CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

This commercial is aptly named "Smooth Operator".

U.S. Senate Independent candidate Angus King has an uncanny ability to look into the camera or otherwise into the audience and say something he knows couldn't be more misleading. There is never a trace of guilt or shame when he does this. What is this man made of?

The camp owners of Roxbury Pond are justifiably devastated by what King and his partner the Yale University Endowment have done to their hard won paradise with their so called wind farm. (Read: Useless subsidy farm).

King's PR machine would have you believe everyone there couldn't be happier with his "wind farm". After all, when Angus came to town he made some promises and one of these was that he would never build a project unless it was fully acceptable to the local community. Here's what his website said:

Unfortunately, we now see that in Angus King's world, it is not the affected residents who determine what constitutes "acceptability", but rather it is Mr. King. Angus King and his elitist partner Yale know what is best for the people of Roxbury. I guess they have saved these poor people from themselves.

I have recently met with several of the groups who have raised public health concerns and it is clear they are not satisfied with the Department’s effort to address potential public health impacts. The groups would require that DEC conduct an outside health study that would determine the outcome of the final decision. I reject that demand. I believe it is highly likely that some of these groups will pursue litigation following the conclusion of the Departmental process if they do not agree with the outcome.

Citing "uncertain and changing market conditions" - including doubts surrounding the extension of the wind energy production tax credit (PTC) - Siemens Energy said it is laying off 615 employees - more than 37% of its U.S. wind power workforce - across its manufacturing, projects and administrative-support functions.

The job cuts will be spread across the company's Hutchinson, Kan., nacelle assembly plant; its Fort Madison, Iowa, blade manufacturing facility; and its Orlando, Fla., Americas headquarters, which also serves as a base for about 200 field-based project support personnel, Siemens spokesperson Melanie Forbrick told NAW.

Just like many companies that have recently announced U.S. layoffs - including Vestas, Clipper Windpower, LM Windpower and DMI Industries - Siemens cited the looming expiration of the PTC as one of the reasons for the workforce reductions.

However, the company said other factors also contributed to the decision. For instance, the overall drop in wind turbine orders is also due to low natural-gas prices and a slow economic recovery.

(Click to read the entire article)

Gov. Andrew Cuomo today announced the launch of a $30 million initiative encourage the use of energy-efficiency technologies.

The Energy Efficiency Market Acceleration Program, being implemented by the New York Power Authority, will fund research, market development activities and demonstration projects to help promote business development opportunities for emerging technologies, according to a news release.

In July 2012, the NYPA Board of Trustees authorized $30 million for the program.

“This public-private partnership will help bring innovative green technologies into the marketplace, helping spur economic investment in the clean-energy sector and protect our environment, while maintaining New York’s position as a leader in sustainability,” Cuomo said in a statement. “By supporting clean energy research and production, the state is helping create green jobs in communities across New York, while ensuring that our environment is protected for generations to come.”

The initiative focuses on accelerating the market development of energy-efficiency technologies by attracting technology companies to New York, assisting in the forming of strategic alliances and business development opportunities for those companies and training engineers, contractors and maintenance service providers.

To implement the initiative, NYPA today issued a request for proposals. Once selected, the awardee will identify commercial, but-not-yet-widely deployed clean energy products with significant promise for gaining market share. The request is available here.

The popping of the SHALE GAS MIRACLE just erased any remaining doubts that the world will be able to continue its delusion of maintaining business as usual… forever.

For many years, the oil and gas industry has been hyping their new miracle baby called “SHALE ENERGY”. Through new advances in technology such as fracking, the U.S. Government first estimated the total shale gas reserves in the country at a staggering 827 trillion cubic feet. Furthermore, BP stated that shale gas and oil will make the United States self-sufficient by 2030.

However, cracks began to appear in the GREAT SHALE GAS MIRACLE when in January of this year, the U.S. Dept of Energy released new projections which cut the reserves to nearly half to only 482 trillion cubic feet. Even though this was a 42% decline in reserves… it is still a great deal of natural gas that the country can depend on. Or is it?

On Sept. 2nd, 2012, something very startling occurred. The USGS – United States Geological Society, came out with revisions to the shale gas fields’ reserves… and it wasn’t pretty. Before we get into the details of the data, let me give you some background information.

(Click to read the entire article)

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that there are no immediate plans for a decision on whether to allow hydraulic fracturing in New York and that he expects lawsuits to follow the decision either way.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation is expected to issue a final determination on whether high-volume hydrofracking—a natural-gas extraction technique that involves a mix of water, sand and chemicals injected into gas-rich shale formations—can be done safely. There has been much speculation over when the decision would be announced.

During an interview on an Albany radio station Monday morning, Cuomo said he isn’t going to pressure the state agency into making the decision by a certain date, such as the upcoming election day for the office of the president and the state Legislature or by the end of the year.

“When it’s done, and when they’re prepared — that’s when we’ll announce the decision,” he told WDJG.

(Click to read the entire article)

Even while he’s 700 miles away from the state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is still facing pressure from hydrofracking supporters and opponents.

First, there was the full-page advertisement taken out in today’s Charlotte Observer, warning Cuomo that the “road to the White House is not lined with drilling rigs.”

Also today yesterday, 22 town supervisors from across the Southern Tier (and into the Catskills region) mailed Cuomo a letter, urging him to give a green light to the much-debated technique used in the gas-extraction process.

“Lastly, the delay is only empowering opponents, some of whom have now taken to civil disobedience and other disruptive acts,” the supervisors wrote. “While everyone supports the right of people to express their views, we see a situation where opponents are distorting the facts and trying to impose their views of what is right in our community.”

Some standard background: The state Department of Environmental Conservation is in the midst of a four-year review of high-volume hydrofracking, which has been panned by environmentalists but pushed by supporters for its economic potential. The technique can’t move forward in New York until that review is completed and the agency makes recommendations.

Here’s the letter from the town supervisors, including town of Binghamton Supervisor Tim Whitesell, who is current president of the state Association of Towns:

Wind proponents insist the industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the American economy having doubled U.S. nameplate capacity since 2008.

But let's be clear: Recent growth in the industry is largely due to the massive infusion of public cash lavished on big wind under ARRA. Expiration of Section 1603 cash grants coupled with record-low natural gas prices, will likely collapse the stimulus-induced bubble and push installations back to mid-2000's levels. The production tax credit, if extended, will continue to offset above-market wholesale prices for wind power but the credit will not drive the same level of growth.

Wind and State RPS policies

In the last ten years, more than half of the states adopted renewable portfolio standards (RPS) that encouraged development of home-grown low-emission generation. State legislators voted in favor of the mandates after being convinced by proponents that more renewable resources in the energy mix, particularly those with no fuel cost, would replace fossil use, attract jobs and ultimately stabilize and reduce energy prices.

But the artificial no-compete power markets created by RPS policies for self-selected renewable resources[1] drove up electricity prices and forced ratepayers to pay for energy they didn't need. In 2011 residential rates in states with mandates were 27% higher than those without mandates while industrial electricity prices were 23% higher.

(Click to read the entire article)