MORE NEWS (WIND ON THE HURRICANE COAST; FIGHT OVER L.A. SUN; UN WANTS GREEN NEW DEAL)

WIND ON THE HURRICANE COAST
Energy blowing in the wind
Mary Tutwiler, February 16, 2009 (The Independent Weekly)

"With a new green initiative as part of the Obama administration’s plan for sustainable energy, wind power looks like a breath of fresh air. However, a new study, released last week by regional transmission organizations, says it could cost $50 billion to $80 billion to upgrade the electrical transmission grid to accommodate wind power…Those figures are the cost of adding up to 15,000 miles of new extra-high-voltage lines to the regional power grid east of the Rocky Mountains [and]…does not cover the $700 billion cost of building wind farms. Currently the Southwest Power Pool, which handles transmission issues for utilities in Louisiana and nearby states, has not had an application from wind harvesting businesses in Louisiana."

If it's so unaffordable, why does Europe have 24 offshore installations? (click to enlarge)

"Despite the cost, wind entrepreneur Herman J. Schellstede, CEO of Wind Energy System Technologies, in New Iberia, has been pushing to build wind farms offshore in Louisiana for years. New Orleans utility company Entergy, however…thinks Schellstede is tilting at windmills.

"Entergy Corp. does not think offshore wind power is promising because turbines would require laying underwater transmission lines and the windmills could be destroyed by hurricanes."

And why is Europe building more? (click to enlarge)

"Herman J. Schellstede, chief executive of the New Iberia company Wind Energy System Technologies LLC, which plans to open a wind farm in early 2011 on a 11,355-acre lease seven miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas, says Entergy’s concerns are “ridiculous.”

"After collecting 19 months of wind data, Schellstede said WEST will be ready to install its first turbine this spring. By the end of the year, he hopes to have orders for 62 platforms of turbines…[Schellstede’s] company has filed two applications to build wind farms off the coast of Louisiana: one at Port Fouchon and one off of Venice…"


FIGHT OVER L.A. SUN
Measure B Shaping Up to be March’s Big Ballot Brouhaha; Bringing Solar Power to City Buildings Raises Questions
Linda Coburn, February 16, 2009 (San Fernando Valley Business Journal)

"Business and civic leaders are of two minds when it comes to Measure B, the so-called solar initiative that will appear on the March 3 {Los Angeles] ballot…On the one hand, nobody wants to be seen as being anti-solar, but some have expressed concerns about some of the specific provisions of the proposal, the haste of its development and a lack of transparency and information.

"If approved by the voters, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will install, maintain and own solar installations within the city and at city-owned airports to produce at least 400 megawatts by 2014."

click to enlarge

"The Valley Industry and Commerce Association formally came out against the initiative…both the Los Angeles Daily News and the Los Angeles Times have reported on stark differences between [the independent detailed cost analysis by Huron Consulting Group] and previous information provided by the DWP…the City Council’s Energy and Environment Committee has had additional meetings to review it.

"The LADWP has already moved forward with a variety of initiatives to help them meet state-imposed mandates to increase the use of renewable energy sources…it has already been valuable by creating debate and stimulating conversation about a problem that has been neglected for far too long in the region…"

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"Vijay Kapur…president of International Solar Electric Technology in Chatsworth said that on the whole he thinks the measure will be a positive…But job creation is a question for some, with a much-debated element of the measure being a proviso that only IBEW union members who are LADWP employees will be authorized to perform installation of the panels on city buildings.

"The president of the Valley Economic Alliance, Bruce Ackerman, said that while the organization had not taken an official position, he was concerned about that restriction.

"Lee Alpert [chairman of the LADWP board of commissioners] dismisses that argument, saying that jobs are jobs, whether they are held by union members or not…He added that there is a provision in the measure to give preference to purchasing the various components that make up the solar installations from local firms..[and] there was a lot of other work that would likely come out of the program, including things like retrofitting some buildings to accommodate the panels."

UN WANTS GREEN NEW DEAL
U.N. urges G20 leaders to back “Green New Deal”
Daniel Wallis (w/David Clarke), 16 February 2009 (Reuters)

"World leaders meeting in London in April should kick-start a "Green New Deal" to fight climate change and revive the crippled global economy on a sustainable basis, a major U.N. environment meeting was told…

"The U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) says political efforts to curb pollution, protect forests and avert global warming have failed, and the world needs to learn from U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt's response to the Great Depression…A U.N. report presented…at the conference in Nairobi called on G20 leaders to consider proposals for a "Green New Deal", and develop framework ideas towards securing a global climate change agreement at talks in Copenhagen in December…"

Just the book the UN needs to read. (click to enlarge)

"More than 190 nations have agreed to negotiate a new global deal by the end of 2009 to succeed the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol, which sets carbon dioxide limits for 37 industrialised nations…huge banking bailouts had been mobilised in weeks, but the response to climate change had been lethargic…

"[T]he world was reeling from multiple crises, and people were worried about food security, jobs and their savings. An "environmental thread" ran through the story…Soaring food prices last year had brought intense focus not just on agriculture and trade issues, but on the inflationary role of biofuel production…"