Did California & CEQ Knowingly Implement Killer Wildlife Energy Policy?

Earlier this week William La Jeunesse reported on a wind turbine farm, Pine Tree, operated by Los Angeles Department of Power & Water. It's located in Kern County. Oh... and by the way, it kills some 80 Bald Eagles a year.

La Jeunesse reports that Lorelei Oviatt, Kern County planning commissioner said, "We're requiring full environmental impact reports, which take at least 12 to 18 months... Can I promise that a bird will never be injured or killed? I can't. But again, we have this tradeoff in society, between the things we need to function as an economy and the fact that we wanna make sure we have an environment for future generations." (Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/16/energy-in-america-dead-birds-unintended-consequence-wind-power-development/#ixzz1VKwxjuVk)

From her statement one would be under the impression that LADPW and Kern County was unaware of the threat to the migratory birds until after the wind farm was built.

However, while the wind farms are State approved they are Federally funded. Meaning that grant applications must be applied for, and environmental impact studies conducted. All of this should be good news to Ms Oviatt and the power that be over at LADPW because I think we can save them a year-and-a-half study time and a lot of money.

You see, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) submits reports to theSenate Environment and Public Works Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee in accordance with section 1609(c) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Their last report was submitted May 4, 2011 (http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/attachments/may2011/CEQ_ARRA_NEPA_Report_May_2011.pdf).

On Page 24 a report summary on the potential placement of wind turbines at the Black Hills National Forest we find, "Based on the results of the Environmental Assessments, Job Corps management decided on September 1, 2009, that placement of the turbines would not be appropriate at these  

Perry's Texas Style: A Wake-up Call

SHOOTING FROM THE LIP
Rick Perry catapulted to a double-digit lead in a crowded field of Republicans yesterday — having been an official presidential candidate for a grand total of three days — thanks to his tough-talking cowboy swagger.


But it also got him in trouble with the commander in chief.


“You’ve got to be a little more careful about what you say,” President Obama advised yesterday on CNN. “But I’ll cut him some slack. He’s only been at it for a few days now.”


Campaigning in Dubuque, Iowa, yesterday, Perry refused to back down from saying Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke — an appointee of President George W. Bush, Perry’s predecessor as Texas governor — would be committing treason if he directed the Fed to print cash as an economic stimulus.


“If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I don’t know what you would do with him,” Perry said Monday in a backyard speech on the outskirts of Cedar Rapids. “We would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous, or treasonous, in my opinion.”.....(Read full article at: http://www.thedaily.com/page/2011/08/17/081711-news-campaign-1-3/)

GR:

As entertaining as it is to see Libs get their shorts in a knot over rhetoric (not theirs of course), I kind of resent it receiving so much air time. I can't help but feel that media is spending too much time catering to the lowest common denominator when they should be elevating the discussion.

In media training, before you go on a (FOX, CNN, NBC, etc) newscast you are instructed to communicate as though you are talking to an intelligent fifth grader. This appears to be the primary target audience of most media news agencies. The problem is that fifth graders don't vote, and those who only understand world affairs at a fifth grade level, probably shouldn't either.

·  We have Department of Interior policy suppressing jobs on one hand and removing land off of State revenue rolls on the other.

·  We have an energy policy that pours money into bankrupt solar energy plans that exports dollars to China while our oil refineries are few and truly risk national security.

·  The healthcare plan was just deemed unconstitutional by a higher court, this time by an Obama appointee, yet there is no substantive conversation for an alternative solution.

·  Our intelligence complex wasn't able to recognize the Muslim Brotherhoods involvement in Egypt until they virtually took out a front page ad.

·  The NLRB is deciding which State's citizens may or may not be employed.

·  The ATF was caught selling arms to Mexican gangs, and the men responsible are promoted.

Clearly we are not at a loss of substantive issues to discuss. Frankly, if Perry's passion and rhetoric wakes people up, I say bring it on. With any luck at all this will make the voting fifth graders among us curious enough to look up a grade level or two, all the better. 

In 2003 the Fed monetized our debt before an election. The monetary base increased a whopping 20% and lead to the housing bubble. Franks & Schumer pressured Fannie Mae to adjust their loan criteria, which they did. For fun, they also redefined their loan grading. This in turn lead to the Lehman Brothers, Bear Sterns, & Merrill Lynch crisis (read more at: http://www.calculatorplus.com/mortgage/advice_mortgage_creditcrisis.html). Looking at it from this perspective, Perry may not have been that far off after all.

The President has been stumping across the Midwest talking about his "plans" and how the "do nothing Congress" better not stand in his way. Mr. Obama has stated how important Free Trade with South Korea is to jobs. Setting aside the validity of that argument for a moment, this Bill has been sitting on his desk since July 15th. The opposition to free trade with South Korea is not coming from the Tea Partiers or Republicans at all, but from two Democratic members of the House (likely aspiring "terrorists") who are organizing an effort to defeat the Bill if it ever does arrive (http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/08/15-4).

The President has also been claiming (for over 2.5 years) that jobs were a priority, and an issue so important that he would not rest until "everybody has a job". Nevertheless, rather than actually doing something, he goes on tour and makes speeches about making a speech where a plan will finally be announced, this of course after vacation, Labor Day, and nearly another month of further suffering by those he's promised to help.

And somehow, he has failed to be specific about where his true problems dwell in his "do nothing Congress". Why not point out that while the House passed three Debt Bills, the Senate, his Senate, tabled all but one Bill, couldn't pass a Bill of their own, and demonstrated that they were completely ineffective in helping resolve the issue. In fact, when the President did reach out to the Senate in the final days, it wasn't Reid on the other end of the phone, but McConnell. 

  

So while there are some that can only reach high enough to point at Perry, gasp at his frustration, criticize his wearing boots with a tuxedo, I think (and this is just my opinion) that most of us here may be better served by recognizing trivial distractions for what they are, and not succumbing to popular media's daily spoon feeding. We are not in grade school any longer folks. It's time for us all to ask better of ourselves.