John Deere dumps wind farming to return to its roots.

Posted on August 31, 2010 by morgan

From the Washington Examiner:  Deere sells wind energy business, John Deere Renewables, to Exelon subsidiary for $900 million

In a $900 million sale, John Deere ends its wind adventure in which it, according to the article, “invested $1 billion over the past five years in the financing, development and ownership of wind energy projects.”

It seems “the sale will allow it (Deere) to get back to what it does best, which is manufacturing farm equipment.”

For the collectors among you, I thought I’d capture this page before it is removed from the John Deere site:

I especially like the phrase on their page, “A level of integrity and stability that is unmatched in the industry.”  For some reason, like a lot of other folks, I always trusted John Deere, which might be a major reason they’ve remained a strong and profitable company.

But that “generations to come” commitment to wind energy they touted on their page seems a little disingenuous, don’t you think?  Unless you’re talking about rabbits, 5 years is not a lot of generations.

The departure from the wind farm industry does make one wonder if it was Deere’s failure or the future of the wind business in general causing the shift in Deer’s desire to offer customers “one-stop wind energy development from the leader on the land.”  Seems to me that, based on history, Deere has had a pretty darned good track record.  But I’ll let you jump to your own conclusion.

Anyway, makes you wonder who will be picking up the mantle of unmatched “integrity and stability” now?  Maybe Synergics Wind Energy?

Posted in Wind energy | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Due to “substantial public interest,” the US Fish and Wildlife Service extends Beech Ridge wind project public comment period.

Posted on August 27, 2010 by morgan

We thank Judy Rodd, Director of the citizen group Friends of Blackwater, for providing this publication in the Federal Register announcing the extension of the comment period relative to the “Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement for Issuance of an Incidental Take Permit Associated With a Habitat Conservation Plan for the Beech Ridge Wind Energy Project, Greenbrier and Nicholas Counties, West Virginia.”

The announcement reads in part:  In response to substantial public interest and requests to extend the comment period, we, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, extend the scoping period on a notice of intent to gather information necessary to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the proposed issuance of an Endangered Species Act (ESA) permit (incidental take permit and associated Habitat Conservation Plan) for the Beech Ridge Wind Energy Project (HCP).

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), we seek suggestions and information from the public on the scope of issues and alternatives to be included in the EIS. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted as they have been incorporated into the public record and will be fully considered in the final decision on the permit application.

DATES: The public comment period that closed on August 23, 2010, (75 FR42767) is reopened and extended until September 23, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Information, written comments, or questions related to the preparation of the EIS and NEPA process should be submitted to Ms. Laura Hill, Assistant Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, West Virginia Field Office, 694 Beverly Pike, Elkins, West Virginia 26241; FAX 304–636–7824; or fw5es_wvfo@fws.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Laura Hill (See ADDRESSES) at 304–636–6586, extension18.

The full, formal publication is provided for your convenience:

Posted in Bat/Bird Kills, Beech Ridge, Environment, US Fish &Wildlife | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Maryland officials put the brakes on wind farm construction.

Posted on August 27, 2010 by morgan

Maryland wind farm developers are now batting two for two – two projects started – two projects halted for environmental violations.

Thanks to Matia Vanderbilt of Save Western Maryland for pointing us to the Baltimore Sun article: Erosion violations halt Garrett County wind project

Seems this time the Maryland Department of the Environment ordered Synergics Wind Energy and its contractor, White Construction, to stop work until they fix all the shortcomings in their measures to prevent mud from washing off the building site into nearby streams.

You have to chuckle at the comments of Frank Maisano, a spokesman for Synergics Wind Energy.  Emailing it in from another planet he noted the obvious as an attempt to minimize their failure saying, “the complaint came from opponents to the two wind projects being built on Backbone Mountain.”  Well, that certainly makes the issue less important than if say, one of your own people reported the problem.

He went on to say that “there have been no negative environmental impacts” from the faulty erosion controls.”  Well heck!  Why then do we have the stupid regulations in the first place?  How about if we just lift the environmental protection controls all together.  After all, we can trust developers, can’t we?

Mr. Maisano said in his email that, “We expect the contractor will resolve the state’s issues … ”  The contractor, Mr. Maisano?  Your gang is in charge, responsible and liable for the project.  Don’t try to make the contractor seem like some disjointed entity that just happened to show up at your construction site and start working.  You hired them and they’re yours.  Whatever they do, you do!  Get it?

Best of all, Mr. Maisano provides the real reason we should trust these folks.  Remember he mentioned above that the contractor will resolve the state’s issues?  He followed that with this gem, “and continue construction very soon.”  Continue very soon, Frank?  According to the article “follow-up inspections on Aug. 9 and 17 found the companies had not completed all the erosion controls, the MDE spokesman said in an e-mail. When inspectors returned again Tuesday, they found the remedies still not complete, Apperson said, but they also found that more ground had been excavated for turbines — contrary to what the companies had agreed to. So inspectors advised a full shutdown of all construction work, and followed up with an official order the next day.”  They never stopped working, Frank!  Even after being asked to do so and agreeing to do so.

Oh yeah!  We can trust wind developers to hold to their word.  Next thing you know they’ll be promising us they will protect the environment and even seek Fish and Wildlife incidental take permits.  See!  What’s not to trust?

Well, at least the MDE investigated and the inspectors certainly seem to be doing their part to control these folks.  That is not always the case.  Actually, it might be a good time to reflect on the commentary of Art and Pam Dodds, carried here not long ago:  Industrial wind’s rubber stamp? “Rather than being effective regulatory agencies, the state authorities have simply opted to be the permitting agencies.”

Yes, Maryland wind developers may batting 2 for 2, but in this case it’s not a 1000%.

Posted in Allegheny Mountains, Art & Pam Dodds | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

When you’re trying to sneak in late, it’s best if you don’t blow the horn.

Posted on August 26, 2010 by morgan

When I was a youngster coming home a little later than allowed, I tried to convince my friends not to blow the horn when they dropped me off.  I figured that Dad was probably sleeping with one eye open but, having probably pulled the same stunt when he was young, would cut me a little slack.  But if Mom woke up all bets were off.  Then he would have to confront me or he’d hear about it from her.  If I made it past Mom, Dad might nudge me about it in the morning but, no sir, not if Mom got into the act.

That’s why I’m a little surprised at the actions of US WindForce in the matter of the Mineral County West Virginia Comprehensive Plan.  Seems WindForce was not happy with some of the language in the plan submitted to the Commissioners by the volunteer planning committee, the members of which have been volunteering their time to work on the submission for years.  In a sort of a standing on your own foot moment, the WindForce displeasure with the way the process played out seems a direct result of their own delay in joining it, and now it’s all out there for everybody to see.

It appears from what I read that, for reasons only they would know, WindForce only decided to jump in at the last minute with their recommendations.  In fact, at an earlier meeting a week or so ago when this all blew up and the threat of lawsuit was first tossed into the mix, the official Mineral County Planner noted that there were “opportunities all the way along to make comments.”  (Mineral County) Commissioner LaRue asked (WindForce Executive) Cookman, “Why would you have waited to make comments until the night they were going to adopt the plan?”  The non-answer from Mr. Cookman was, “It was closed without prior notification that it had been closed.”  Excellent answer, just not for the question he was asked … why did you wait?  (Hey, I tried the Professor Irwin Corey routine on my folks too, way back when.  It didn’t work then either.)

Now, I probably would have bought into the whole WindForce naïveté on the matter of constructing community policy thing were it not for the “déjà vu all over again” feeling I got when reading this letter submitted to our neighboring Allegheny County Maryland Commissioners by John Bambacus in 2009 stating, “I will not participate in your “theater of the absurd hearing” today, wherein you again move the goal posts and give special consideration to US Wind Force while virtually ignoring the people you represent.”

Mr. Bambacus further wrote, “After many opportunities in which US Wind Force either sat silent or refused to testify on pending modifications and new provisions to the zoning ordinance that provided basis health, safety, and environmental protections, including one in which people of Allegany County were required to swear under oath that their testimony was indeed true, you once again insult the intelligence of your constituents by giving the wind developer an hour to make again another self-serving and preposterous presentation, while giving individual citizens your usual 3-minute impudent, slap in the face.

There have been numerous public opportunities by the Planning and Zoning Commission to discuss this proposal, but US Wind Force has not stepped forward in either an open meeting or a community setting to make their case and have their claims questioned through rebuttal. ”

For your convenience:

Seem familiar?

Well, I personally witnessed two other instances where leaders of WindForce sat silent while opponents hammered their project.  One, a meeting before the very Commission they now threaten with a law suit and the other a seminar at which the presenter literally destroyed the science behind the wind industry.  The WindForce officials sat silent even through Q&A period, missing a perfect opportunity to counter the claims.  Their reluctance to engage was a turning point for me, at the time being a wind energy advocate.  I began to read independent studies beyond the AWEA boilerplate and decided that the wind business is simply a tax shelter rewarding developers and owners yet offering no real benefit to energy consumers or improvement to the environment.  Quite the contrary, in fact!  But that’s another story.

Now, I don’t know if the actions of WindForce constitute a devious pattern or just an example of “slow out of the chute,” but no matter.  What does matter is the possibility that US WindForce, perhaps inadvertently, opened a wide door for its opponents.  Yep!  It seems to me that, by choosing to not participate in the ongoing planning process and then dumping in late with threats of lawsuits, US WindForce effectively honked its own horn.

To recap what I surmise from reading about the affair:  the gentleman who evidently car pools with the WindForce folks to various meetings, (sometimes their attorney but not in this case but interested in the legality of the planning committee proceedings) threatened suit should the “illegal” document not be sent back to the volunteer planning commission.  Again, he’s doing this on his own and not as a friend to WindForce, which he represents, but not in this case except that… oh, never mind!  Anyway, seems his actions and the force of WindForce’s wind finally convinced two members of the County Commission to vote to send the whole thing back to square one.

The Commissioner in the minority suggested that, rather than scrap the fine work done by the volunteers over many years simply because of the threat of a lawsuit by WindForce and/or “the car pool companion”, the Commission should seek the advice of the WV Attorney General.  But the other two Commissioners thought it best to buckle and, as described in a local paper, “punt.”

Well, they didn’t see it as buckling and resented the implication that they were intimidated by the threat of lawsuit.  I believe that’s true of one of the place kicking Commissioners as she seems to have consistently supported the project.  After all, she submitted an unsolicited letter to the WV PSC requesting the PSC deny an appeal to the granting of the permit to proceed on the nearby Pinnacle wind farm (US WindForce as developer) because, as she said “After reading the Alliance’s petition, I believe that nothing new has been brought to the table.”  I found it a little odd that the Commissioner wrote the letter to the PSC on personal letterhead as a private citizen yet used her Commissioner title in the salutation.  You see, she already signed a letter of support as County Commissioner on official County letterhead.  I think the PSC got the point.

Here for your convenience: 

The other un-intimidated Commissioner, after a somewhat heated discussion in the earlier meeting in which the possibility of a law suit was raised was quoted as saying, “Can we accept this plan?”  “I don’t want to go to court.”  (Intimidation? Maybe not!  Frustration?  Exhaustion? I don’t know.  Maybe it’s just my little déjà vu thing again.

It seems to me there are two issues here.  One issue being the legality of the process, and the other the “as the credits roll” submission of comments to the planning committee document by US WindForce.

I have a bad habit of oversimplifying issues but, to me, the legal issue seems cut and dry.  Once the “illegality” of the process was identified and not corrected, the gentleman threatening suit would move immediately on his threat of legal action to correct the core problem and not entangle, as this whole dust-up seems to have done, the wishes of WindForce into the debate.  Either the process was illegal and required remedy, or it wasn’t.  The legal beagles would sort that out.  I certainly don’t see continued threats as a solution to any problem.  But then, I’m not a lawyer.  I suspect where we are now however, the planning committee process status will require some kind of review and, if necessary, corrective action before the process can begin again.  Shame, isn’t it?

On the matter of the comment submission, it seemed reasonable enough to ask the AG to look this thing over rather than toss it back in the face of the volunteers who worked so hard for so long.  Depending on the AG ruling, the decision would have had potential to serve all sides for this issue.  Of course, a lot of this would have gone away early on had WindForce spoken in public, along with everyone else, when the process was moving on.  Shame, isn’t it?

I suspect wind opponents will step through the door left wide open by WindForce.  And, cat being out of bag, should WindForce suggest a “middle ground” to this “illegally” generated document (their suggestion, not mine) to cut off renewed debate opportunities and ram through a modified version of the plan to their benefit, it wouldn’t surprise me to see a challenge from the other side.  After all, that “It was closed without prior notification that it had been closed” cuts both ways, doesn’t it?

Anyway, there will hopefully be following articles in the press to deal with developments and hope you will pay close attention to the information which flows in the next several weeks from both sides.  We’ll try to point out items of interest as they show up.

But this musing is more about my surprise at the apparent wish of WindForce to open the whole topic of wind development in the county to further scrutiny and discussion, especially at a time when the tide is turning against wind industry and growing numbers of citizen/environmental groups are educating the public to the facts of industrial wind.  Talk about setting yourself up for a Pyrrhic Victory.

And finally … as I learned a long time ago, when your trying to sneak in late, it’s best if you don’t blow the horn.

AT Notes:

Sources for this post include the Cumberland Maryland Times-News, the Mineral County West Virginia Daily News-Tribune and the archives of the Allegheny Treasures blog.

We make every effort to be accurate.  Should you find inaccuracies, broken links or omissions please contact me through the comment section.

Comments are always welcome.

Posted in Allegheny Mountains, Mineral County WV, Pinnacle Wind Farm, US WindForce, Wind Energy Shenanigans | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Virginia DEQ proposal of permit by rule for “small” wind farms criticized on many fronts. UPDATED 8/26/10

Posted on August 25, 2010 by morgan

Challenge to the proposal by Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality to establish permit(s) by rule for the construction and operation of “small” (100MW or less) wind energy projects is growing.

Joining Rick Webb of VA Wind in criticizing the proposal are several knowledgeable individuals who have made their views known to the Department of Environmental Quality.

For your convenience, we will re-post Mr. Webb’s commentary below, as well as additional comments we received from readers which were sent to the Virginia DEQ.

First, a brief review of the proposal as provided by the VA DEQ:

“The purpose of this regulatory action is to implement 2009 state legislation requiring the Department of Environmental Quality to develop one or more permits by rule for wind-energy projects with rated capacity not exceeding 100 megawatts. By means of this legislation, the General Assembly moved permitting authority for these projects from the State Corporation Commission to DEQ. By requiring a “permit by rule,” the legislature is mandating that permit requirements be set forth “up front” within this regulation, rather than being developed on a case-by-case basis. The legislation mandates that the permit by rule include conditions and standards necessary to protect the Commonwealth’s natural resources. The proposal establishes requirements for potential environmental impacts analyses, mitigation plans, facility site planning, public participation, permit fees, inter-agency consultations, compliance and enforcement. The legislation requires DEQ to determine if multiple permits by rule are necessary to address all the renewable-energy media. DEQ determined that multiple permits by rule are necessary. This proposal constitutes DEQ’s permit by rule for wind energy projects.”

Now, the comments:

1 – Rick Webb, VA Wind:

AT Note:

Rick Webb is a Senior Scientist with the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, where his primary research focus is on the effects of air pollution on streams associated with forested mountain watersheds in the central Appalachian Mountain region.  Previously he worked with conservation organizations concerned with the direct environmental effects of coal extraction.  He recently co-authored a Landscape Classification System for Wind Project Siting in Virginia and he presently co-maintains the Virginia Wind Website (www.VaWind.org) , which addresses the need for environmental assessment prior to wind energy development.  He recently served on a National Research Council committee investigating “Environmental Impacts of Wind Energy.”

2 – Richard Laska, Laska’s Grove:

and,

3 – Arthur W. Dodds, Jr., President, Laurel Mountain Preservation Association, Inc.:

Arthur W. Dodds, Jr., is a professional cartographer who worked for NOAA as a supervisor managing the instrument approach procedures charts for airports throughout the U.S.  His credentials include training and management concerning the heights of objects which could impact flight patterns; electromagnetic field impacts on RADAR; and viewshed analysis.  Mr. Dodds is also certified by the West Virginia DNR as a Master Naturalist.  Mr. Dodds serves as President of the Laurel Mountain Preservation Association.

4 – Pamela C. Dodds, Ph.D., Registered Professional Geologist:

Pamela C. Dodds, Ph.D., is a Registered Professional Geologist who has worked as a geologist/hydrogeologist for the Virginia DOT, Virginia DEQ, and an environmental firm near Bristol, Tennessee.  She has concentrated on groundwater contamination investigations and is currently conducting hydrological investigations in watersheds which will be impacted by industrial-scale wind turbine projects and by extensive high voltage transmission lines.  Dr. Dodds is also certified by the West Virginia DNR as a Master Naturalist.  Mrs. Dodds serves as Treasurer of the Laurel Mountain Preservation Association.

5 – Allegheny Front Alliance:

The Allegheny Front Alliance is a legal state incorporation, organized of local community and regional residents are interested in protecting the Allegheny Front’s cultural and natural environment. We seek to protect the natural scenic resources along the Allegheny Front from the destructive development of industrial wind turbines.

6 – Lucile S. Miller:

Lucile Miller earned a Master of Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus in Environmental Studies in 2002 from Virginia Commonwealth University.  Since 2004 she has focused on the wildlife and water quality impacts of industrial scale wind turbines located on Appalachian ridges.  She has attended meetings where bird and bat experts presented papers on the  the impacts of wind energy facilities and has spoken on the subject to interested groups.

7 – Friends of Beautiful Pendleton County:

The Friends of Beautiful Pendleton County was formed by a group of concerned citizens and property owners in Pendleton County, West Virginia to preserve our rich heritage, protect the priceless natural environment, and ensure that citizens receive responsible, factual information. We have endeavored to determine the possible impacts of the proposed siting of industrial wind energy projects on the pristine ridge tops of the State of West Virginia.

8 – Allegheny Highlands Alliance:

The Allegheny Highlands Alliance (AHA) is a consortium of citizen/environment organizations with membership in five states along the Allegheny Front.  The AHA is in the process of discovering the facts about industrial wind, its potential to reduce green house gases, its economics and the impact of industrial wind energy project installations on the ecology and human health.

The purposes of AHA shall include but not be limited to the following:

(A) To advance public knowledge and understanding of the cultural, biological, environmental diversity, uniqueness, and sensitivity of the major ridgelines that comprise the Allegany Highlands;

(B) To preserve and protect areas of particular scenic, geologic, biologic, historic, wilderness, and/or recreational importance in the Allegheny Highlands;

(C) To aid in the establishment of responsible policies to protect scientific, educational or aesthetic values;

(D) To conduct regional and resource studies as a basis for the wise use of the various resources of the Allegheny Highlands; to develop programs in energy conservation and wise production; and to serve local communities, the region,  the people of the Allegheny Highlands as an agency for popular enlightenment, for cultural improvement, and for scientific advancement;

(E) To advocate governmental policies for the conservation and wise management of energy and natural resources of the Allegheny Highlands.

Posted in Appalachian Mountains, Wind Energy Legislation | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The US Chamber of Commerce, with your help, can rid the country of NIMBYS … every last one of the evil critters!

Posted on August 24, 2010 by morgan

For the most part, I’ve pretty much ignored US Chamber’s Project No Project web site.  They list projects and then claim to assess the impact of the NIMBY folks, as they call anyone with concerns about the placement of energy projects in their community.  In reality, they just complain about NIMBYS.

I’d pretty much forgotten about the site until I read an article in the York (PA) Daily Record about wind turbine construction at Turkey Point, near the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County, PA.  I lived in the area for a number of years and still have family there.  I’ve been to the river near there on many occasions.  Pretty nice spot if you ever get a chance to visit.

I won’t bore you with the article but provide you with this link in case you want to read about the turbines and the “sorta” concerns of the Audubon Society which supports industrial wind and birds and can’t seem to remember which one actually serves a purpose.  (Here’s a hint – birds are good!)

Smack dab in the middle of the article is this, “According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, many alternative energy projects across the country are meeting with local opposition.  The chamber maintains a website called Project No Project, pnp.uschamber.com, which tracks energy projects meeting opposition across the country for various reasons.”  Being a huge fan of the dangling participle, I wondered if the “various reasons” related to the reasons for opposition or the Chamber’s reason for tracking, but no matter.  It just reminded me of one of my favorites, “the old man with a wooden leg named Smith.”

Anyway, I ventured over to the Project No Project web site for a look.  I had forgotten how much fun it was to visit.

The home page has what I suppose is their mission statement.  A key element being this:  These “Not In My Back Yard” folks, or NIMBYs as they are called, block energy projects by organizing local opposition, changing zoning laws, opposing permits, filing lawsuits, and bleeding projects dry of their financing. And far from just blocking modern coal plants; the truth is that they really don’t want a wind farm or any other energy source either.

Project No Project is an interactive venture that seeks to tell the story of NIMBY and its damaging impact on jobs, infrastructure and economic prosperity. Through Project No Project, the U.S. Chamber seeks to provide the cold, hard truth about NIMBY and radical environmental activism, and make our leaders finally pay attention to this growing problem.

Project No Project is a repository of stalled and stopped energy projects, but its success ultimately depends on you, the user. For every project we have identified, there are dozens of others we have not discovered. Please comment to tell us your story, and we will add it to the website. Links to news stories help the verification process, so if you have them, stick them in.

Together we can stop the NIMBYs, get these projects back on track, help our nation meet its energy needs responsibly, and start our economic recovery today.

It’s no wonder the US Chamber is gaming for these heathens!  These NIMBYS border on being criminals and utilize the most vile form of terrorist tactics available: organizing local opposition, changing zoning laws, opposing permits, filing lawsuits, and bleeding projects dry of their financing.

How dare they!  This is America!  Where is Homeland Security?  How can we allow these methods to stand in the way of progress?  What happened to good old American whining … like the wind developers do when they don’t get their subsidies on time or states don’t demand we buy from them?

An outrage!

I think what I’ll do now and then is check out the Chamber’s Chamber of NIMBY Horrors and report on the cold, hard truth about NIMBY and radical environmental activism for surely these rotten dogs must be reported.  And, with your help, the Chamber’s Secret Service assures us they can stop the NIMBYs, get these projects back on track, help our nation meet its energy needs responsibly, and start our economic recovery today.

Or, maybe we’ll just have a little fun.  Heck, I’m even going to start a special category for Project No Project.

Unfortunately, I can’t start with the Turkey Point wind installation because the Project No Project site has nothing on it.  I find that pretty surprising since the Pennsylvania Audubon Society has complained and actually filed a formal protest letter with the Department of Energy.  And doesn’t that make the Pennsylvania Audubon Society one of “them there NIMBY critters” the Chamber needs to stomp out?

Maybe I should turn them in.  Wonder if there’s a reward?

Posted in Power No Power Blog | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Or maybe you could just walk!

Posted on August 24, 2010 by morgan

Link

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Robert Bryce: “recent studies show that wind-generated electricity likely won’t result in any reduction in carbon emissions—or that they’ll be so small as to be almost meaningless.”

Posted on August 24, 2010 by morgan

Robert Bryce, author of Power Hungry: The Myths of “Green” Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future, suggests in his article today that “Wind Power Won’t Cool Down the Planet.”

Acknowledging that “the wind industry has achieved remarkable growth largely due to the claim that it will provide major reductions in carbon dioxide emissions,” Mr. Bryce also notes that there’s just one problem with the claim, “It’s not true!”

According to Mr. Bryce, “this issue is especially important now that states are mandating that utilities produce arbitrary amounts of their electricity from renewable sources.”  And what does this mean to you?  Tax dollars.

Read the full article here.

Thanks to Jon Boone for pointing us to the article.

Posted in Robert Bryce, Wind Power subsidies | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

VA Wind questions Virginia Dept. of Environmental Quality on “flawed” regulations.

Posted on August 18, 2010 by morgan

As background:  The Commonwealth of Virginia legislature has passed legislation wherein permitting authority for industrial wind energy projects not exceeding 100 megawatts from the State Corporation Commission to the Department of Environmental Quality. Under the legislation, the DEQ is to develop one or more permits by rule for these projects. The DEQ has issued proposed regulations which are open to public comment, which is due August 20, 2010.

The DEQ provided this brief summary:

“The purpose of this regulatory action is to implement 2009 state legislation requiring the Department of Environmental Quality to develop one or more permits by rule for wind-energy projects with rated capacity not exceeding 100 megawatts. By means of this legislation, the General Assembly moved permitting authority for these projects from the State Corporation Commission to DEQ. By requiring a “permit by rule,” the legislature is mandating that permit requirements be set forth “up front” within this regulation, rather than being developed on a case-by-case basis. The legislation mandates that the permit by rule include conditions and standards necessary to protect the Commonwealth’s natural resources. The proposal establishes requirements for potential environmental impacts analyses, mitigation plans, facility site planning, public participation, permit fees, inter-agency consultations, compliance and enforcement. The legislation requires DEQ to determine if multiple permits by rule are necessary to address all the renewable-energy media. DEQ determined that multiple permits by rule are necessary. This proposal constitutes DEQ’s permit by rule for wind energy projects.”

Mr. Rick Webb of VA Wind suggests the proposed regulations are seriously flawed.  Mr. Webb responded to the DEQ’s actions with a comprehensive comment and question memorandum sent to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality today, August 18, 2010.

Mr. Webb granted AT permission to share his response to the DEQ, which we provide here for your convenience:

AT Note:  The deadline for public comment is August 20th. The Virginia Register notice lists Carol Wampler as the “Agency Contact,” and provides the following contact info: Dept. of Environmental Quality, P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA  23218, or carol.wampler.renewable.energy@gmail.com.  Comments submitted by email should probably also be sent to Ms. Wampler’s official DEQ email address: carol.wampler@deq.virginia.gov.

Mr. Webb is a Senior Scientist with the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, where his primary research focus is on the effects of air pollution on streams associated with forested mountain watersheds in the central Appalachian Mountain region.  Previously he worked with conservation organizations concerned with the direct environmental effects of coal extraction.  He recently co-authored a Landscape Classification System for Wind Project Siting in Virginia and he presently co-maintains the Virginia Wind Website (www.VaWind.org) , which addresses the need for environmental assessment prior to wind energy development.  He recently served on a National Research Council committee investigating “Environmental Impacts of Wind Energy.”

Posted in Appalachian Mountains, Environment | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Immigration’s tyrants – justice for me, but not for thee!

Posted on August 17, 2010 by morgan

At the risk of alienating readers who come to this blog to see both serious and silly content about the impact of industrial wind, I will take liberty to touch on another Allegheny Treasure – equal protection under the law.

This post is inspired by an article posted today at the Cumberland (Maryland) Times-News, “Legal options exhausted, Mineral husband, father will likely be deported.”  In her typical excellent style, writer Megan Miller covers the dire circumstance surrounding soon to be deported Serge Babo, and his family, so there is really no need for me to repeat the details of the article.  I do highly recommend that you read the article.

Before everyone takes sides, your view on immigration, immigration reform, illegal aliens, border protection, a fence or amnesty is not important here.  There are tons of blogs available for you to vent your views on the subject.  What I would like to deal with today is the government in place in Washington that knowingly and willingly enables a federal agency to exert tyrannical powers within the borders of the United States.

The President and Congress, as with Presidents and Congresses past, are complicit in a serious offense to civility and ignoring, if not directly, at least the intent of the Constitution.

How?  Allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to apply law at its discretion enables the worst form of tyranny – a government official with the power to decide your fate by enforcing, or at their own choosing, not enforcing the law.  Power at its intimidating worst.

The real shame is that this tyranny is practiced openly and with the consent of the President and Congress.  Even as the Washington bureaucracy blunders on,  the President flies about on his fund-raising junket/vacation and Congress goes home to find a way to further enrich themselves with a couple more years on the public dole, I.C.E continues to dish out its selective terror.

The issue I address is not the legality of prosecutions, but the potential for abuse resulting from the policies/statements of John T. Morton, assistant secretary of homeland security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and supported by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and President Obama, to whom the agency ultimately reports.

Take a look at recent policy statements from Mr. Morton:

A couple of days ago in an interview, Mr. Morton bragged about the great job the Obama Administration is doing to “go after” illegal aliens:

VAN SUSTEREN: And that is a 10 percent increase over the fiscal year 2008, which is the last fiscal year of the Bush administration. So you’re up. You’re up 10 percent.

MORTON: We’re not only up 10 percent, we have brought renewed vigor to the immigration enforcement laws of the country. We are going to set a record number of removals of criminal offenders this year. No administration in the history of this nation removed more illegal immigrants from the country than we did last year. And I expect the records to continue. We’re serious about enforcement. We’re going to go out and we’re just going to do it. We’re just — follow a sensible tough, rational priorities.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, and I know you’re not soft on crime. You’re a life-long prosecutor.

MORTON: That’s right.

VAN SUSTEREN: So it’s not like — like you’re sort of getting weak- kneed on the whole issue of illegal immigration.

MORTON: No, listen, we deal in a world of limited resources. We are appropriated enough resources from Congress every year to remove about 400,000 people. That’s less than 4 percent of the 10.8 million people who are here unlawfully.

VAN SUSTEREN: I don’t…

MORTON: So we got — we have to establish a rational set of priorities. And from our perspective, you got to start with national security cases, criminal offenders, border security and people who game the system. That’s what we’re about.

VAN SUSTEREN: I don’t think people realize that, is that — I mean, you’re a life-long prosecutor (INAUDIBLE) I’ve dealt with you life-long prosecutors! You want to — you want get people who are violating the law, and that you only can deport those that you can afford to deport. And you get every single one of — every single dime you get is from Congress. You don’t get it from any outside place. So if they gave you more money, I take it, you would deport more.

MORTON: That’s right. We use the resources that we’re given by Congress to do the best job that we can under the circumstances. And when we have limited resources, not enough to allow us to identify and remove every single person in this country, we got to focus on those people that are threatening public safety first and foremost. We got to make sure the border’s secure, and we got to make that people aren’t gaming the system. So that’s what we’re doing.

Last week in Arizona:  “We are about enforcing the laws sensibly within the resources Congress gives us.”  ICE has the resources to remove about 400,000 people a year, he said.  The question is, he added: Who should those 400,000 people be?  “From my perspective, it ought to be public safety, getting criminals off the streets, securing our border and making sure we go after people who game the system. Period,” Morton said.

June: The new guidelines are outlined in a June 29 memo from Assistant Secretary John Morton, who heads the agency, to all ICE employees regarding the apprehension, detention and removal of illegal immigrants, noting that the agency “only has resources to remove approximately 400,000 aliens per year, less than 4 percent of the estimated illegal-alien population in the United States.”

Mr. Morton said ICE needed to focus wisely on the limited resources Congress had provided the agency and would “prioritize the apprehension and removal of aliens who only pose a threat to national security and/or public safety, such as criminals and terrorists.”

“With this prioritization, we will ensure that our work has the greatest possible impact and most effectively advances our mission,” Mr. Morton said, adding that the new guidelines were necessary “in light of the large number of administrative violations the agency is charged with addressing and the limited enforcement resources the agency has available.”

Under the directive, ICE officials are authorized under a three-level priority system to use enforcement personnel, detention space and removal resources if they are assured that any deportations that do occur “promote ICE’s highest enforcement priorities; namely, national security, public safety and border security.”

Listed as the agency’s top priority, according to the memo, are illegal immigrants who pose a danger to national security or a risk to public safety; those convicted of violent crimes, both felons and repeat offenders; those older than 16 who participated in organized criminal gangs; and those with outstanding criminal warrants.

Described in the memo as lesser priorities are foreign nationals caught crossing the border illegally or using phony immigration documents to gain entry, and those identified as fugitives after failing to show up for immigration or deportation hearings.

How you get from “promoting the highest enforcement priorities: namely national security, public safety and border security” to sending 4 officers after an evidently peaceful Mr. Babo is a bit difficult for me to understand.

I.C.E. will claim statistical victory when Mr. Babo leaves the country, yet we are no safer.  We are perhaps weaker because as 4 agents took the time to arrest Mr. Babo in his home while doing dishes for his family, and further efforts were spent to incarcerate and remove him from this country, you can rest assured a criminal here illegally was actually committing a crime.

A question then for Mr. Morton, Ms. Napolitano and especially you Mr. President … are you really serious about protecting folks in the US?  If you are, you’ll immediately stop the tyranny of selective enforcement.  If you do not have the necessary tools available to enforce equally for all 12, 14 or 20 million illegals and find you must make choices, do so.  But you must then truly focus on the criminal element which threatens me.  And that does not seem to include individuals such as Mr. Babo, no matter how much he means to your performance statistics.

And for you readers, whatever your view on immigration, I would think controlling the discretionary powers of officials who have the to power to arrest you might be at the top of your freedom list.  It certainly is for me.

Finally Mr. Morton, if you truly focus on the criminal element until a remedy for the issue grinds its way through the gathering of self-serving individuals we know as Congress, your efforts may well be rewarded.  Keep in mind that consistency is a critical component of fairness.

And, after all, fairness is what every individual deserves!

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