MORE NEWS, 3-12 (COAL JUST DOESN’T SEEM TO CARE, 1; COAL JUST DOESN’T SEEM TO CARE, 2; NEW ENERGY MAKES MONEY; NEW ENERGY – WHAT A DEAL!)

COAL JUST DOESN’T SEEM TO CARE, 1
As West Virginia Coal Companies Expand, Graves Vanish
March 9, 2009 (AP via FoxNews)

"Walter Young can't find his great-grandmother's grave. The coal company that had it moved doesn't know where the remains ended up…The land around and under the cemetery passed from one coal company to another as mines grew up around it. Now, no one is sure where Young's great-grandmother was ultimately laid to rest.

The loss is a problem that resonates across West Virginia as small family cemeteries and unmarked graves get in the way of mining, timbering and development interests…Advocates are asking state lawmakers this year to enact regulations that would require better tracking of the graves and protect families who believed that their loved ones wouldn't be disturbed…"

Coal is burying historic graveyards...(click to enlarge)

"Young hadn't visited his great-grandmother's grave regularly since the 1970s, but wanted to check up on it when he realized the cemetery, near Delbarton in the southwestern corner of the state, was near a site being built to store coal waste. When he called for permission to cross company property, he was dumbfounded by the response. The company that now operates the site didn't know where the grave had been relocated…

"International Coal Group's Patriot Mining Co. is currently in court in northern West Virginia, seeking approval to relocate a cemetery where the last burial occurred more then 70 years ago. Patriot received permission last year to move a nearby cemetery.


"Patriot estimates…80,000 to 100,000 tons of coal would be lost if the cemetery isn't relocated…worth at least $5.2 million…Patriot says it will treat the remains with respect and move them to a public cemetery with perpetual care where descendants can visit…"

...And digging graveyards for mountains. (click to enlarge)

"Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition organizer Robin Blakeman doesn't know how much coal is beneath her family cemetery in Brier Branch Hollow. The Harless-Bradshaw Cemetery had been used by her family and the nearby community since the mid-1800s, and contains the grave of a Civil War cavalry corporal…The former farm passed out of her family's hands more then 50 years ago… On a recent Saturday, Blakeman planted Gladiolus bulbs near several of the stones. As she worked, the sound of heavy mining machinery and trucks drifted across the narrow valley.

"'Sometimes in the midst of all this destruction, sometimes the only thing you can do is try and add a little bit of beauty,' Blakeman said. 'I'm also thinking these flowers will at least alert somebody to the fact that somebody cares.'"


COAL JUST DOESN’T SEEM TO CARE, 2
Arrested UMD Volunteer tells his side of the story
March 7, 2009 (Roane Views)

[In an apparently flagrant and arbitrary act of police harassment, United Mountain Defense community organizer Matt Landon was arrested by TVA police while driving a blind grandmother home from a press conference and hearing about the harmful health effects of the December Tennessee coal ash spill. Here are a few excerpts from his account.]

"At the close of the 30 minute question and answer session I moved to the front of the room and announced the independent findings for the much smaller coal ash particle size and presented scientific documentation of the findings, video of trucks tracking coal fly ash onto public roads, and formal 118 A complaints for violations of the Clean Water Act to all of the government officials present…

"After the hearing I drove Eva Hewitt back to her home. Eva is blind in one eye. She has no car or driver's license and she is raising her 16 year old granddaughter by herself. Eva has been very willing to accept UMD's offers to take her and her granddaughter to the doctor, hospital, grocery store, and to community meetings so that she doesn't have to walk alongside the Swan Pond Rd. Eva has developed a deep lung cough, headaches, and skin rashes as she walks along the road kicking up coal ash dust that continually falls from the vehicles leaving the disaster site.

"The only help TVA has offered Eva to date was to put herself, her granddaughter and her dogs up in a hotel for the first night of the disaster. Eva can't get a lung doctor to see her for her cough…[Two doctors] stated they could not see Eva and that she would have to go to a TVA lung doctor. Eva was later told that if TVA did pay for her to go to a doctor she would have to sign a waiver stating that she could not sue TVA. I would advise against signing…

"So as I was driving down Swan Pond Rd I called Chris Irwin to make sure that he was on the phone as I approached the road block. This has become my standard operating procedure whenever dealing with the TVA police force since Dec 25, 2008 when TVA began increasing their resistance to UMD's activates. I have video taped every interaction that I have had with the TVA and local police and these videos show that I have been completely compliant with their orders.


"So as I approached the TVA roadblock on Swan Pond Rd I did not see any officer at the post. As I have many times before I slowed down to a slow rate. Neither Eva nor I saw any officer at the post. There was a TVA police vehicle parked at the post with no officer outside. I have traveled through these police check points numerous times when there were no officers at the post without any problems. I have rolled through the check points without stopping numerous times without a second glance from the TVA officers. So I proceeded to drive through the checkpoint at a slow rate. I continued on the public road to Eva's house. As we pulled up in Eva's house and began to get out of the vehicle there were two TVA Police cars that drove up and parked behind us.

"At this point the TVA officer began a line of questioning and action that is clearly recorded on the following YouTube Video Link..."

By sheer coincidence, a passenger in the car was able to video the incident. From annebonnylives via YouTube.

"My red tag TVA pass was confiscated on 2-24-09 however at the time of arrest I had two letters from different Swan Pond Residents stating that I had their permission to visit their homes at any time. I also had a Swan Pond Resident in the vehicle with me at the time of arrest and as I slowly drove past the checkpoint. One of these residents called the TVA police on 2-24-09 to request that I have my pass reinstated…

"There have been some questions about if I was trying to get arrested and I would like to put those questions to rest once and for all. I am a certified teacher. I have spent a lot of time and money to get this teaching certificate and would not intentionally do anything to endanger my chances of getting a teaching job…I have worked very hard to make sure that I did not get arrested during my time of doing work at TVA's coal ash disaster. Really and truly if I was trying to get arrested I would have done so A LONG time ago…This arrest was not planned. There was no plan for posting a bond, bail, or paying any fines. There was no jail support team, media team, media message, or any other items that would show that this arrest was premeditated…

"Well if TVA has any video proof of me personally disrupting vehicle traffic or impeding the cleanup of the disaster site I would like to see it…I was charged with trespassing in a vehicle, not obeying a traffic control device, and entering a restricted area. My court date is March 23, 2009 at 9 AM. There are two conditions of the bond order…1) I am not allowed on TVA property at the Kingston Steam Plant…2) That I will not interfere with the construction or recovery effort concerning the ash spill at the TVA Steam Plant…I did not enter a plea…

"I ended up at the Bradley County Jail in Cleveland, TN in another holding cell. By 4PM Friday I was nearly processed and was then entered into the general population… While I was on the inside I heard from a reliable source that I may have been transported due to a rumored protest at the Roane County Jail…Neither I nor anyone from United Mountain Defense will ever call for any protest in Roane County…

"Thanks to all of the other volunteers, friends, and family that have offered support and stood by me through this accidental arrest. Thank you to all of the residents of Roane County who were concerned about my health and safety…"


NEW ENERGY MAKES MONEY
Going Green: Economy makes alternative energy more attractive
Michael Oppermann, February 28, 2009 (Ocala Business Journal)

"Rising energy costs and a struggling economy have led to renewed interest among business owners in exploring alternative sources of electricity and increasing energy efficiency. Pursuing a green energy policy involves an array of choices ranging from the activities of large electric companies to the use of on-site equipment designed to limit energy consumption…

"While utility companies struggle to find new ways to generate electricity and politicians pave the way for these technologies to be adopted, businesspeople and the general public are seeking ways to reduce their electric consumption and lower their utility bills…[I]nsulated building materials and Energy Star products offers an easy place to start saving money, but additional savings can also be found through a variety of solar products…"

(click to enlarge)

"Installing commercial-grade photovoltaic, or PV, systems may cost in excess of $200,000, but the expense is offset through a state program providing up to $100,000 cash back and a federal program providing a 30 percent tax credit.

"Most utility companies also engage in net-metering, which involves buying electricity from customers whose systems produce more electricity than they use…[O]nce you account for savings through state and federal programs, PV systems can be seen as investments with an expected 15 percent yearly return…

"PV systems are also subject to depreciation, providing business owners 100 percent write-offs over the course of five years. Businesses or members of the general public unwilling to take the plunge with full fledged PV systems can still benefit from solar power through the purchase of solar hot water systems, which cost roughly $6,500 before federal and state rebates or the additional rebates offered by many electric utilities."

(click to enlarge)

"Although incentive programs to make PV and solar hot water systems more desirable have been around for years, public interest in the technologies remained tepid until the tax-break carrot was paired with the utility-rate-increase stick…

"Another energy-saving solar technology is the use of natural lighting, which brightens rooms without electricity…Solatube daylighting systems… combines light collecting rooftop domes with reflective tubes and interior fixtures that diffuse sunlight throughout the room…[M]ost builders no longer install traditional skylights because they faded building interiors, were prone to leaks and ruined energy efficiency ratings…[C]lients buy the product for aesthetics rather than cost-consciousness…[but] savings can begin immediately with a federal tax credit of up to $200 dollars on each installation…"


NEW ENERGY – WHAT A DEAL!
Wind energy just 15 years from grid cost parity; Study finds renewables could provide 40 per cent of global electricity by 2050
James Murray, 11 March 2009 (Business Green)

"Renewable energy technologies could meet 40 per cent of global electricity demand by 2050 as long as governments show the sector the same degree of support they provide the nuclear and traditional fossil fuel industries.

"That is the conclusion of new research from the Helsinki University of Technology unveiled at the Climate Congress conference in Copenhagen, which estimated that financial support of just €10bn (£9.3bn) to €20bn a year – a fraction of recent stimulus packages – would establish wind and solar energy as mainstream technologies over the coming decades…"

click to enlarge)

"…[The research predicted the wind and solar] sectors were currently 30 to 50 per cent more expensive than fossil fuel power and needed subsidies to cover this gap, but…this gap would close as the industries scale up…[W]ithout such support the sector would be marginalised and would account for no more than 15 per cent of global electricity supply by 2050.

"…[W]hile current grids could cope reliably with up to a fifth of their power coming from intermittent sources, there would need to be a major overhaul of grid technologies to support a shift to a 40 per cent mix…

"The study was released on the same day as new research from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Africa calculated that £50bn of government investment over the next decade would enable an ambitious plan to deliver solar power from giant solar thermal systems in the Sahara to Europe."