Less than 50 years of oil left, HSBC warns

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

From a story by John Collins Rudolf on CNBC:

The world may have no more than half a century of oil left at current rates of consumption, while surging demand from the developing world threatens to create “very significant price rises” before substitutes like biofuels can serve as viable alternatives, the British bank HSBC warns in a new report.

“We’re confident that there are around 50 years of oil left,” Karen Ward, the bank’s senior global economist, said in an interview on CNBC.

The bank, the world’s second largest in assets, further cautioned that growth trends in developing countries like China could put as many as one billion more cars on the road by midcentury. “That’s tremendous pressure on oil to power all those resources,” Ms. Ward said.

Legislators ask Walker to apply for rail funds

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

March 29, 2011
Governor Scott Walker
115 East, State Capitol
Madison, WI 53703

Dear Governor Walker:
We all want to create jobs and reduce the tax burden on Wisconsin citizens. We are writing to urge you to consider applying for $2.4 billion in high speed train money that is now available to restore train service to our Capital and Wisconsin. There are many reasons to do this.

This federal money will save Wisconsin state taxpayers from having to upgrade our freight lines and stretch the $60 million for rail upgrades in your capital budget.

As you know, this measure will help create at least 5,500 jobs as well as save the jobs at the Talgo Train Assembly Plant in Milwaukee.

Other states around us are competing for these federal funds. Our state Capital is also one of the only Capitals in the Midwest that does not have train service. In order to compete for high wage jobs, we need a high tech transportation system.

Also, you know that Wisconsin taxpayers pay more into the federal coffers than we receive back and applying for this money could help get our fair share of federal resources.

I hope you will support making Wisconsin “Open for Business” by expanding transportation choices and train infrastructure.

For more information, go to http://www.fra.dot.gov/roa/press_releases/fp_DOT%2029-11.shtml.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Rep. Brett Hulsey
Rep. Amy Sue Vruwink
Rep. Kelda Roys
Rep. Chris Sinicki
Rep. Jon Richards
Rep. Fred Kessler
Rep. Terese Berceau
Rep. Sandy Pasch
Rep. Mark Pocan
Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa
Rep. Fred Clark

Sen. Mark Miller
Sen. Chris Larson
Sen. Dave Hansen

Engineering an Electrified Steel Interstate; Free presentation, March 24

Friday, March 18, 2011

Don’t miss this free public lecture on the UW Madison campus next Thursday:

Oil-Free Transportation Options for the 21st Century
by Alan S. Drake, transportation researcher and independent consultant

Thursday, March 24 at 6:00 PM
1800 Engineering Hall
1415 Engineering Drive, Madison, WI
http://tinyurl.com/4nm2ete

Sponsored by: UW Energy Hub, WISPIRG, UW Energy Institute, Madison Peak Oil Group, ProRail, Western Dane Coalition for Smart Growth and Environment, and others.

Why is this important?
Construction of an Electrified Steel Interstate in the United States is an essential step towards building an affordable, reliable, sustainable transportation system an oil-constrained future. The national security, economic, and engineering reasons to do so are compelling:

1) If/when the United States is confronted by oil shortages again, such a system would play a vital role in moving food and other essential goods and services.

2) Costs of constructing, maintaining, and repairing highways for interstate trucking are approximately four times greater than the same kinds of costs for railways.

3) Fuel taxes and fees from freight trucking cover less than one-half the costs of highway wear and tear caused by these vehicles.

4) Railways can accommodate much heavier loads and operate at higher speeds than highways.

5) Semi-trucks on highways use more than four times as much energy per ton-mile of cargo as diesel-powered freight trains; and with double-stacked containers on rail, the energy use differential increases to nine times as much energy per ton-mile of cargo using trucks.

6) Electrification of freight railway service can provide a 60-67% reduction in energy use from diesel power pulling the same load, and use domestic electricity instead of imported oil.

The vision Drake and his colleagues offer leverages the synergies between electrified rail service with creation of the Smart Grid, distributed generation, greater usage of renewable electricity, and proven energy storage strategies. A comprehensive, modernized freight rail system – in conjunction with electrification and followed by expansion of higher-speed passenger rail service where appropriate – would employ currently-available technologies and be justified by quick pay-backs on investment.

In order for the Electrified Steel Interstate to become a reality, the electric utility industry will need to work closely with government and the rail industry to achieve a progressive electrification of the railways, synergistic use of common rights of way, provision of advanced signaling and control mechanisms, and mobilization of currently stranded renewable wind power.

For more information contact:
Arnold Harris (608) 798-4833 arnoldharris@tds.net
David Knuti (608) 234-7430 knutifam@yahoo.com
Hans Noeldner, facilitator, Madison Peak Oil Group
608-444-6190 hans_noeldner@charter.net

Mad Fast Trains

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

James Howard Kunstler: The old American dream is a nightmare

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

From an article by Kerry Trueman on Grist:

The Great Depression gave rise to hobos and Hoovervilles. The Roaring Nineties brought us what New York Times columnist David Brooks termed "bobos in paradise."

Now our current round of layoffs and foreclosures has unceremoniously transferred millions of folks from the "affluent" to the "afflicted" category, exiling them from Brooks's mythical exurban Eden.

But instead of setting up tents, these newly poor live in a perpetual state of nestlessness, couch-surfing, or flitting from one basement rec room to the next. And rather than revisiting Hooverville, they've given our national landscape the barely-lived in, already abandoned suburban ghost towns I call Kunstlervilles, in honor of my favorite peak oil prophet, James Howard Kunstler.

Less scrappy than crappy, the derelict condos and subdivisions of Kunstlerville were built for buyers who never materialized -- erected with marginally better building materials than a Hooverville, but doomed to house pigeons before a decorator ever had the chance to breeze in and decree, "Put a bird on it!"

Kunstler has long warned of the horrendous hangover we're going to wake up with after our "cheap oil fiesta," but he's not gloating as global instability and climate destabilization become the new not-so-normal. Unlike some dystopians, he's motivated less by the desire to say "I told you so" than by the hope that we might still manage to reinvent the American dream on a scale that better suits our current circumstances.

I caught up with Kunstler recently when a conference took me to his hometown of Saratoga Springs, and afterward followed up via email. (Our conversation has been edited for space and style.)

Q. In your 2005 book The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century, you gave high-rises low marks, and declared that you're "not optimistic about our big cities." You maintain that towns and small cities are far better equipped to adapt to the post-cheap-oil future.

Now, we've got economist Edward Glaeser talking up skyscrapers in The Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier and Happier. David Owen made a similar case with Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less are the Keys to Sustainability.

Do you find yourself swayed, even a little, by these defenders of urban density?

Official: Wisconsin can sit out rail plan; Twin Cities-Chicago line still in works

Monday, March 14, 2011

From an article by Frederick Melo in the Pioneer Press, Minneapolis/St. Paul:

Despite hot competition from other states, Minnesota is well-positioned to nab a chunk of federal funding for passenger rail projects recently rejected by Florida and Wisconsin, according to Dan Krom, a rail guru for the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

The recent Madison-toMilwaukee rail debacle "doesn't deter any of the work we're doing in terms of getting to Chicago," Krom told an advisory board to the Metropolitan Council on Thursday. About $810 million in federal funds would have gone to build a 70-mile rail line between Milwaukee and Madison, but Gov. Scott Walker rejected it.

Some members appeared incredulous. And once high-speed passenger rail lines are built to Chicago, or Rochester, or Duluth, how will annual operating costs be covered? Fare-box revenues are likely to capture only part of the price tag to keep the trains rolling, and state general funds are unlikely to make up the remainder.

"We have six or seven lines prepared for the state, but we don't have a funding source," said Krom, MnDOT's co-project manager for passenger rail.

Krom gave the group a general overview of the state's rail plans in light of recent developments since the November elections.

For Minnesota, Wisconsin's turn-back presents complications and opportunities. State officials had hoped to build a high-speed rail line from the Twin Cities to Chicago, which would likely have gone through both Madison and Milwaukee, and those passengers would have provided coveted revenue.

But state planners have other visions mapped out for the high-speed Chicago route, Krom said — 14 plans in total. By the summer, MnDOT will likely have those 14 potential corridors narrowed down to one preferred strategy. Amtrak — or another provider, if one were to materialize — could still proceed through Wisconsin. Planning on a Twin Cities-to-Milwaukee route is far enough along to move forward, he said.

"The original plan was to go down to Madison on its way to Milwaukee, but the corridor isn't dependent on that," he said. "It's not a project death knell by any means."

Road builders to see quick return on donations to Walker

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

From a commentary in The Capital Times by Rod Clark, who recently retired after almost 37 years with the state, 33 of them with DOT:

Anyone who followed Gov. Scott Walker’s election campaign last fall was aware that Wisconsin’s road builders were at the top of the list of his contributors. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that about 150 individual employees of road-building firms contributed $128,859 to Walker’s campaign, along with the $25,000 given by their state association to the Republican Governors’ Association, presumably to help cover the $5 million in anti-Barrett ads run by the RGA.

But what no one knew, or could even guess, until the governor unveiled his biennial budget on March 1 was how quickly and dramatically the road construction interests would see a return on their investments. Or how clearly this would highlight the governor’s true priorities.

In a budget that has drawn national attention for a proposed $834 million cut to K-12 education funding in Wisconsin, and that is being used to justify the need for significant teacher layoffs, salary reductions and an end to public sector collective bargaining, Walker has made his priorities clear for everyone to see. Walker has proposed making cuts to education at least $144 million greater than otherwise needed in order to increase funds for road construction. . . .

While claiming “Wisconsin is broke” -- a charge disputed by many -- Walker proposes in his budget to move the cost for public transit from the Transportation Fund into the General Fund, making the General Fund hole $107 million deeper and freeing up the same amount in the Transportation Fund.

At the same time, Walker’s proposal phases in a diversion of vehicle sales tax revenue out of the General Fund and into the Transportation Fund, eventually resulting in 50 percent of all vehicle sales tax going into the Transportation Fund. This amount starts at around $37 million in 2013 and grows to an estimated $200 million when completely phased in.

Further, Walker’s budget proposes bonding authority for another couple hundred million of road-building money, with the debt repayment coming from the General Fund instead of the Transportation Fund. The impact of this is as yet unknown.

Busting bus systems

Monday, March 07, 2011

From an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Even if you never use a bus and would never think of getting on a commuter train, the current bleak prospects for mass transit systems in Wisconsin should matter to you.

Transit moves people to jobs, it eases congestion on city streets and freeways and it gives people another transportation option. That's important, especially now as drivers are faced with rising gasoline prices and roadwork that is shutting down lanes on freeways and major highways.

The Legislature and Gov. Scott Walker need to rethink their approach to transit and make sure that Wisconsin's systems remain healthy, especially for those who need it for work, school and shopping. Businesses such as Bucyrus International and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. rely on transit. New businesses and young professionals look to modern transit as the sign of a healthy and vibrant community.

What's in the works moves Wisconsin in the opposite direction and could damage transit systems across the state beyond repair.

Consider:

• Walker's budget would slice transit aids in the first year of the biennium and provide no alternative dedicated local funding source to help meet already financially troubled systems.

• The budget shifts transit aids from the segregated and protected transportation fund to the general fund, where transit systems would have to compete with myriad services for scarce dollars. Walker argues that the gasoline tax that largely supplies the transportation fund is a user fee paid for by drivers and should be used only on those roads that drivers use.

But mass transit helps ease pressure on those roads and gives drivers other choices, as Steve Hiniker of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, points out. Buses are a vital form of transportation.

• Because Walker's budget-repair bill would eliminate most collective bargaining with public employees, federal aid, which is dependent on workers being able to bargain, would be jeopardized for mid-size transit systems such as Appleton's.

• A separate bill in the Legislature would kill regional transit authorities that were created in recent years to help regions strengthen and support local transit systems. Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester), a co-sponsor of the bill, told us the RTAs were put together badly and he'd like to repeal them and start over with an honest policy debate. We'd prefer leaving them in place and making adjustments where needed so that regions can start now to build what they need.

• Walker's budget bill freezes local tax levy increases, meaning that even if a community wanted to spend more on transit, it couldn't.

Energy programs get Walker ax

Friday, March 04, 2011

From an article by Mike Ivey in The Capital Times:

If you like burning fossil fuels - hey, aren't those Koch brothers in the pipeline business? - then you'll love Gov. Walker's proposed budget.

The 1,345-pager takes a whack at scores of environmental efforts, from nixing the state Office of Energy Independence to actually encouraging state vehicles to use more gasoline.

Seriously, you can't make this stuff up. And with pump prices marching toward $4 a gallon, you wonder if any thought went into the long-term fiscal impacts.

But here's the skinny.

Walker wants to eliminate the Office of Energy Independence, which works to reduce the state's annual energy bill. Launched by Gov. Doyle in 2007, it has 10 staffers and an office at 201 W. Washington Ave.

Since Wisconsin has no coal, natural gas or oil reserves, its citizens send over $20 billion out of state every year to Wyoming, the Gulf of Mexico and the Middle East evil-doers who hate America.

The OEI was designed to work with the biofuels industry, renewable energy markets and alternative energy researchers here at home.

Instead, Walker wants the Department of Administration to develop a "cost-effective, balanced, reliable, and environmentally-responsible energy strategy to promote economic growth." As in growth for the oil and gas guys?

The state has also been operating under a directive that by 2015 it reduce gasoline use by at least 50 percent from 2006 levels. Walker wants to eliminate the requirement and drop the reduction goal to 20 percent.

Earth 'will expire by 2050'

Thursday, March 03, 2011

From an article by Mark Townsend and Jason Burke posted on Guardian.co.uk:

Our planet is running out of room and resources. Modern man has plundered so much, a damning report claims this week, that outer space will have to be colonised.

Earth's population will be forced to colonise two planets within 50 years if natural resources continue to be exploited at the current rate, according to a report out this week.

A study by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), to be released on Tuesday, warns that the human race is plundering the planet at a pace that outstrips its capacity to support life.

In a damning condemnation of Western society's high consumption levels, it adds that the extra planets (the equivalent size of Earth) will be required by the year 2050 as existing resources are exhausted.

The report, based on scientific data from across the world, reveals that more than a third of the natural world has been destroyed by humans over the past three decades.

Using the image of the need for mankind to colonise space as a stark illustration of the problems facing Earth, the report warns that either consumption rates are dramatically and rapidly lowered or the planet will no longer be able to sustain its growing population.

Experts say that seas will become emptied of fish while forests - which absorb carbon dioxide emissions - are completely destroyed and freshwater supplies become scarce and polluted.

The report offers a vivid warning that either people curb their extravagant lifestyles or risk leaving the onus on scientists to locate another planet that can sustain human life. Since this is unlikely to happen, the only option is to cut consumption now.

Taxpayers pay for trucking subsidies

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

From an article by Luke Rosiak on Dr. Gridlock:

Moving freight via truck shifts far more of the costs onto taxpayers than does other modes of shipping, according to an analysis by the government's financial watchdog.

By investing in certain forms of infrastructure, the government essentially makes that form cheaper, thereby encouraging its use. But a smart investment, and the wisest use of taxpayer dollars, would encourage use of the most efficient mode.

"If government policy gives one mode a cost advantage over another, by, for example, not
recouping all the costs of that mode's use of infrastructure, then shipping prices and customers' use of freight modes can be distorted, reducing the overall efficiency of the nation's economy," the Government Accountability Office said.

The GAO's analysis of data across several government agencies found that costs associated with trucking that were not borne by the companies actually doing the shipping were "at least 6 times greater than rail costs and at least 9 times greater than waterways costs per million ton miles of freight transport. Most of these costs were external costs imposed on society."

Committee sets March 1 to vote on suspension of wind siting rule

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

From the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA):

The Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR) has now scheduled a special meeting on March 1st to consider suspending the PSC128 Wind Siting rule that our industry worked on in 2009-2010 that are scheduled to take effect on March 1st. If the JCRAR suspends the PSC128 rule, before it otherwise would take effect that same day, we will be back where we started two years ago on wind siting reform in Wisconsin.

Movie showing: The Economics of Happiness

Monday, February 21, 2011

The Economics of Happiness
March 23 - Madison, Wisconsin
When: 7:00 pm, Wednesday, March 23

Where: Humanities Bldg (corner of Park St. & University Ave.), Room 3650, UW, Madison WI

Sponsored by: Business, Environment, and Social Responsibility Program, Wisconsin School of Business, UW Madison.

Co-sponsored by: Dane Buy Local, Fitchburg Fields, Slow Money Wisconsin, Sustain Dane, Transition Towns Madison.

From the movie's Web site:

The Economics of Happiness describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions. On the one hand, government and big business continue to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. At the same time, all around the world people are resisting those policies, demanding a re-regulation of trade and finance—and, far from the old institutions of power, they’re starting to forge a very different future. Communities are coming together to re-build more human scale, ecological economies based on a new paradigm – an economics of localization.



We hear from a chorus of voices from six continents including Samdhong Rinpoche, the Prime Minister of Tibet's government in exile, Vandana Shiva, Bill McKibben, David Korten and Zac Goldsmith. They tell us that climate change and peak oil give us little choice: we need to localize, to bring the economy home. The good news is that as we move in this direction we will begin not only to heal the earth but also to restore our own sense of well-being. The Economics of Happiness restores our faith in humanity and challenges us to believe that it is possible to build a better world.

Dane County nursing home to hold show off solar energy at open house on Saturday

Thursday, February 17, 2011

From an article by in the Bill Novak in The Capital Times:

The new $22.6 million Badger Prairie Health Care Center is almost ready to open, and Dane County wants to show it off to the public before residents start moving in.

A community open house is set for 2-4 p.m. Saturday, giving Dane County residents a chance to tour the state-of-the-art facility, which will be home to up to 120 residents.

Badger Prairie is located on the east side of Verona, near the intersection of Business 18/151 and Maple Grove Road.

"Our brand new county nursing home offers our most vulnerable citizens the comforts of home and quality care in a warm atmosphere," said County Executive Kathleen Falk.

The facility features private bedrooms with private baths, all grouped into "households" of 8-11 residents, each household having a kitchen, living room, dining area and sunroom, with outdoor patio and flower garden.

Badger Prairie Health Care Center is the first nursing home in Wisconsin to incorporate major energy-saving features like geothermal energy for heating and cooling and solar-powered systems for hot water.

Badger Prairie is the oldest, continually operating health care facility in Dane County and likely the entire state of Wisconsin.

Walker bill could put millions in transit aid at risk

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

From a blog post by Patrick Marley on JSonline.com:

Madison -- Wisconsin communities could lose $70 million or more in federal aid for transit systems under a bill quickly moving through the state Legislature, opponents of the bill are warning.

The measure by Gov. Scott Walker would strip most union rights away from most public employees. That could put in danger federal aid for buses because U.S. law requires that collective bargaining rights remain in place to get federal funds, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

"It’s a $70 million problem," said Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha). "That’s not small change."

Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie denied the bill would affect federal transit funding.

"The budget repair bill meets all of the federal requirements to continue to receive federal transportation aid," Werwie said in a statement.

But according to the Department of Labor’s website, the Federal Transit Act "requires the continuation of any collective bargaining rights that were in place when the employer started receiving federal funds."

Werwie declined to say if an amendment was needed to the bill now pending in the Legislature. Andrew Welhouse, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said he did not know if lawmakers would amend the bill to address the federal transit funding.

Don’t stymie wind power in Wisconsin

Monday, February 14, 2011

A letter to the editor of the Wisconsin State Journal by Jake Smith, Madison:

Dear Editor: Gov. Scott Walker is proposing new wind siting rules that place such strict requirements that they all but eliminate the possibility of any new wind projects. The siting rules approved by lawmakers in December are the result of two years of study and need no further strictures.

Wind power in Wisconsin is a developing industry and has potential to address climate change with clean, renewable wind energy. Why would Walker want to stymie a burgeoning industry? The approved rules would support economic development by providing manufacturing, construction, operation, development, etc. It is counterintuitive that he is proposing up-regulation on something that could kick-start the Wisconsin economy.

Fond du Lac County, host of 168 wind turbines, supports PSC siting rules

Friday, February 11, 2011

Testimony of Sam Tobias
Director of Planning and Parks
Fond du Lac County

Before the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules
February 9, 2011

(starts at 3:45:30 pm on Wisconsin Eye)

Thank you for the opportunity to speak before you today -- chairs and committee members as well.

I’ve been with Fond du Lac County for 25 years in a couple of different roles but at this point I’m with the county planning and parks director. You have to know just a bit about Fond du Lac County to understand where I’m coming from and what’s been happening in Fond du Lac. In our county we do not have county zoning, every town in our county, all 21, each has their own individual zoning ordinance. They administer their zoning ordinances. At times, with wind siting issues especially, they depend heavily on their attorney, and they all pretty much use the same attorney. They’ve come up with pretty much the model that’s being used in the PSC rule. And it’s worked very well, and that’s my point here today is we’ve been a test-bed so to speak in Fond du Lac.

The program has worked in Fond du Lac County. Why do I say that? The six town boards in Fond du Lac County that are the six towns that are host to wind turbine projects are all still in place. If this were truly a monumental issue, and truly had widespread health effects, and hazards, nature hazards, those types of things, I don’t think those six town boards would be in place today, but they are.

We’re home to three major utility scale wind turbine projects -- 168 turbines, 268 MW of electricity capacity. Again, the towns, the 8,000 to almost 9,000 town residents, that are involved in these facilities. We don’t have 8,000 to 9,000 people here today protesting against the rules. There are people with concerns, but it’s not the majority by any stretch of the imagination.

Town government took the lead, as I said previously. In permitting, in regulating wind farms in Fond du Lac County and I think they’ve done a very great job. Again, our setbacks are very similar in our towns as to what’s in our state rule. Utility-scale wind farm in Wisconsin mean a lot to local businesses -- from the sandwich supply lunch truck, that comes out to construction sites, to Michels Corporation in Brownsville that’s got 200 people that have been involved in developing wind projects in our county and elsewhere around the state. By their estimations, there are probably four projects out there that are being discussed and are in the works, 100 MW or more each, so there’s projects queued up that need some predictability in outcome, and that’s what this rule does.

I’ll go back to creating a level playing field. This is the same kind of thing that the Wisconsin Realtors Association asked for in ’99 and 2000 – the Wisconsin Smart Growth law. I’m a planner so I supported them in those efforts and that was a big thing that they really wanted. They wanted a level playing field. And I think in this situation, the same rule applies, the same situation applies. Let’s provide a level playing field. We’re not going to have turbines in every corner of the state of Wisconsin. These companies are going to go where the resource is. The resource is fairly limited in our area. . . .

Read more »

Committee takes no steps to ban wind turbines

Thursday, February 10, 2011

RENEW Wisconsin submitted the following statement at the public hearing of the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules on wind siting rules (PSC 128).

Governor Walker and legislative leaders reportedly will seek a change in the rule when the governor appoints a new chair of the three-person Public Service Commission when Commissioner Mark Meyer's term expires March 1. With no legislative action, PSC 128 will become effective on March 1, 2011, and will remain in effect until changed by the PSC.

Good morning, my name is Michael Vickerman. I am here to represent RENEW Wisconsin, a nonprofit advocacy and education organization based in Madison. Incorporated in 1991, RENEW acts as a catalyst to advance a sustainable energy future through public policy and private sector initiatives. We have over 300 total members, and more than 60 businesses around the state, including Biogas Direct (Prairie du Sac), Bleu Mont Dairy (Mount Horeb), Bubbling Springs Solar (Menomonie), Crave Brothers Farm (Waterloo), Convergence Energy (Lake Geneva), Emerging Energies (Hubertus), Energy Concepts (Hudson), Full Circle Farm (Seymour), Full Spectrum Solar (Madison), GDH, Inc. (Chilton), H&H Solar (Madison), Kettle View Renewable Energy (Random Lake), Michels Wind Energy (Brownsville), North American Hydro (Neshkoro), Northwind Renewable Energy LLC (Stevens Point), Pieper Power (Milwaukee), Organic Valley (LaFarge), Quantum Dairy (Weyauwega), Renewegy (Oshkosh), and Seventh Generation Energy Systems (Madison).

On behalf of all our members that have an interest in wind generation, RENEW Wisconsin took the lead in bringing together diverse groups and companies and forging a broad and bipartisan coalition to support legislation establishing statewide permitting standards for all wind generators in the state of Wisconsin. The fruit of that labor, 2009 Act 40, was signed into law in September 2009.

I am here today to encourage this Committee to take no action on the PSC 128 rule that is scheduled to take effect on March 1st. The Commission's rule is a good-faith compromise that balances the state's interest in promoting a preferred energy resource with the interests of neighboring landowners.

The PSC rule will provide wind energy developers with regulatory certainty -- a clearly defined set of requirements which they must comply with in order to obtain a permit. Such stability and clarity in the wind permitting arena has been absent from Wisconsin for the last 13 years, which, more than any other reason, explains why Wisconsin utilities own more wind generating capacity in Iowa and Minnesota (329 MW) than they do in Wisconsin (235 MW).

I would like this committee to consider the following points:

Read more »

Ashland hospital, ahead of biomass curve, saves money

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

From an article by Joe Cadotte on BusinessNorth.com:

An idea sketched on a napkin inside an Ashland restaurant 27 years ago has transformed the Memorial Medical Center into one of only two or three hospitals nationally that runs off of waste wood.

With 99 percent of the hospital’s energy needs coming from wood that might otherwise have been discarded, the Ashland hospital is many steps ahead of the biomass trend we’re seeing today.

In 1984, MMC administrators were looking for ways to restrain health care costs. Their plan was to use a wood burning boiler to supplement three gas boilers that were installed in 1972 when the facility was built. . . .

During its design phase, MMC Vice President Les Whiteaker was in charge of assessing the cost effectiveness of the boiler. “I thought it would take three to four years for the boiler to pay for itself,” he said. To his surprise, energy savings were sufficient to offset the $468,000 investment in just 30 months.

Over the years those savings have amounted to more than $6 million. By burning wood, the hospital annually saves $400,000, making medical services 22 percent less than the state average.

Scientists see no basis for turbine 'infrasound' health problems

Monday, February 07, 2011

From an article by Jim Dulzo on the Web site of Michigan Land Use Institute:

. . . when they could not find an independent organization willing to underwrite such a study, they paid for it themselves. AWEA [American Wind Energy Association] and CanWEA [Canada Wind Energy Associaiton] assembled eight scientists and doctors to survey the available scientific literature on the known health effects of living near wind turbines.

Collectively, the eight have strong research or clinical experience in public health, otolaryngology, noise-induced hearing loss, balance and hearing disorders, clinical medicine, audiology, infrasound acoustics, industrial sound pathology, wind and turbine physics, and turbine sound measurement and siting.

Their review of 140 different studies and papers issued in 2009, largely from Europe, where wind farms are common and located quite close to residential areas, is called Wind Turbine Sound and Health Effects; An Expert Panel Review.

The panel points out that the environment and our bodies are awash in infrasound, much of it naturally occurring. It finds Dr. Pierpont’s list of maladies too poorly characterized to be medically useful. It finds a markedly stronger correlation between subjects’ claimed turbine syndrome symptoms and their initial attitudes toward turbines than between their symptoms and their level of exposure to turbine sounds.

Windpower opponents quickly attacked the industry funded findings as biased, something that Mike Klepinger, who formerly worked at Michigan State University Extension Service, where he wrote the agency’s wind turbine siting guidelines, says is not surprising.

“Of course, whenever you invite industry into a panel, the whole panel becomes suspect,” Mr. Klepinger said in an interview with Great Lakes Bulletin News Service. “They say, ‘It couldn’t possibly be operating scientifically.’ But you look at the who’s who on the [panel] list, and you kind of have to give the industry an A-plus for trying to make the panel objective.”

Their three major conclusions:

•  “There is no evidence that the audible or sub-audible sounds emitted by wind turbines have any direct adverse physiological effects.
• “The ground-borne vibrations from wind turbines are too weak to be detected by, or to affect, humans.
• “The sounds emitted by wind turbines are not unique. There is no reason to believe, based on the levels and frequencies of the sounds and the panel’s experience with sound exposures in occupational settings, that sounds from wind turbines could plausibly have direct adverse health consequences.”

Gov. Walker's office to keep pushing new wind turbine rules

Friday, February 04, 2011

From a story on WTAQ, Madison:

MADISON, Wis. (WTAQ) - Governor Scott Walker’s office says it will keep trying to limit the locating of new wind energy farms in Wisconsin – even though his own Republicans in the Legislature are not going along with it for now.

Spokesman Cullen Werwie says Walker will try to get the state Public Service Commission to adopt his proposal. That’s after Republican legislative leaders said they wanted more time to review the impact.

Walker wants wind turbines to be at least 1,800 feet away from neighboring homes, instead of the current 1,250 feet. The Wisconsin Realtors Association pushed for the change.

Walker said it would help property owners who say the turbines cause too much noise and flickering light. But the wind energy industry says it would be the most restrictive setback in the nation – and they’re calling it a de-facto ban on new wind energy projects.

The group Renew Wisconsin says it could put up to $1.8 billion worth of future wind projects in jeopardy. And Denise Bode of the American Wind Energy Association said it would make a mockery of Walker’s claim that Wisconsin is “open for business.”

Win a Home Energy Checkup if you're an MG&E customer

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Wind farm going up as scheduled

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

From an article by Lyn Jerde in the Portage Daily Register:

What could be Wisconsin's largest wind energy project is going up as scheduled, despite a proposal from Gov. Scott Walker that could make future wind farms more challenging to build in the state.

The governor's proposal calls for a minimum setback of 1,800 feet between neighboring property and the turbine towers in a "large wind energy system" (300 kilowatts or more).

Glacier Hills is a We Energies project whose 90 turbines, on approximately 17,350 acres in the towns of Randolph and Scott, could generate up to 207 megawatts. Construction - including roads leading to the tower sites and a headquarters on Columbia County Highway H in the town of Scott - started in May, and continues this winter with the installation of underground connections that will eventually link each of the turbines to the power grid. The 400-foot towers are scheduled to be built starting this spring.

Andrew Hesselbach, We Energies wind farm project manager, said any new setback rules would not affect the construction of Glacier Hills, which received approval from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in January 2010.

And, he noted, "Glacier Hills is already half-completed."

Walker's proposal, as outlined in Assembly Bill 9, calls for "the setback distance of at least 1,800 feet," unless the owners properties adjoining the site where a tower is planned, or property owners separated from the site's land by a road, agree in writing to a setback of less than 1,800 feet.

Hesselbach was one of 15 members of a wind siting council that the PSC last March to advise the commission on statewide setback rules for wind turbine towers - rules that were scheduled to go into effect March 1.

Those rules set 1,250 feet as a minimum setback - the same setback specified in the PSC's "certificate of public convenience and necessity" that gave the go-ahead for construction of Glacier Hills.

Obama’s Bid to End Oil Subsidies Revives Debate

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

From an article by John M. Broder in the New York Times:

WASHINGTON — When he releases his new budget in two weeks, President Obama will propose doing away with roughly $4 billion a year in subsidies and tax breaks for oil companies, in his third effort to eliminate federal support for an industry that remains hugely profitable.

Previous efforts have run up against bipartisan opposition in Congress and heavy lobbying from producers of oil, natural gas and coal. The head of the oil and gas lobby in Washington contends that the president has it backward — that the industry subsidizes the government, through billions of dollars in taxes and royalties, not the other way around.

But even as the president says he wants to do away with incentives for fossil fuels, his policies continue to provide for substantial aid to oil and gas companies as well as billions of dollars in subsidies for coal, nuclear and other energy sources with large and long-lasting environmental impacts.

Mr. Obama’s proposal rekindles a long-running debate over federal subsidies for energy of all kinds, including petroleum, coal, hydropower, wind, solar and biofuels. Opposition to such subsidies — often euphemistically referred to as incentives, tax credits, preferences or loan guarantees — spans the ideological spectrum, from conservative economists who believe such breaks distort the marketplace to environmentalists who believe that renewable energy sources will always lose out in subsidy fights because of the power of the entrenched fossil fuel industries.

David W. Kreutzer, an energy economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, argues that the federal government should take its thumb off the scale by eliminating subsidies for all forms of energy, even it if means slowing development of cleaner-burning fuel sources.

“We would like to get rid of all subsidies,” Dr. Kreutzer said. “We know that petroleum and coal survive just fine in places where there are no subsidies. I don’t know if that’s true for wind and solar now, but someday it will be, when the price comes down.”

H. Jeffrey Leonard, president of the Global Environment Fund, a private equity firm that invests in clean-technology ventures, said that the current subsidy structure was the legacy of 60 years of lobbying and political jockeying in Washington that largely benefits oil, coal, nuclear power and corn-based ethanol. He calls for scrapping all subsidies and letting fuel sources compete on equal ground.

Mr. Obama is not willing to go that far. . . .

Conference of Cassandras?

Monday, January 31, 2011

Jack Kisslinger, Hans Noeldner, and David Knuti attended the 2010 ASPO Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., Oct. 7-9, 2010.

The 2010 Annual Meeting of the
Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO)
Washington D.C., October 7-9, 2010

David E. Knuti
Madison Peak Oil Group

2010 Conference Proceedings, Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas (ASPO), at aspo-usa.com. Speaker Videos and Conference Notes from presentations to the 2010 ASPO Convention at Washington, D.C., October 7-9, 2010.

The Impending World Energy Mess: What it is and what it means to you. By Robert Hirsch, Roger Bezdek, and Robert Wendling. Forward by James Schlesinger. 2010. Apogee Prime/Griffen Media. 251 pp, $30.00.

ASPO — An Association with a Mission
Last fall Hans Noeldner, Jack Kisslinger and I traveled via Amtrak to Washington, DC to attend the 2010 conference of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas-USA (ASPO), October 9-11. We attended as members of RENEW Wisconsin and our Madison Peak Oil Group. About 60 elite authorities presented their current findings about the dynamics of world energy flows with particular concern for the risk that supplies will soon hit limits that could have profound effects on our lives in the coming decade. These are important to share broadly. (For details go to the presentation notes from the conference at ASPO-USA.com)

The Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) is a volunteer organization dedicated to independently study the future availability of energy resources (primarily oil) and pursue "energy action for a healthy economy and clean environment." A group of American senior petroleum geologists, energy economists and financiers organized it in 1992, and there are now affiliated ASPOs across Europe and Australia, and an informal network of local Peak Oil Groups.

ASPO's founders feared that industry and government authorities were dangerously exaggerating the future flow of oil resources. They took heed of insights of Shell petroleum geologist M. King Hubbert about the pattern of production from a finite natural resource base. He asserted that it does not follow a continuously rising or smooth path to exhaustion, but instead, follows a bell-shaped curve, rising exponentially to a peak about half way through the total resource, and then falling inexorably from the production peak. To the astonishment of the U.S. oil industry, Hubbert identified the peak of U.S. oil production in 1970. ASPO is dedicated to identifying the factors which will determine the world oil production peak (which many fear is now uncomfortably close to zero to ten years away), its consequences, and what to do to prepare for them. This analysis decisively turns the debate from the ultimate size the resource available and various potential technological innovations, to the factors which determine the actual pace at which resources can be supplied to the market to for our oil dependent economy. As one conference speaker exclaimed, "It about the rate, stupid!"

The mood at the 2010 conference was highly charged, because ASPO people feel a sense of triumph in their command of the issues and an obligation to share their important insights. They are also are deeply frustrated by their inability to communicate with the political leadership and a public which purposely ignores the situation and might even figuratively "shoot the messengers" if pressed too openly. As keynote speaker, former Secretary of Energy and Defense James Schlesinger proclaimed, "The peak oil debate can be considered over, but we should not gloat because political acceptance is unlikely in the foreseeable future."

The ASPO leadership showed its determination to expand exposure for its viewpoint, first by bringing the conference to Washington and scheduling associated Congressional and press briefings. ASPO also announced that it was projecting itself into the national debate by moving its headquarters from Denver to Washington and raising funds to hire a full staff. (Recently it hired an Executive Director, Jan Mueller, who is an experienced participant in the energy policy debate and is determined to "mainstream" the peak oil message.) In a rousing speech to the group, Ralph Nader called for ASPO to get moving from analysis into action and pursue his new approach of "finding a sympathetic billionaire" to fuel the cause.

Read more »

Coalition discredits realtors’ wind assessment

Friday, January 28, 2011

A news release issued by the Wisconsin Energy Business Association:

A group of over 60 Wisconsin energy businesses and organizations distributed a memorandum to legislators today to respond to the factual inaccuracies and misrepresentations in a memorandum distributed by the Wisconsin Realtors Association last week, including the following points:
1. There is no credible evidence that existing wind development in Wisconsin has depressed property values in Kewaunee County.
2. There is no credible evidence that existing wind development in Wisconsin has depressed property values statewide.
3. The property value study cited by WRA contains several methodological errors and weaknesses that greatly reduce its value.
4. WRA’s discussion of windpower’s impacts on commercial and residential construction is wholly one-sided and overlooks the benefits from building energy-producing systems on rural land.
5. WRA’s characterization of the rule’s promulgation is inflammatory and untrue.
6. A longer setback distance is not necessary given PSC 128’s strict regulation of sound and shadow.

Free pizza! Peak oil!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Illinois wind advocates advise Wisconsin's renewable energy developers to 'Escape to Illinois'

Monday, January 24, 2011

From a news release issued by The Illinois Wind Energy Association:

(CHICAGO) -- Today the Illinois Wind Energy Association (IWEA) invited wind power developers working in Wisconsin to focus their efforts on Illinois, where Governor Pat Quinn and the Illinois General Assembly have worked to streamline regulations for the wind energy business.

Wind developers have been apprehensive about investing in Wisconsin since Governor Scott Walker proposed legislation that would effectively ban wind development from the Badger State. With these new job-destroying regulations on the table, IWEA is happy to highlight the much more business-friendly climate just to the south.

Recently introduced in the Wisconsin legislature, the War on Wind Initiative would dramatically extend setback distances from wind turbines in the state. If adopted, the bill would mandate a minimum setback requirement of 1,800 feet from neighboring property lines, far exceeding the setback distance from occupied dwellings specified in a rule issued by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.

"Even the strictest county setbacks in Illinois are nowhere near as extreme as what Wisconsin would have if this bill passes," said IWEA Executive Director Kevin Borgia. "Illinois has no statewide minimum setbacks."

As Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association, said to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel last week, "it is one of the most onerous regulations we have ever seen."

"In light of Wisconsin's War on Wind, IWEA invites developers to focus their resources on Illinois," Borgia said. "Businesses with wind farm proposals in both states are likely to focus their efforts on locations with the most beneficial regulatory climate. If the legislation is adopted, that location will not be Wisconsin."

Nicole Foss: We Need Freedom of Action To Confront Peak Oil

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Nicole Foss recently spoke in Madison.

State cancels plans for UW biomass plant

Friday, January 21, 2011

From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The Walker administration has canceled plans to build a biomass power plant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The power plant, a priority of former Gov. Jim Doyle, will burn natural gas instead.

The state can expect to save about $75 million to $80 million as a result of the decision, said Jeff Plale, Walker's new director of state facilities and former Democratic state senator from Milwaukee County.

The state will save $100 million by not pursuing biomass but will have to spend $20 million to $25 million to add another natural gas boiler to the plant, he said.

"It was a decision based on cost. The capital cost of that project was roughly $100 million, and it was the belief of the agency and the governor that that price tag was just way too high," Plale said.

Construction of the $251 million UW power plant project began last fall and represents nearly one-fifth of the state's 2009-'11 capital budget. The project was being built in phases, with the natural gas portion being built first and the biomass to come later.

Instead of picking the cheapest option - burning coal - state and UW officials opted for a combination of natural gas and biomass from local tree trimmings and crops.

The move is the latest in a series of steps reversing energy and related policies supported by the Doyle administration, including cancellation of the high-speed train proposed to link Milwaukee and Madison and legislation unveiled last week that could slow development of wind power projects in the state.

UW-Madison conservation goals heeded and exceeded

Thursday, January 20, 2011

From a news release issued by the UW-Madison:

We Conserve, an environmental stewardship program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, pledged in 2006 to reduce campus energy use and environmental footprint by 20 percent by 2010. Program director Faramarz Vakili announced this week that the program exceeded this goal, achieving a 25 percent annual energy reduction relative to 2006 levels.

When the program launched in April 2006, the resolution was met with skepticism, Vakili says. After all, the university had just completed a five-year, $29 million investment to install numerous energy-saving measures to improve the efficiency of lights, motors, and other "low-hanging fruit."

We Conserve tackled larger projects, including updates in heating and cooling systems — by far the single largest energy consumer on campus — and lighting upgrades in buildings and parking ramps. Many of the gains were achieved through major retro-commissioning of older buildings including Engineering Hall, Chamberlin Hall and the Chemistry Building.

The reductions and savings achieved by We Conserve include:

•energy use: 1.2 trillion BTUs annually
•carbon dioxide emissions: 125,000 metric tons annually
•water use: 178,000,000 gallons annually
•diesel fuel: 10,000 gallons annually
•utility costs: $13 million annually

Don't blow back on wind power

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

From an editorial in the Wisconsin State Journal:

More government regulation and tighter restrictions?

That's the wrong path for Wisconsin to take on promising wind energy projects.

Gov. Scott Walker and the Legislature should instead stick with the reasonable and uniform rules that the state Public Service Commission has approved.

Wisconsin is already falling behind its neighbors in the push to use wind as a clean, renewable energy source. At the same time, Wisconsin imports a huge portion of its power from out of state.

That's why the PSC was smart to adopt standard rules for siting smaller wind operations as well as bigger wind farms. The PSC, after listening to public testimony, health experts and industry officials, wisely streamlined and replaced a hodgepodge of local restrictions.

The PSC standards now protect public health and safety while permitting well-designed wind farms on appropriate sites. Besides more home-grown energy, Wisconsin gains jobs related to the manufacturing of parts for turbines. Farmers also benefit from the additional income they receive for allowing turbines of varying size on their land.

Walker's welcome mantra since his election last fall has been that Wisconsin is "open for business." But Walker's proposal for more regulation and restrictions on wind projects runs counter to that promise.

Walker's wind ban proposal is jobs killer

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

From a commentary by by Keith Reopelle, Senior Policy Director of Clean Wisconsin:

MADISON -- A special session bill recently proposed by Governor Scott Walker includes many provisions that could hurt Wisconsin’s economy and environment, but one of the most perplexing proposals in this package is a new regulation that would effectively ban wind energy projects in Wisconsin.

The regulatory reform bill proposed by Gov. Walker would close Wisconsin’s doors to clean, renewable wind power and cost our state thousands of jobs. Our state legislators – who were elected on the promise of real job creation and economic recovery – should reject Gov. Walker’s bill.

The proposed bill creates regulations that effectively prohibit wind energy developers from constructing a wind turbine within 1,800 feet of the nearest property line. If approved, this law will make siting a wind farm so difficult that no wind developer will even bother trying; especially when Illinois and Iowa are waiting with open arms, having no setback provision at all.

The bill will immediately jeopardize 11 proposed wind projects that are set to create hundreds of jobs and undoubtedly many others in the planning stages.

Beyond killing current projects, this law would ensure that no new wind development companies or wind turbine manufacturers locate in Wisconsin, and result in the loss of thousands more jobs constructing and maintaining wind turbines.

Wind energy production is one of the world’s fastest growing industries. In 2010, the industry employed over 85,000 people nationally. In Wisconsin, the wind industry supports thousands of jobs at businesses like Tower Tech in Manitowoc and Renewegy in Oshkosh. Both companies produce parts for wind turbines. Tower Tech produced its first turbine in 2005 and now employs over 250 people at its plant where it offers competitive wages and good benefits.

By effectively banning wind energy construction in the state, this law would leave manufacturing companies like Tower Tech with far less incentive to develop in Wisconsin.

These more restrictive regulations would replace rules that the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) recently approved after two years of study, six rounds of public comments, and input from all major stakeholder groups.

Win a home energy check-up from MG&E

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Walker proposal would torpedo $1.8 billion in new wind power investments

Friday, January 14, 2011

From a news release issued by RENEW Wisconsin:

The window on new wind power developments is likely to slammed completely shut by the end of 2011 under a proposal released by Governor Scott Walker, according to RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide renewable energy advocacy organization.

“As part of a larger proposal ostensibly to create jobs, Governor Walker unveiled new restrictions on wind energy development that, if adopted by the Legislature, would drive development activity worth $1.8 billion out of state,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin.

Governor Walker’s proposal would mandate minimum setbacks of 1,800 feet between a wind turbine and the nearest property line, a dramatic increase from the setback distance of 1,250 feet from a neighboring residence approved by the Public Service Commission in a rule that would otherwise take effect on March 1.

“There are very few locations in the entire Badger State that are windy and large enough, and located near transmission lines, to overcome such extreme constraints,” said Vickerman.

This setback requirement, which would be more stringent than any other statewide regulation in the nation, would also apply to permitted projects that have not begun construction, such as the two-turbine project in a Village of Cashton industrial park that was ready to begin construction this spring. A 99-megawatt project near Darlington in Lafayette County would also be blocked, said Vickerman.

“Because construction has commenced, We Energies’ 90-turbine Glacier Hills Wind Park in Columbia County will avoid these extreme restrictions,” said Vickerman. “Adoption of Walker’s proposal will draw the curtain on projects that would follow Glacier Hills, which will be able to power up to 45,000 homes.”

RTA approves plan for expanded bus service outside Madison

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Fronm an article by Devin Rose in the Wisconsin State Journal:

The county's Regional Transit Authority Board is seeking public comment on a proposed plan they approved Wednesday that would improve and extend bus services to areas outside Madison — but the plan's full implementation is contingent on approval of a transit sales tax.

Among the proposed improvements — which could be funded by up to a half cent sales tax for people within the boundaries of the RTA — are regional express bus service, expanded service to other Dane County communities, additional park and ride lots and improved services for the elderly and disabled. The RTA board would have to vote on whether to place an advisory referendum for the tax on the April 5 election ballot before Feb. 22.

RTA Chairman Dick Wagner said the next step for the board is to listen to people's opinions about the plan, which will be released in full next week. The plan includes about $9.7 million to $13 million in new and improved services. Wagner said Tuesday he has heard little or no support for a half cent sales tax, but there is some backing for one-fourth of a cent, which would yield $15 million to $17 million annually.

Letter asks Walker to leave new wind siting rules alone

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

January 11, 2011

Governor Scott Walker
Senator Scott Fitzgerald
Representative Jeff Fitzgerald

Re: Support for Wisconsin’s Wind Siting Rule, PSC 128

Governor Walker, Senator Fitzgerald, and Representative Fitzgerald:

As businesses involved in the manufacturing, production, installation, and maintenance of wind energy systems, we urge you to allow the state’s new wind siting rule to go into effect. The wind siting rule is a fair balance of different interests and will spur investment, job creation, and economic growth in our state if given an opportunity to do so.

We are aware that the Special Session on Jobs will include a bill related to the authority of state agencies to promulgate administrative rules, with yet unspecified changes to the wind siting rule. While the text of the bill has not yet been released, we would like to take this opportunity to urge you not to alter or weaken the wind siting rule. The rule already contains some of the strongest protections in the United States for homeowners, including strict provisions related to shadow and sound criteria, as part of a balanced package that assures the safe and responsible siting of wind energy systems.

The wind siting bill had strong bipartisan support when it passed the legislature last session. The wind siting council was comprised of a variety of stakeholders representing a broad selection of interests. The council met regularly for five months, listening to multiple experts, scholars, and health professionals. The rulemaking process was open, balanced, and fair, and the rule will allow wind developers to site wind energy systems efficiently while protecting Wisconsin residents.

Weakening the rule with an overly burdensome setback larger than those specified in the rule could represent a death sentence to many wind projects in Wisconsin. Given the strong shadow and sound protections, further setback requirements are not necessary and will have the practical effect of rendering useless many of the best turbine locations in the state, where landowners have voluntarily entered into lease agreements for wind energy systems.

The entities that will be harmed most by such legislation are Wisconsin-based manufacturers, equipment suppliers, contractors, and consultants. States all around us have already realized that renewable energy generation represents an opportunity for major economic growth in their state. In fact, the wind industry has shown strong growth despite significant challenges throughout the current economic environment.

Repealing or modifying the wind siting law will send a message to manufacturers, developers, and investors that Wisconsin is not open for this particular business, which can be a key contributor to Wisconsin’s manufacturing renaissance.

We appreciate your consideration,

Energy Composites Corporation, Wisconsin Rapids, WI

Michels Wind Energy, Brownsville, WI

American Wind Energy Association, Washington, D.C.

Renewegy Systems, LLC, Oshkosh, WI

Wind Capital Group, Madison, WI

Wind on the Wires, St. Paul, MN

Midwest Wind Energy, Chicago, IL

Bonestroo Engineering, Green Bay, WI

Emerging Energies of Wisconsin, LLC, Hubertus, WI

Iberdrola Renewables, Minneapolis, MN

Nordex USA, Chicago, IL

WES Engineering LLC, Madison, WI

Seventh Generation Energy Systems, Madison, WI

Uriel Wind Inc., Mequon, WI

Wind Wisconsin, Middleton, WI

Lake Michigan Wind and Sun, Sturgeon Bay, WI

SUN & Daughters Renewable Energy, Sugar Camp, WI

Walker proposal would halt new wind energy projects, send jobs to other states

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

From an article by Tom Content of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A coalition of 15 wind power developers and manufacturers of wind components says a proposal by the Walker administration could make it more difficult to build wind farms in the state.

In his first executive order since taking office, Gov. Scott Walker included “requirements for wind energy systems” as one of several regulatory reform proposals being developed by the administration. Details of the administration’s proposal are pending.

The wind siting rule, developed in response to a bill that called for uniformity in wind standards across the state, was completed in December after nearly a year of work by the Public Service Commission and a wind siting advisory council. It calls for wind turbines to be built at least 1,250 feet from nearby residences, or 3.1 times the height of a wind tower.

The wind firms said Tuesday proposals that would make wind siting more restrictive could send wind developers, and the construction and manufacturing jobs linked to wind power, out of state.

“Repealing or modifying the wind siting law will send a message to manufacturers, developers, and investors that Wisconsin is not open for this particular business, which can which can be a key contributor to Wisconsin’s manufacturing renaissance,” the group of businesses, including both developers, turbine manufacturers and other firms, said in a letter Tuesday to Walker and legislative leaders.

The thorny issue of how close wind turbines should be built to nearby homes has dogged the state’s energy policy for several years. The Legislature wrestled with the issue before deciding to forward the matter for the Public Service Commission and an advisory council to debate.

Before developing the siting standards for small wind farms, the PSC had applied less restrictive standard to utility wind projects.

In its Blue Sky Green Field wind farm in Fond du Lac County, We Energies was required to build turbines at least 1,000 feet from nearby homes.

More recently, the PSC tightened the standard for We Energies’ latest wind farm, Glacier Hills, northeast of Madison. No turbine can be within 1,250 feet of nearby homes in that project, which is now under construction, the PSC said.

The Story of Coal from SunRunHome

Thursday, January 06, 2011

Madison plant will recycle coating from solar panels

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

5N Plus Corp. of Montreal will open a manufacturing and recycling center for metal coatings used in the production of thin-film solar panels.

The $4.3 million facility, which was supported by a $500,000 low-interest loan from the state of Wisconsin, is expected to be fully operational by March or April, plant manager John Schuster said.

5N Plus, which supplies metals used to coat the thin-film solar panels, has a contract to supply Abound Solar, a Loveland, Colo., company that plans to open solar panel factories in Indiana and expand a factory in Colorado that already makes thin-film solar panels.

Last month, Abound received a $400 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy to support the expansion. Abound also announced a private equity investment of $110 million to support its growth.

The company plans to open a solar panel factory inside an 800,000-square-foot building in Tipton, Ind., that was once intended to build transmissions for Chrysler cars.

5N Plus chose the DeForest area for a new facility because of its central location and proximity to the Cardinal Glass plant in Portage, where the glass can be recycled, Schuster said.

Cardinal Glass' Solar Technologies division supplies glass and other products for thin-film solar panels, with work taking place at factories in Mazomanie and Portage.

Cardinal and 5N Plus are among suppliers in four states that are expected to employ 1,600 people as a result of the Abound Solar manufacturing expansions in Colorado and Indiana, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Green Drinks, Jan. 5, Great Dane downtown

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Our next opportunity to gather with other green-minded folks is here.

Come and network, shoot the breeze, or enjoy a brew or two in the good company of Madison Green Drinks.

Wednesday, January 5th, 5:PM

Great Dane Brew Pub
123 East Doty Street
Corner of Doty and King streets

Workshop: How to implement green changes

Monday, January 03, 2011

Mpower Public Workshop

Want to implement green changes, but are struggling with next steps?
Ready to learn from successful, sustainable businesses?
Mpower ChaMpions Business Program may be for you.

Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
7:30 am — 9:30 am
Goodman Atwood Community Center, 149 Waubesa Street, Madison

Featuring:
• Welcome by Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, one of the first mayors in America to sign on to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement to reduce Madison's greenhouse gas emissions.
• Update on Madison's new Sustainability Plan Draft by Sherrie Gruder, UW-Extension/ SHWEC and Chair of Madison Sustainable Design & Energy Committee.
• Mpower ChaMpion Panel sharing first-hand results of 2010 Mpower Champions that are collectively saving $300,000 and reducing their CO2 emissions by 10 million lbs annually: Union Cab Coop of Madison, Palmer Johnson Power Systems, Monsanto Company - Agracetus Campus, Mental Health Center of Dane County, Lakeview Veterinary Clinic, Insty Prints on the Square, Covance, and Associated Housewrights.
• Resources to Mpower You, learn about participating in Mpower Champions 2011, free resources from Focus On Energy, Rideshare etc., EnAct and more.
• Know your Opportunities, receive an estimated carbon footprint calculation for your company.

This event is free and includes fair trade coffee and tea, and a light morning snack, but registration is required.

Say no to revving up rickety reactors

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

From a column by John LaForge of Nukewatch, a Wisconsin-based organization, in The Capital Times:

The owners of two 40-year-old nuclear reactors at Point Beach, on Lake Michigan north of Two Rivers, want to increase the power output for each unit by 17 percent -- from 1,540 megawatts to 1,800.

The gunning of rickety old nukes is getting a green light all over the region.

The Monticello reactor, 30 miles from Minneapolis, will boost its output to 120 percent of the original licensed limit -- from 613 megawatts to 684. Monticello’s been rattling along since 1971, and it rattles badly. In 2007, a 35,000-pound turbine control box (6 feet by 6 feet and 20 feet long) broke its welds and fell onto a large steam pipe that was cut open, causing the loss of so much pressure that an automatic reactor shutdown was tripped. Decades of intense vibration and poor welding were blamed for the crash. The reactor had been operating at 90 percent power. So why not push the limits to 120 percent?

In 2009 the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission rejected claims that the accident record at the two Prairie Island reactors, south of Minneapolis, is so bad that its license extension should be denied. In May 2006, one of them accidentally spewed radioactive iodine-131 gas over 110 of its own workers, who inhaled it. Internal radiation poisoning is the kind for which there is no decontamination. Even so, the NRC could soon OK letting the Prairie Island jalopies run until 2033 and 2034, respectively, rather than shut them down in 2013 and 2014 as the license now requires.

Back in Wisconsin, Point Beach’s “extended power uprate” (EPU) plan was published in the Federal Register by the NRC Dec. 10. The draft environmental assessment and “finding of no significant impact” are hair-raising. The public has until Jan. 8 to comment.

Should we be skeptical? Point Beach has received two of only four “Red findings” -- the worst failure warning available -- ever issued by the NRC. In 2006, the NRC found that operators had harassed a whistle-blower who documented technical violations. In 2005, Point Beach was fined $60,000 for deliberately giving false information to federal inspectors. In May 1996, it was the site of a potentially catastrophic explosion of hydrogen gas that upended the 3-ton lid on a huge cask filled with high-level radioactive waste. The lid was being robotically welded when the gas exploded.

Gas could hit $5 a gallon in 2012, former oil exec warns

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

From an article by Bill Novak in The Capital Times:

Fueling up on New Year's Eve might be more expensive this year than ever before.

But it could seem cheap compared to what's coming by 2012, according to an industry analyst and a former president of Shell Oil.

Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service, predicted that average national prices for regular will be between $3.25 and $3.75 a gallon this spring in an article in the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday.

And John Hofmeister, a former Shell president, told the Platts News Service that consumers should brace for $5 a gallon gas by 2012.

The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.049 on Tuesday, according to AAA's daily fuel gauge report, only a few tenths of a penny away from the all-time record year-end high of $3.053 a gallon set on Dec. 31, 2007.

In Madison, prices for regular range from $2.98 to $3.12 a gallon on Tuesday, according to MadisonGasPrices.com.

Nationally, prices are 44 cents higher than a year ago.

"We will end the year with the highest prices ever for this week," Kolza told the Times, adding that there will be a break in prices this winter before they rise again in the spring.

After the year-end record in 2007, gas prices kept rising to the all-time record high of $4.11 a gallon nationally in July 2008.

AAA said the average price for regular in Wisconsin was $3.087 a gallon on Tuesday, up nine cents from a week ago.

Illinois forms partnership with Wisconsin's money to develop high-speed rail to St. Louis

Thursday, December 23, 2010

From an article in BizTimes Daily:

Illinois forms partnership to develop high-speed rail to St. Louis
State of Illinois announced today it will use some of the federal funds rejected by Wisconsin Governor-elect Scott Walker to create a public-private partnership that will develop high-speed rail from Chicago to St. Louis, Mo., by 20114.

Illinois Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the signing of the historic cooperative agreement by the federal government, state government, Union Pacific Railroad, and Amtrak as a crucial advance in the development of a planned high-speed passenger rail network that will serve Illinois and the Midwest region.

“ Clearly, the leadership, perseverance and commitment of Governor Quinn, Senator Durbin, and our private sector partners, has vaulted Illinois into the lead on the development of high-speed rail,” Hannig said. “This announcement is about more than just an historic achievement for Illinois and the Midwest. It is a celebration of the kind of partnership and vision that is creating jobs now and providing needed access to a crucial regional transportation alternative.”

In September 2010, Quinn announced that Illinois had become the first state in the nation to begin high-speed rail construction through an initial agreement to upgrade 90 miles of track between Alton and Lincoln. With the full Cooperative Agreement now in place, construction will continue in early spring from just south of Lincoln to Dwight. That phase of work is expected to conclude next fall.

“It’s a wonderful day for Illinoisans as we celebrate a milestone achievement towards becoming the first state in the nation to bring high-speed rail to fruition,” Quinn said. “We applaud the cooperation and hard work of all participating agencies to bring high-speed rail service, thousands of jobs, and economic growth to communities across the state.”

Group releases recommendations to cut pollution

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

From a news release issued by Clean Wisconsin:

Expansion will save homeowners and businesses million

MADISON -- After more than a year of meetings and studies, the Midwestern Governors Association's (MGA) Low Carbon Fuel Advisory Group has released a report detailing a regionally coordinated cleaner fuels policy. These recommendations are designed to lower pollution in transportation fuels.

"The MGA report shows that cleaner fuel policies can be developed in ways that take advantage of our region’s economic and natural resource strengths and move Wisconsin away from the fossil fuels we import to our state at a cost of $13 billion a year," says Keith Reopelle, senior policy director, Clean Wisconsin.

While California and other states have already adopted similar policies, these recommendations differ in key respects. For example, they propose to measure greenhouse gas emissions for transportation fuels in a way that does not penalize the use of food-based crops for fuel, such as corn ethanol. A decision on evaluating potential market effects of food-based crops would be delayed until there is greater scientific consensus.

The Midwest is the leading producer of corn ethanol and soybean biodiesel, both of which can contribute to cuts in carbon pollution. The region is also a leader in the development of next-generation, clean-burning biofuels, from sources like wood waste and biogas, which benefits local economies. Wisconsin leads the country in farm-based biogas energy that turns cow manure, cheese wastewater and other byproducts into a valuable fuel for natural gas vehicles. And, of course, the region is the nation’s leading automotive and automotive components manufacturer. For instance, Wisconsin-based Johnson Controls is building car batteries and electric drivetrains for vehicles such as the Ford Transit electric van. Electricity qualifies as a low-carbon fuel due to the greater efficiency of electric drivetrains.

"Moving to lower carbon fuels not only reduces dependence on imported oil but helps develop new economic opportunities in the advanced biofuel and electric vehicle industries," says Reopelle. "The recent announcement that United Ethanol of Milton will be installing a biogas system to reduce fossil fuel consumption will lower the carbon footprint of ethanol fuel produced in Wisconsin."

Some proposals were recommended for state or region-wide action, but the Advisory Group made recommendations for federal policymakers as well. The Advisory Group included state policymakers, business leaders, including the oil and gas industries, academic researchers and environmental groups.

MGA asked the Advisory Group to develop mutually acceptable recommendations for action to cut the carbon pollution from transportation fuels by 10 percent in 10 years. A technical evaluation found that nearly a 15-percent cut in pollution could be achieved in the same timeframe.

Departing rail money puts freight line in a pinch

Monday, December 20, 2010

From an article in Joe Lunane in The Daily Reporter:

The state and some Wisconsin counties are stuck with the $35 million tab to upgrade a freight line between Madison and Watertown now that federal high-speed train money is gone.

“The state had been waiting nearly a decade for federal money to come to Wisconsin to upgrade this freight line,” said Ken Lucht, manager of community development for Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co., the state-contracted operator of the 33-mile track. “But because it is being redirected to other parts of the country, it’s pretty clear now the state is going to have to rebuild it themselves.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation on Dec. 9 redirected nearly all of Wisconsin’s $810 million in high-speed rail money to 13 other states. That pushed any potential rail upgrades back at least five years, Lucht said, and requires his company apply for a grant from the state’s rail preservation program.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation grant would cover 80 percent of the upgrade price, while the remaining costs for such projects typically would be divided between Wisconsin & Southern and the Wisconsin River Rail Transit Commission.

The commission represents eight southern Wisconsin counties that pool money to pay for local rail projects. Each county chips in $27,100 for a total of $216,800 per year — far less than the anticipated $3.5 million needed to cover the commission’s required 10 percent for the freight line.

The commission spends all of the money each year.

Van Schwartz, Dane County transit rail commissioner and finance committee chairman, said the commission recently has been unable to match its 10 percent local contribution, forcing Wisconsin & Southern to make up the shortfall for other projects.

“There’s no question work on this rail line needs to be done,” he said. “It’s valuable and will lead to additional jobs and traffic. But the economic reality is that counties don’t have the money to fund schools or roads, let alone any other activities.”

Co. Exec. Falk, farmers help start Dane County “Cow Power” facility

Thursday, December 16, 2010

With the push of a button by Dane County Exec. Falk, the innovative facility north of Waunakee began the process of converting manure into electricity, instead of pollution.

From a news release issued by Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk:

Dane County’s first “Cow Power” facility officially started operating today, as County Executive Kathleen Falk, representatives of Clear Horizons (the private operator), and the three farm families partnering on the project pushed a button to start filling the first manure digester tank.

Once this one-million gallon tank is full (in approximately two weeks), the manure will be heated and the process of converting it into electricity for homes and compost for gardens will begin. The facility is expected to begin producing electricity for sale to Alliant Energy in February.

The Dane County “Cow Power” facility will generate about $2-million worth of electricity each year - - enough to run 2,500 Dane County homes. It also includes first-of-its-kind equipment slated to remove much of the algae-producing phosphorous from the manure.

“Today begins the next exciting step in this innovative project - - turning a whole lot of cow manure into a valuable commodity for our homes and businesses and keeping it out of our lakes,” Falk said. “Thanks to the unique design of this one-of-a-kind digester, manure from 2,500 cows will go into powering our homes instead of polluting our waters.”

Dane County and a Wisconsin company, Clear Horizons are partnering on this project with three family farms in the Towns of Vienna and Dane - - the Ripps’, the Endres’ and the Maiers’. This digester is the first in the state to be shared by a cluster of several farmers and one of only a handful in the country to substantially remove pollutants that cause algae and weed growth in local lakes. That primary pollutant is phosphorus which studies have shown is the leading cause of green algae and other weed growth in Dane County’s lakes.

Today’s start of operations culminates years of pioneering work by County Executive Falk, the farm families and Clear Horizons to build this unique digester.

Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin's executive director, attended the ceremony.

Governor Doyle included $6.6 million in the 2009-11 state budget so two new Dane County “Cow Power” facilities would have additional phosphorus removal technology not used in other digesters in the state. To date, private dollars from Clear Horizons has funded the $12 million total project cost. Once the project is fully operational, half of the state funding ($3.3 million) will be used to pay for the phosphorus removal equipment while the other half will go for a second digester. No county dollars were used.

Dems to Walker: Where's the money for other rail projects without the $810 million?

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

From an article on the Web site of the Wisconsin State Journal:

Two Democratic state lawmakers are asking Gov.-elect Scott Walker to explain how he'll pay for certain train-related expenses after the Republican refused federal funds that would have covered them.

Walker turned down $810 million to build high-speed rail between Madison and Milwaukee. He said the state could get stuck paying for upkeep.

Mark Pocan in the Assembly and Mark Miller of the Senate told Walker on Wednesday his refusal means Wisconsin taxpayers could now be liable for related projects worth $101 million.

Those include $52 million for a train-maintenance facility and $30 million for freight-rail upgrades.

However, fiscal analyst Jon Dyck of the state Legislative Fiscal Bureau says lawmakers have the option of scaling back the projects to save money.

Madison mayor lashes out at Walker over high-speed rail

Friday, December 10, 2010

From an article by Jessica Vanergeren in The Capital Times:

A visibly angry Mayor Dave Cieslewicz lashed out at incoming Gov. Scott Walker at a news conference Thursday, blaming him for an announcement that federal transportation officials were pulling $810 million in free stimulus money to Wisconsin that could have been used for high-speed rail.

Cieslewicz, joined by Dane County Chair Scott McDonell, Steve Hiniker of 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin and Downtown Madison Inc. President Susan Schmitz, called Walker's decision to campaign on a pledge to kill the high-speed rail project between Milwaukee and Madison a "purely irrational" decision that has led to a "black day for the state."

"He put himself in a ridiculously tight corner during the campaign that he couldn't get himself out of," Cieslewicz said.

Walker has not yet made a public statement on the federal transportation's decision.

The mayor said he repeatedly reached out to Walker to talk over options to keep the project on track.

Cieslewicz said he would have been open to the city contributing to the train's operating cost, an idea he also had discussed with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Barrett, a Democrat and a high-speed rail advocate, was defeated by Walker in the November election. The mayor said he first tried to contact Walker days after Walker was elected. Cieslewicz said his calls and messages were never returned.

"I was met with a blank wall. I was never able to speak with him," the mayor said. "I think it is very telling about a person. He is not getting off to a good start."