FPL files landmark suit to keep state commissioner from input on company issues

By Susan Salisbury The Palm Beach Post

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Florida Power & Light Co. has gone to court, filing 582 pages of documents, in an unprecedented effort to bounce an outgoing state board commissioner off its case.

In filings Wednesday with the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee, FPL asked that Florida Public Service Commissioner Nathan Skop be barred from having input into any FPL issues.

FPL asserts that Skop has become hostile and adversarial toward the utility since he was not recommended for reappointment to the board in June, and that he cannot rule fairly on FPL matters.

In June, Skop said the failure of the nominating council to interview him showed that “FPL owns state government,” and that the decision not to interview him was “retaliation” and “payback” for his having voted to reject a $1.2 billion rate increase the company sought.

In January, FPL was granted a $75.5 million rate increase

Barry Richard, a Tallahassee attorney representing FPL, petitioned the court to require Skop to rule on FPL’s motion to disqualify him. Richard is also asking the court to bar Skop from participating in any FPL issues until the outcome is decided.

Richard said he knows of no similar action ever taken against a PSC member.

Skop, who holds an MBA, is an engineer and a lawyer. He was employed by a subsidiary of FPL’s parent company from 2000 to 2002, when he was terminated as part of a companywide staff reduction. In 2006, Skop was appointed to the PSC for a term that ends Jan. 1.

During the remaining months of Skop’s term, many major FPL issues - including its storm-hardening plan, rate case settlement and proposed energy-saving programs for customers - are scheduled to come before the PSC.

On Sept. 2, FPL asked Skop to disqualify himself from all FPL issues. But at a hearing Tuesday, Skop refused to do so. He participated in a discussion and was on the losing side of a vote on FPL’s successful request to charge customers $31 million in nuclear development costs.

Skop, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, has said he is doing his job. He has hammered away at FPL during recent hearings. He sought a full-fledged hearing on the nuclear costs, citing a consultant’s report that stated the company provided the PSC outdated cost estimates.

“I will not be intimidated. I have no intention of backing down,” Skop said at an Aug. 26 hearing.

At that hearing, Skop also said he was tired of what he called FPL’s “selective disclosure, spin and withholding of facts.” He accused an FPL witness of “perjury” in a past proceeding.

FPL spokesman Mark Bubriski said it’s not known when the court might rule.

Just before leaving office,
President Bush did his Big Oil buddies one last favor
by setting in motion plans to open much of America's coastline to offshore oil drilling.

We know what that means for Florida: daily discharges of oily water, leaky pipelines, industrialized coasts and the potential for a catastrophic spill.

September 14, 2008
NOAA photomosaic showing oil slicks at Goat Island, Texas-
Where did most of the oil and other substances end up?
Out in the Gulf of Mexico.
Where we get a lot of fish and shrimp.
Mmmmm....
Every year, there are hundreds of oil spills.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused over 9 million gallons of oil
to be spilled into the Gulf of Mexico in 2005.
That's bad news for our spectacular beaches and those who depend upon them.
The risks are certainly not worth the reward --
about a cent's worth of gas savings in 2025.

Big Oil says their rigs, pipelines, tankers and refineries
are safe, clean and environmentally friendly these days.
But that's a big lie!
Send Secretary of Interior Salazar a message asking him to stop the rush to drill off Florida's coast.
Just this past month,
a burst pipeline near Louisiana created an oil slick
the size of the city of Tampa.

Thu Jul 23, 2009 4:04 pm ET
Texas cleaning up oil blobs on South Padre Island
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas –
Gooey oil blobs
as big as basketballs
have been washing up on the sandy beaches
of South Padre Island in Texas, officials said Thursday

“Reader suppose you were an idiot.
And suppose you were a member of Congress & "our" Florida Leadership
But I repeat myself.”
–Mark Twain
H.R. 6
“CLEAN Energy Act of 2007”
A Vision for a Green Economy and Equitable Development
Creating Long-Term Energy Alternatives for the Nation Act
This House bill
is intended to encourage development of
alternate sources of
energy.

We,
the residents of Volusia County
said no twice to alternative energy
JOBS in Central Florida.....
Isn’t that special....

"Our" EX- Rep.
Tom Feeney
East Deltona
voted NO
&
"Our soon to be EX"
Rep. John Mica
West Deltona
voted NO
Thinking of November....
"He's speaking out of both sides of his mouth,"
she said.

She said that type of double-speak is what drove her into the race.

"I don't think we have enough diversity of perspective in Washington … They see the world the same, no matter the party," said Beaven, 41, a former Navy cryptologist and mother of two who runs a nonprofit company that helps keep at-risk teenagers in school. She wears her lack of political experience as a badge of honor.

Meanwhile,
a budget crunch is forcing the sun to set on a popular solar rebate program,
and a report out last week ranks Florida fourth in the nation for the amount of imported coal it burns to produce electricity
The solar program provided people and businesses grants to install solar systems.
Those grants had become a good source of revenue for the state's solar businesses.
Crist seemed to take over as governor with good intentions for the environment.
In 2007,
he vetoed an energy bill that he said didn't go far enough
to kick the state of its fossil fuel habit.
Last year,
he backed a measure by the late Sen. Jim King(God rest his soul)
that called for state utilities to produce 20 percent of their power from renewable or nuclear energy by 2020.

The "20 by 2020" bill
never made it to his desk and,
with King gone,
wasn't brought up this year(!?!!)

Amid images of oil overtaking the Gulf,
Crist said it's a perfect time to get back to the discussion of green energy
- everything from solar, more wind and nuclear -
that seemed to fizzle out over the past couple years.

In 2008,
entrepreneurs turned in $360 million
worth of grant requests to get green energy projects moving,
but the state had a mere $37.5 million to give.
State support for green energy
has long been criticized
as
underfunded.
Incoming
House Speaker Dean Cannon
is fighting the idea
of calling legislators back to Tallahassee.

State Rep. Jennifer Carroll, R-Fleming Island, questioned why the state had to be the money source.
"If it's such a great idea
(LIKE NUCLEAR SUBSIDES, Ms. Carroll??!!!),
they can get venture capitalists to support them," she said.
"If you have proven technology,
put it out there and
get a bank to support you."
SUBSIDY
A benefit given by the government to groups or individuals usually in the form of a cash payment or tax reduction. The subsidy is usually given to remove some type of burden and is often considered to be in the interest of the public. sub·si·dize tr.v. sub·si·dized, sub·si·diz·ing, sub·si·diz·es
1. To assist or support with a subsidy.2. To secure the assistance of by granting a subsidy

Is Ms. Carroll going to tell nuclear to get off the publics teet also
OR
stop the nuclear rate increases this summer?
What do you think?

The governor also is contemplating signing a bill that
would enable homeowners to borrow against their property assessments
to install renewable energy devices.
The state is especially at risk from the stronger storms and coastal flooding
that scientists say will come.
Mr. Nelson, to his credit, has co-sponsored previous proposals to limit greenhouse-gas emissions.
Mr. Martinez, by contrast, has voted against measures to take action
thereby insuring that
"The Sunshine State"
will continue to fall behind
states like New Jersey in solar jobs,
so sad,
no wonder he quit
being "our" Florida Senator
Florida should forget about drilling in gulf
The Senate has the answers it needs to tell Cannon to forget about drilling.

Drilling off Florida's coast won't increase America's independence from foreign oil, lower gasoline prices or raise billions of dollars annually for the state. • Those are among the predictable findings of a new nonpartisan report on offshore drilling commissioned by the Florida Senate president. It is inconceivable that any responsible state lawmaker still would consider leveraging the state's pristine shoreline — and the tourism customers it draws — for such little return. Yet Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Orlando, who is in line to be the next House speaker, is doggedly pushing a plan that could put drilling platforms within 10 miles of the west coast.

The report produced by a Tallahassee think tank offers some of the best information yet to refute the propaganda from an anonymous oil industry group, Florida Energy Associates, that wants Florida's ban lifted. The report shows that the most-generous industry estimates for what Florida could collect from drilling in state and federal waters is far less than $2 billion — the annual amount suggested by the energy group's economist.
The Collins Center for Public Policy produced "Potential Impacts of Oil & Gas Exploration in the Gulf" on behalf of the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida, a group set up by the Legislature in 2005 and chaired by former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker, a Republican. Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, asked the commission to take on the issue late last year due to concerns about a lack of neutral information on drilling.
The 40-page report uses a question-and-answer format to address 31 issues that have arisen since Florida Energy Associates began its push last year. It says the risk of a devastating oil spill off Florida's coasts has greatly diminished due to technology and safety precautions since the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. But it also acknowledges the risk remains whether the drilling occurs in state waters close to shore or in the federal waters of the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Most striking:
Researchers don't think there is even enough oil in state waters
to sustain the country's gasoline needs
for a week.
Advances in seismic technology may make it easier to find natural gas deposits, the report said. But it's not been tested in either the eastern gulf or near Florida. And harvesting natural gas in Florida would displace American-mined coal as a fuel, not foreign oil. The impact on energy costs would be minimal.
The report also states the obvious: Lifting Florida's ban would make it more likely Congress would lift its 2006 ban on the more profitable resources farther out in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which extends as much as 125 miles from Florida's shore. The industry's endgame may be to get the drilling ban in state waters lifted merely to make it impossible to continue with the ban in federal waters.

But the eastern gulf doesn't have nearly the deposits found in the federal waters of the central and western gulf — the areas that benefit Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. And none of those states have received windfalls anywhere close to $2 billion annually from offshore drilling.
If the federal ban was lifted, Florida's annual share of revenues could be as low as $20 million (based on traditional government estimates) to as high as $180 million (based on industry estimates), according to the report. New jobs would number between 1,000 to 2,500.

The report purposely does not estimate revenues from drilling in state waters, except to say they would likely be less than those of other states with greater deposits. Alabama generates the most income from near-shore production: $200 million a year. What does $200 million buy in Florida? Not much compared to a $66 billion state budget. Or compared to the potential risk to the No. 1 industry, tourism.

Supporters of drilling off Florida's shores are evoking a patriotic duty to solve America's dependence on foreign oil. Cannon warns of riots in the streets if Floridians cannot get food because there is no fuel for trucks to deliver to groceries. But these are the facts: The estimated deposits in Florida's state-owned waters aren't even enough to fuel America's needs for a week, and lifting the drilling ban would provide relatively little money for the state. It would open the beaches and the state's tourism industry to additional risk — regardless of new drilling technology.
The Senate has the answers it needs to tell Cannon to forget about drilling.

Drilling in Florida waters
The state owns submerged lands from the coast to 10 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and three miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean. Here are some statistics that speak to drilling issues.
100 million
Government estimates of barrels of oil in state- owned water
140 million
Barrels of oil the U.S. uses in a week, or 20 million barrels a day
Unknown
What Florida could collect from drilling in state-owned waters, though experts expect less than other gulf states because of geological formations.
$200 million
Average annual amount Alabama collects for drilling in its state-owned waters — the most of any gulf state.
$189 million
Amount the Florida Lottery is expected to raise this year to enhance the state's education offerings
$66 billion
Florida's 2009-2010 state budget
Source: Potential Impacts of Oil & Gas Exploration in the Gulf, Collins Center for Public Policy; 2009 Florida General Appropriations Act (SB 2600)

Floridians protest offshore oil drilling
Sat Feb 13, 2010 4:59 pm ET
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) – Thousands of Floridians demonstrated against moves to allow offshore oil drilling on Saturday along the east and west coasts of the state in a protest dubbed "Hands Across the Sand."
Organizer David Rauschkolb said about 80 demonstrations took place at beaches from Pensacola on the northwest coast of Florida to Key West in the south and Jacksonville in the north.
"This issue is one Floridians care about, protecting our waterways and coastlines from the devastating effects of oil exploration," Rauschkolb said in a telephone interview. He owns a beachfront restaurant in Seaside, Florida, on the Gulf of Mexico.
Legislation to allow oil drilling off the Florida coast passed the Florida House of Representatives last year but was blocked by Republican Governor Charlie Crist and the state Senate.
Oil-drilling opponents fear the legislation may come up again in this year's legislative session. Supporters of offshore drilling say it is needed to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil.
"I don't think this issue is going away," Rauschkolb said.
In St. Petersburg, about 200 people including local officials, parents and children gathered at a beach resort hotel despite chilly weather and strong winds.
Most wore black to symbolize an oil spill. They stood in line facing the Gulf of Mexico and holding hands for several minutes as a small plane flew overhead towing a banner that read:
"Love tourists - not drilling."
"Do you really want oil washing up on our beaches?"
local organizer Cathy Harrelson said.

Tens of thousands of barrels of oil
had spilled and mixed with receding floodwater from
Hurricane Katrina.
Det Norske Veritas (DNV), the contractor that the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) hired to review pipeline damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, used 1-1/2 pages of their 104-page report to address the environmental impacts. In that brief section they reiterated what MMS had already made public: spills from Hurricane Katrina (233,108 gallons) and Hurricane Rita (508,204 gallons) put 741,000 gallons of liquid hydrocarbon (oil, and natural-gas condensate) into Gulf of Mexico waters.

DNV's report doesn't mention who?!?!!!
characterized this event as "minor."
The U.S. Coast Guard is the lead government agency for enforcing the Clean Water Act,
and they classify any oil spill over 100,000 gallons as a "major" spill.
Guess Who!!!!!
Oil brokers sex scandal may affect(?!?!?) drilling debate
By H. Josef Hebert
Associated PressPublished: Friday, September 12, 2008 7:11 PM EDT
WASHINGTON
— A scandal involving sex, drugs and —
uh, offshore oil drilling.

IDIOT ALERT!!!

Powerful group
pushing for legislative approval of
oil drilling off Florida
By MARY ELLEN KLAS - Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Published: Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009
Updated: Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009
TALLAHASSEE — A secretive group of powerful legislators, business groups and Texas oil companies
has been laying the groundwork since December
to win legislative approval to open Florida waters to oil exploration and end the 20-year drilling moratorium.
Florida Energy Associates,
which identifies itself only by saying
it is financed by a group of independent oil producers,
has hired lobbyists,
public relations experts,
a financial consultant
and a pollster
to help advocate for the sale of drilling leases in state waters between the shore and 10 miles off Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Future state House Speaker(?!?!!)
Dean Cannon,
R- Winter Park,
and
Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Indialantic,
plan to co-sponsor legislation in the 2010 session to allow the Cabinet
to issue more offshore leases to oil companies.

A Daytona Beach-based group(!?!?!!)
of independent oil companies
that helped launch last session's lobbying push in Tallahassee.
With the Legislature possibly ready to endorse drilling,
all eyes will be on Cabinet members who would have the final say-so.
WILL BIG OIL
LOBBYISTS WIN YET AGAIN?
For a nine week supply of "wrong direction" fuels?
The U.S. uses about 7.5 billion barrels of oil per year,
so the estimated oil production
is the equivalent of a roughly three-week supply.
The nation uses about 23 trillion cubic feet of natural gas per year,
so the estimated gas production
amounts to nearly six weeks of consumption.
Send Secretary of Interior Salazar a message asking him to stop the rush to drill off Florida's coast.
Americans Support
Continued Protection for Arctic Refuge,
Don’t Believe Big Oil’s Misleading Claims on Gas Prices
A large majority (74 percent) of those polled said that investing in new energy technology, renewable fuels, and more efficient automobiles is a better way to address energy prices and our long-term needs than is relying on more drilling for a limited amount of oil.
According to the poll, only 35 percent of Americans believe that allowing oil companies to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will result in lower gas prices for American consumers.
A majority (53 percent) believe drilling in the Refuge will have no effect on the price they pay at the gas pump.
"Big Oil has spent millions trying to convince the American public that if only Congress would open the Arctic Refuge and other protected lands, gas prices would go down.
It's a myth the American people just aren't buying,"
The poll also probed whether opening the Refuge made sense when the oil companies already have obtained the right to drill for oil and gas on millions of acres of federal land that they are not using.
Today's poll found that a large majority (68 percent) of Americans believe that there is
no reason to open up
more Alaskan wilderness to drilling
given that oil companies
have not drilled
in the acres already available to them.

Oil drilling - God wills it!
By Randy SchultzPalm Beach Post Editor of the Editorial Page
Sunday, May 03, 2009

Admit it. When Columbus sailed off for the New World, he didn't ride a bicycle.

Huh?
Yes, the comment stopped me, too, when I watched last Monday's so-called debate in the Florida House
over a bill that would turn this state into Louisiana
by allowing oil and gas drilling 3 miles off the Gulf Coast.
But Rep. Charles Van Zant, R-Palatka, sponsor of House Bill 1219,
wanted to make the point - such as it was - that the nation needs power.
Too much to get from such piddling sources as wind and sun.
And he was prepared to reach high in making his point.

House members, Rep. Van Zant said,
could express their "reverence in our Creator"
by allowing companies to drill for the oil and gas
that God had blessed Florida with in abundance.
Rep. Van Zant, who holds two degrees from Baptist seminaries, knew this turf.
Earlier in debate, he had said,
"We worship a God who made (the oil),
and if we ran out,
I think he could make some more."
Now, that is renewable energy

Solar Energy Research and Advancement Act of 2007
- Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish a research and development program to provide lower cost and more viable thermal energy storage technologies to enable the shifting of electric power loads on demand and extend the operating time of concentrating solar power electric generating plants. Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2012.Instructs the Secretary to study and report to Congress on methods to: (1) integrate concentrating solar power into regional electricity transmission systems, identifying new transmission or transmission upgrades needed to bring electricity from high concentrating solar power resource areas to growing electric power load centers throughout the United States; and (2) reduce the amount of water consumed by concentrating solar power systemsDirects the Secretary to establish: (1) a competitive grant program in the Office of Solar Energy Technologies to create and strengthen solar industry workforce training and internship programs in installation, operation, and maintenance of solar energy products; (2) a research and development program to assist in demonstration and commercial application of direct solar renewable energy sources to provide alternatives to traditional power generation for lighting and illumination, including light pipe technology; (3) a research, development, and demonstration program to promote less costly and more reliable decentralized distributed solar-powered air conditioning for individuals and businesses; and (4) a program of grants to states to demonstrate advanced photovoltaic technology.
Authorizes appropriations for all these programs for FY2008-FY2012

"Maybe it's a generational thing, but there seem to be plenty of people

from world-class companies who

want to do something more meaningful

with their lives."

Lionel Fretz, the chief executive of Carbon Capital Markets

Our views: Harnessing the sun (Dec. 13)

State lawmakers should push approval of larger solar plant at KSC
Out at Kennedy Space Center, the launch pad for decades of space exploration, another venture is taking flight.

That’s solar energy production at Florida Power & Light’s new $78.9 million, 10-megawatt solar power project on 60 acres of old citrus field south of the KSC Visitor Complex.

It’s one of three solar plants the company is building in Florida, a state whose endless supply of sunshine should make it a national and international leader in the burgeoning alternative energy industry.

When completed by the end of 2010, the KSC plant will power about 3,500 homes, and prevent 227,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions — the equivalent of taking 1,800 cars off the road each year.

Construction of the nearly 40,000 solar-panel plant has already created 100 jobs in Brevard County. And shows the huge potential to draw more solar and renewable energy jobs to transform the spaceport into what it can and should become — a green-energy hub that would bring direly needed high-tech jobs.

A Pew Charitable Trusts study in June said that Florida’s clean-energy economy grew 7.9 percent from 1998 to 2007, creating more than 30,000 jobs and 3,800 industries.

And it’s just gearing up.

Lawmakers, wake up

But Brevard and Florida are at a crossroads, and large numbers of future jobs will go elsewhere unless the state Legislature finally wakes up and becomes a far more aggressive player in the race to land alternative energy research, development and manufacturing.

So far, its record is pitiful.

This year, lawmakers killed Gov. Charlie Crist’s initiative to require utilities to provide 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020, standards that would act as an adrenaline shot for an alternative energy boom in Florida.

House members locked in “drill, baby, drill” mode foolishly blocked them, however, after the Senate refused to pass a last-minute, ill-advised attempt to open Florida’s near-shore waters to oil rigs.

That failure is hampering Florida’s chances of tapping green industry benefits now up for grabs.

Meanwhile, more forward-thinking states, including Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Pennsylvania, are setting up strong renewable energy standards and offering attractive incentives to draw solar power companies, jobs and tax revenue.

So are nations such as Germany, not known for its sunny climate, but nonetheless the world leader in solar energy and the skilled jobs the industry is creating.

It’s now building solar power stations across the country, including the world’s largest, capable of powering 10,000 homes with emissions-free energy. It’s also more than halfway to meeting the European Union’s target for 20 percent renewable energy by 2020.

Dropping the ball

Sun-drenched Florida could easily top that if Tallahassee stops dropping the ball.

Last week, Crist and the Legislature appeared to have taken no action on an urgent request from the Florida Research Consortium for approval of renewable energy legislation.

Lawmakers were rightly focused on a rail deal, a legitimate priority as a job creator and economic spur.

But the renewables’ measure also demands quick attention because it’s tied to FPL plans to build a much larger, 100-megawatt plant just north of the KSC Visitor Center.

Construction would start by late next year and bring 1,000 temporary construction jobs and 50 long-term science and engineering jobs to Brevard.

First announced in November, the plant would produce enough juice to power 12,000 homes, or a small city, and save one million barrels of oil a year.

It also would act as a magnet to draw companies that manufacture solar-plant components near KSC.

That’s not pie-in-the-sky.

SunPower, the California-based company building the 10-megawatt KSC solar farm and pegged to construct the larger facility, wants to build a solar energy research and development center and solar-panel manufacturing plant in Florida, said CEO Tom Perkins in a Dec. 4 letter to Crist.

Brevard can gain

With its highly skilled work force and desperate need for new industry to replace job losses at KSC when the shuttle fleet retires next year, Brevard is the natural site for both.

But the plan could fall through without fast-track legislation to allow regulatory approval.

We hope the deal can be struck, and will lead to more pacts with green companies eager to set up shop and take advantage of the Space Coast’s high-tech work force.

To that end, Brevard’s lawmakers should be shouting from the rooftops to speed authorization of the larger plant, in whatever ways possible.

Because waiting until the regular legislative spring session
may be too late.

Obama expected in Arcadia to support green jobs
Obama will hit three of the swing state's largest media markets. He begins in Jacksonville, stays overnight in Miami and flies to a rural area in a moderate Republican congressional district near Tampa Tuesday morning before returning to Washington.
The last time Obama was in the state, Republican Gov. Charlie Crist canceled a lunch with former governors, including GOP favorite Jeb Bush, and literally embraced the president on a stage in Fort Myers as he touted a $787 billion stimulus plan.
Now Crist is running radio ads criticizing Obama for trying to “spend our way into prosperity” as he faces an increasingly tough Republican primary for the Senate.
And the self-styled
“green governor”
will be nowhere in sight
Tuesday when
Obama headlines the opening of the solar plant in Arcadia
that Crist helped push through the state legislature.
Crist further tried to distance himself from Obama last week when the trip was announced, telling a Florida reporter,
“I don't even know what day he's coming.”
(Someone should tell Charlie the President will be in Arcadia on Tuesday 10/27/2009 )

Instant Editorial: Obama's coming to Arcadia, so should Crist
This is greater than electoral politics — it’s about the future of the state.
The governor should not cave into those who would pressure him
to avoid being seen with the president again.
Yes, he's running for the Senate,
but
Crist is governor of this state and has an obligation to represent Floridians' best interests.
And, if he doesn’t show up,
then we Floridians should worry
about any future leadership he might provide
on the important alternative energies issue.
Since alternative and renewable energies are a cornerstone of the state's plan for its future economic development,
it would behoove him to be in Arcadia with the president.

You Betcha!!!!!WINK WINK
*Sarah Palin

Climate-change studies: Florida must act to avoid* catastrophic damage
Two new studies suggest global warming poses expensive and daunting challenges to
Florida's economy
and coastline
Religious leaders act on climate change
By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer
Wed Oct 31, 2007

9:43 PM ET

WASHINGTON - A coalition of religious leaders urged Congress on Wednesday to ensure that the poor and most vulnerable are protected from the effects of climate change.

"While not all of us agree on much,"

said the Rev. Michael Livingston, president of the National Council of Churches,

"we do agree on the need to protect God's creation.

It has become clear that global warming will have devastating impact on those in poverty around the world." Added Bishop Thomas Wenksi of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:

"Those who contribute least to the problem are likely to suffer the most."

The Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals, said

84 percent of evangelicals

support mandatory limits on greenhouse gases.

He said it is

not a matter of political persuasion

but

"of moral leadership."

Florida now bans
oil and gas drilling
within 125 miles of its coasts
in the Gulf of Mexico with the aim of
protecting its tourism from pollution.

Florida Oil Drilling May Hinge on 2010 Elections
Last summer,
Attorney General Bill McCollum
actually hardened his position against drilling,
even as Gov. Charlie Crist and presidential wannabe John McCain
were embracing the
"Drill, baby, drill" moment.

"To me, any kind of wholesale opening of the coastline of Florida to drilling
is just unnecessary to ... the energy needs of our country
and a risk to the beaches and tourism and beauty of our state,"
McCollum said in July 2008.

"I was in Congress for years debating this issue,"
he added,
"so I'm very familiar with it."

Alex Sink
called last session's House push to drill
"unconscionable" without "significant debate,
serious study or real time to hear from Florida's citizens."

But like her rival,
she has said nothing recently.

Thu Jul 23, 2009 4:04 pm ET
Texas cleaning up oil blobs on South Padre Island
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas –
Gooey oil blobs
as big as basketballs
have been washing up on the sandy beaches
of South Padre Island in Texas, officials said Thursday

“Reader suppose you were an idiot.
And suppose you were a member of Congress
(and/or Florida leadership)
But I repeat myself."
–Mark Twain

Argenziano to utilities: We get it. You're great. Now clam up
Argenziano urges
PSC chairman Matthew Carter
to put an end to the extraneous testimony,
saying the consequence of allowing it is “ominous.”

“The irrelevant testimony is of such vastness and dimension,
and our failure to make any effort to curb such so glaring,
that a case may be made that the hearing,
a due process component,
has been so devalued as to repudiate the purpose of the service hearing,
and
fatally affect the rate case going forward ...

“Permit me to suggest,
in the interest of perhaps preserving the purpose of the hearings,
that the Chair read the filed notice regarding the matters to be presented,
pre-advise anyone who would be inclined to introduce extraneous or irrelevant material,
warn the speaker upon such introduction, and declare at the end
– I respect the reticence in restricting the ostensible public from speaking –
that the testimony going to good corporate citizenship
is simply not relevant
to the purposes of the hearing.”
Nancy Argenziano,
the free-speaking former senator
who is now one of the five members of the Public Service Commission
that oversees utilities in the state
STATE
IDIOT ALERT!!!
WILL BIG OIL WIN YET AGAIN?
For a nine week supply of "wrong direction" fuels?
JUST ASK
DEAN CANNON "YOUR" FUTURE
FLORIDA HOUSE SPEAKER-
OR
DELTONA's
State Representative
(OUR LOCAL-STATE DRILLING/SPRAWLING CHEERLEADER
FOR THE GOOD 'OLE BOYS)
DOROTHY HUKILL:(

Obama, who supports the extension of the tax credits, would supply one of the missing votes if he were in the Senate to vote. McCain, who hasn’t said whether he supports the extension, could be another vote in support.
As the new leader of the GOP, he could bring other Republicans along with him.
Will they be supporting any and all efforts to get PV panels onto the ground

here in the Sunshine State,

or will they

VOTE AGAINST FLORIDA

like some of our members in the House??!!!!

H.R. 6 “CLEAN Energy Act of 2007”

A Vision for a Green Economy and Equitable Development

Creating Long-Term Energy Alternatives for the Nation Act
http://capwiz.com/y/issues/votes/?votenum=40&chamber=H&congress=1101
Vote Passed (264-163, 8 Not Voting)
This House bill is intended to encourage development of alternate sources of
energy.

We, the residents of Volusia County , said no twice isn’t that special:)

Rep. Tom Feeney ( East Deltona ) voted NO
Rep. John Mica ( West Deltona ) voted NO

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) hopes to hold a vote this week on an extension of renewable energy tax credits that officials for the company behind the Solana solar plant say are necessary to make the project economically viable.

But neither campaign would commit to having the senators in Washington for the vote.
Without them, the credits aren’t likely to pass.
And if the vote fails, officials for Abengoa
— the Spanish company planning to develop the project —
say they would have to take it overseas.

House approves funds for 'green' schools

By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer Wed Jun 4, 9:02 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The House on Wednesday committed more than $20 billion over the next five years to help states build and renovate schools to make them more energy-efficient and good for the environment.

Democrats said the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act would save school districts billions in energy costs while reducing asthma and other environmentally linked health problems. The White House threatened a veto, saying it was wrong for the federal government to launch a costly new school building program.

The legislation passed 250-164 and now must be considered by the Senate.

The measure approves $6.4 billion for the 2009 budget year and similar sums in consequent years to help school districts modernize facilities to improve the learning climate, promote student and teacher health and make schools more energy efficient.

Projects would have to meet one of three widely recognized standards for building construction materials and energy sources: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, Energy Star, or Collaborative For High Performance Schools. Requirements for meeting the green standards would be phased in, but by 2013, 90 percent of the funds would have to be used for green projects.

Democratic supporters cited studies that a green school uses 35 percent less energy than a conventional school, reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 40 percent, uses 30 percent less water and has better lighting and temperature controls that encourage student achievement.

The legislation, said Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., will "not only save them energy, not only will make the facilities safer, cleaner and better for the learning environment these children need, it will also dramatically change the cost of running a school district."

But Republicans, and the White House, saw the bill as a federal intrusion into education matters normally under the jurisdiction of states and local governments.

"The Democrats' massive $20 billion 'green scheme' would place faceless Washington bureaucrats in charge of priorities historically and best handled by states and local school districts," said House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio. Other Republicans warned it would siphon off funds from federal programs for poor or disabled students.

The bill "would create an inappropriate and costly new federal role in modernizing and renovating public schools," the White House said in issuing its veto threat.

The White House also objected to a funding formula linking amounts that a state receives to Title I, the federal program for schools receiving aid for low-income students. No school under the formula would receive less than $5,000.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Ky., also approves federal funding of $100 million a year for five years for public schools in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

___

The bill is H.R. 3021.

On the Net:

Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov

“Reader suppose you were an idiot.
And suppose you were a member of Congress
(and/or the "new" administration)
But I repeat myself.”
–Mark Twain
NATIONAL
IDIOT ALERT!!!
OBAMA ALERT!!!
A change in leadership in
Congress and the White House
has done little
to make Florida's coastline
less vulnerable to oil drilling.
Obama has given mixed signals on offshore drilling.

While campaigning in Florida last June,
he vowed to keep the drilling ban intact

Obama is just another talking suit if he allows this
If a rig
in the eastern Gulf
springs a leak, the spill could
turn into an oil slick that gets caught
in a fast-moving current
that runs south to the Florida Keys.

The current turns into the Gulf Stream,
which could drag the polluted mess
and carry it north to the beaches
along the east coast of Florida.

``When it wraps around Florida and becomes the Gulf Stream,
it goes very close to the (east) coast of Florida’’

``There’s nothing to prevent an oil spill from doing that,’’
Muller-Karger
professor of marine sciences at the University of South Florida,
who served on the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy
`It’s well within the realm of possibility.’’
Florida Bay's ecology on the brink of collapse
By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer –
Wed Aug 5, 2009 6:52 am ET
ISLAMORADA, Fla. –
Boat captain Tad Burke looks out over Florida Bay and
sees an ecosystem that's dying
as politicians,
land owners
and
environmentalists bicker.
AUGUST 2009
Interior plans offshore drilling despite questions
Democrats
Behind
Latest Drive For Drilling
Sens. Dorgan, Bingaman lead surprise proposal.

DID YOU REALLY THINK
THE LOBBYISTS DON'T OWN
THE DEMOCRATS AS WELL AS THE REPUBLICANS???
SILLY CITIZENS:(

Our choices matter!
Change
you can believe in
H.R. 364 establishes an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-E) within the U.S. Department of Energy, similar to the successful DARPA program within the Department of Defense. With a lean and agile organization ARPA-E will assemble cross-disciplinary research teams focused on addressing the nation's most urgent energy needs through high-risk research and the rapid development of transformational clean energy technologies. By leveraging talent in all sectors - from private industry, to universities, to government labs - ARPA-E will foster a robust and cohesive community of energy researchers and technology developers in the U.S. This bill follows on the direct recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences’ report “Rising Above the Gathering Storm."

WE NEED
A World Class Alternative Energy Showcase and Science Center

(ARPA) in West Volusia

Imagine
somewhere that our ALL of our Central Florida children can

grow and learn with Scientists and Engineers

about the challenges facing America’s future on I-4 and Howland Blvd , a MAJOR tourist artery.

How about a solar thermal power plant on S.R. 415 instead of more SPRAWL??

We can continue to be apathetic and allow

our “Elected Retail Leaders” and “their plans”

for our kids to grow more retail shoppers that benefit China,

add even MORE students("Childrens do learn,") to our already overcrowded/under funded schools

and get even MORE low paying retail crap jobs

with no benefits that put a drag on America’s economy and healthcare system??!!

Instead of more sprawl, concrete, flooding and crime in Florida let’s use the

“Sun to Fund”
and get some $$$carbon credits $$$ for our schools

House approves funds for 'green' schools

By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer Wed Jun 4, 9:02 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The House on Wednesday committed more than $20 billion over the next five years to help states build and renovate schools to make them more energy-efficient and good for the environment.

The legislation passed 250-164 and now must be considered by the Senate.

But Republicans, and the White House, saw the bill as a federal intrusion into education matters normally under the jurisdiction of states and local governments.

The bill "would create an inappropriate and costly new federal role in modernizing and renovating public schools," the White House said in issuing its veto threat.

___

The bill is H.R. 3021.

On the Net:

Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov

AP – In this Saturday, Nov. 17, 1973 file photo, President Richard Nixon speaks near Orlando, Fla.
Promises, Promises: Chasing an elusive pledge
By H. JOSEF HEBERT,
Associated Press Writer H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press Writer
– Fri Oct 31, 2008 4:32 am ET
WASHINGTON – It will be 35 years next week since President Richard Nixon, responding to an Arab oil embargo, vowed to make the United States energy independent — and do it in seven years. America is still waiting.

Now as Barack Obama and John McCain vie to become the next president, a promise of U.S. energy independence again has become a rallying cry on the campaign trail.

Is it possible, or even desirable? Many energy experts say it's not. People disagree on what energy independence means — zero energy imports, or something less? And even if the United States were energy independent, would it be insulated from global oil price shocks, with oil priced in a global marketplace? Again, energy experts say don't count on it.

"As president I will turn all the apparatus of government in the direction of energy independence," McCain declared, labeling his energy agenda "the Lexington Project," after the New England town where America declared its political independence. He concedes it "has confounded" past Congresses and seven presidents.

Obama also embraces the idea. He promises as president to "make sure that we finally get serious about energy independence."

Republicans and Democrats in Congress have been equally enamored of the catch-phrase. It's the justification GOP lawmakers cited repeatedly for more oil drilling off the nation's coasts and in an Alaska wildlife refuge.

Democrats called the energy legislation they pushed through Congress last year the "Energy Independence and Security Act," although its key provisions — a 40 percent increase in auto fuel efficiency and greater use of ethanol in cars — fall far short of achieving such a goal.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi even created a new House committee to highlight the issue: the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

But to many experts the promise of energy independence, echoed over decades, is "pie-in-the-sky" political rhetoric. If it means self sufficiency, various critics have called it "a misguided quest" a "red herring" a "mirage" and a "myth" that might even cause more harm than good by shifting attention away from reducing U.S. vulnerabilities while still relying on imports.

Thirty-five years ago, on Nov. 7, 1973, the nation had lines of motorists waiting at gas stations and people worried about running out of fuel oil in the coming winter. "We are running out of energy," President Nixon warned, addressing the nation four weeks after Arab oil producers had cut off supplies in response to U.S. support of Israel in the Mideast war.

As he unveiled "Project Independence," Nixon declared: "Let us set as our national goal ... that by the end of this decade we will have developed the potential to meet our own energy needs without depending on any foreign energy sources."

In 1973, the United States imported 36 percent of its oil, up from 28 percent a year earlier, about half coming from the OPEC cartel. During the first eight months of this year, imports accounted for 13.4 million of the nearly 20 million barrels a day of U.S. consumption, again about half the imports coming from OPEC.

Far from becoming reality, the promise of energy independence by Nixon and every president since is more remote than ever.

"I think it's a false hope. The politicians love to say `I'm going to move this country to energy independence.' It's not possible. It's a goal that's not feasible," says Robert Ebel, a senior adviser in the energy and security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think-tank.

If you're talking about zero dependence on foreign oil "we can't do it" because even with the new emphasis on alternative fuels "we're going to be using the same kind of primary energy in 2020 that we're using today, though maybe in slightly different percentages," says Ebel.

"There are very few if any (countries) that are energy independent. They have to import something," said Ebel.

Were it not for oil, the United States might well be energy independent. It has more coal than it needs, and plenty of natural gas; 104 nuclear reactors, and the potential for plenty of wind energy and biomass fuels such as ethanol. With only 5 percent of the world's population, the U.S. consumes nearly a quarter of its energy.

Jay Hakes, former head of the government's Energy Information Administration and author of a recent book "A Declaration of Energy Independence," says skeptics miss the point.

"I don't think it requires going to zero percent imports," to end the country's "damaging dependence on foreign oil," Hakes said in an interview. He argues that the United States cut its oil imports in half from 1977 to 1982, from 8.6 million to 4.3 million barrels a day. While it "goes against conventional wisdom," dramatic cuts can be made again, he said.

Gal Luft, co-founder of the pro-energy independence Set America Free Coalition says it's all about national security "not having to kowtow to regimes that are hostile" because of oil. "It's got nothing to do with self sufficiency," Luft said in an interview, calling that a "simplistic view of energy independence."

COMMENTARY

It's only fitting for Florida to be out front.

The state is especially at risk from the stronger storms and coastal flooding that scientists say will come with global warming. Mr. Nelson, to his credit, has co-sponsored previous proposals to limit greenhouse-gas emissions. Mr. Martinez, by contrast, has voted against measures to take action on global warming.

Solar power systems arrive in more stores

BUT NOT IN FLORIDA, THE SUNSHINE STATE

Lead the way Our position:

Nelson, Martinez

should have higher profile on new climate-change effort.

Meanwhile,

while our politicians,

Martinez, Mica and Feeney, are wimping out on alternative energy.......

Work on

North America's

biggest solar power plant

will start next year in

Ontario,

Canadian province's energy minister

said once complete in 2010, the 40-megawatt project,

near Sarnia in southwestern Ontario ,

will be able to supply enough emission-free electricity to power up to 24,000 homes
Bosch Sponsored Team Takes Top Honors at Solar Decathlon

To: ENERGY EDITORS

Contact: Kyle Murray of BBT North America Corp, +1-802-583-8422, Kyle.Murray@bbtna.com

WASHINGTON , Oct. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Technische Universitat Darmstadt , Germany ,

sponsored by Bosch,

won the United States Department of Energy's third Solar Decathlon

held in Washington D.C . from October 12-19, 2007 .

The annual competition brought together 20 college and university teams from across the

United States, Canada, Germany, Spain and Puerto Rico

in a competition to design, build and operate

the most attractive, effective and energy-efficient

solar-powered house
The Royalty Mess

Published: September 28, 2007

A yearlong investigation has now provided unassailable evidence that the Interior Department abdicated its responsibility to collect royalties from oil and gas companies that drill on public lands, chiefly the Gulf of Mexico. The report increases the pressure on Congress to find a way to recover the money. It also increases the pressure on Dirk Kempthorne, the interior secretary, to accelerate his reforms of the Minerals Management Service, the agency that failed to collect the royalties.

The investigation grew out of the discovery that a loophole in leases signed by the Clinton administration in 1998 and 1999 had allowed oil companies to duck royalties due on oil drilled on federal lands. Midlevel federal officials found the loophole in 2000, but nothing was done to close it or collect the lost revenues until 2006. It has already cost taxpayers more than $1.5 billion, a figure that could rise to $10 billion over the course of the leases.

The Interior Department has been hammered by Congress, but the strongest criticism has come from the department’s inspector general, Earl E. Devaney, whose final report was disclosed by Edmund L. Andrews in The Times on Monday. The report attributed the agency’s failure not so much to ineptitude as to lazy management, ethical lapses and a culture of secrecy that hid mistakes.

Top officials at the agency also seemed more concerned about the fortunes of the industry they were supposed to regulate than those of the federal government. In one case turned up by Mr. Devaney, officials decided it would impose a “hardship” on oil companies to demand that they calculate the back interest they owed. Officials were also said to have blocked efforts by four departmental auditors to recover the unpaid royalties.

Congress is now in a mood to recover the money on its own.

A provision in the House energy bill would charge companies that refuse to amend the flawed leases

a separate fee for each barrel of oil that they produce in the future.

A Senate proposal would impose a surtax on new oil pumped by the companies involved that

would be offset by any overdue royalties they were willing to pay.(?!!?)

Mr. Kempthorne has made personnel changes at the top of the Minerals Management Service.

But Mr. Devaney’s report makes it clear that he still has a long way to go to change the agency’s dysfunctional culture.
AWWA Testifies Before House of Representatives on Carbon Sequestration
To: NATIONAL EDITORS

Contact: Greg Kail of the American Water Works Association, T: +1-303.734.3410, F: +1-303-734-3410, gkail@awwa.org

Testimony raises concerns about unproven technology

WASHINGTON, July 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Don Broussard, water operations manager for Lafayette, La., Utilities System, today testified at a Congressional hearing on Geologic Carbon Sequestration (GCS) on behalf of the American Water Works Association (AWWA). The hearing was held by the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials.

Broussards testimony raised serious concerns about the potential effect this unproven technology may have on our nations underground sources of drinking water. GCS is considered one option to prevent carbon emissions from being released into the atmosphere.

Our overarching concern regarding geologic carbon sequestration is the potential contamination of underground sources of drinking water and other unintended and possibly harmful consequences, said Broussard in his testimony. AWWA is particularly concerned about the potential for contamination of sole source aquifers. These aquifers should be provided with special protective measures.

GCS threatens safe water supplies because contaminants released during the power generation process could be absorbed into previously-pristine aquifers during sequestration, rendering them unusable as a drinking water resource. GCS has not yet been proven through study and research, and many experts have raised concerns about the ability to safely contain carbon dioxide once it has been pumped underground.

Water chemistry in an underground setting is complex, Broussard noted in his testimony. We need to consider how geologic carbon sequestration could potentially release iron, manganese, arsenic, mercury, and possibly other inorganic substances into groundwater surrounding the injection zone.

Other issues raised in the testimony concerned undefined water rights between states sharing a single underground source of water and unresolved long-term liability/financial responsibility for sequestration sites.

AWWA offered several recommendations for Congress to consider, including: avoiding deploying commercial-scale GCS technology until the results of large-scale pilot projects by the U.S. Department of Energy have been reviewed by the agency and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; studying and using renewable/non-greenhouse gas producing power generation sources; improving and supporting water and energy conservation and efficiency programs; and studying alternative geo-engineering approaches to carbon dioxide destruction or immobilization.

AWWA is the authoritative resource for knowledge, information, and advocacy to improve the quality and supply of water in North America and beyond. AWWA is the largest organization of water professionals in the world. AWWA advances public health, safety and welfare by uniting the efforts of the full spectrum of the entire water community. Through our collective strength we become better stewards of water for the greatest good of the people and the environment.

SOURCE American Water Works Association

Florida's District 28
“The greatest tool Floridians have to see legislative change is their voice,”
Dorothy Hukill - sponsored a $5 million rebate fund
that for several years has offered rebates to people who install solar panels. She also got an amendment into the
2008 governor's energy bill to allow "net-metering,"
which allows people with solar-energy systems
to receive credit for $$$electricity they produce$$$ and send back to the grid.
As always, thanks for your help.
It makes a big difference.

FPL files landmark suit to keep state commissioner from input on company issues

Our views: Harnessing the sun (Dec. 13)

State lawmakers should push approval of larger solar plant at KSC Out at Kennedy Space Center, the launch pad for decades of space exploration, another venture is taking flight.

H.R. 6 “CLEAN Energy Act of 2007”

State lawmakers should push approval of larger solar plant at KSC
Out at Kennedy Space Center, the launch pad for decades of space exploration, another venture is taking flight.