began in the morning session and continued in the afternoon.] Continue Reading →

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[Wash Post] “Utilities wage campaign against rooftop solar”

By on March 9, 2015 in Minnesota, Solar, Uncategorized, Xcel Energy

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/utilities-sensing-threat-put-squeeze-on-booming-solar-roof-industry/2015/03/07/2d916f88-c1c9-11e4-ad5c-3b8ce89f1b89_story.html

Comment:

This, folks, is what is REALLY going on.  The good news is that the cost of solar has dropped and it’s really happening.  The bad news is that it will happen slowly and expensively if the utilities keep a chokehold on it.  Utilities have long since mastered the art of pretending to promote what they are actually blocking.  Perhaps no utility in the world is cleverer at this than Xcel Energy (Northern States Power Company).  The breadth and depth of NPS’s current efforts to gut the utility regulatory process and impose its will on Minnesota energy policy is breathtaking.  Stand by for more details on this.  And: expect some really horrible legislation to sneaked through the Minnesota Legislature.

Alan Muller Continue Reading →

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