Further Squeezing Of The California Middle Class With Clean Cars

California orders hike in number of super clean cars Jan 28, 2012'California, long a national leader in cutting auto pollution, pushed the envelope further Friday as state regulators approved rules to cut greenhouse gas emissions from cars and put significantly more pollution-free vehicles on the road in coming years.

The package of Air Resources Board regulations would require auto manufacturers to offer more zero- or very low-emission cars such as battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell and plug-in hybrid vehicles in California starting with model year 2018.

By 2025, one in seven new autos sold in California, or roughly 1.4 million, must be ultra-clean, moving what is now a driving novelty into the mainstream.'
...
"Automakers are mandated to build products that consumers are not mandated to buy," said Gloria Bergquist, a spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which includes Chrysler Group, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. "If the electric vehicle infrastructure is not in place, consumers may be reluctant to buy these technologies."'You can read the whole article here.

Montana Blast From The Past: Pipelines 1979

With all of the Keystone XL pipeline talk currently reverberating through the internet, I believe it's important to take a look at the history of pipelines in Montana as they were reported.



Thankfully available here (use left column), and considering it is only a snapshot look at the subject, the 1979 May-June Montana Outdoors magazine contains an interesting look back.


Title: Montana Oil and Gas Fields, Pipelines and Refineries 1976



Three Days


Pipeline Breaks: Oil and Wildlife Don't Mix
by Ken Knudson
Montana Outdoors May-June 1979 (pp. 37-41)
'On MAY 17, 1978 a rock slide triggered by heavy rains and the flooding waters of Silvertip Creek ruptured a six-inch-diameter pipeline carrying crude oil from the Elk Basin oil field near Belfry to a refinery in Rillings. Before the line could be repaired and clean-up procedures completed, over 60,000 gallons of crude oil had contaminated the Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone and the mainstem Yellowstone. (Another 60,000 gallons was contained in Silvertip Creek.) Earlier that same spring, an eight-inch-diameter pipeline broke near Great Falls. Due to bad weather, it took crews from the Continental Pipeline Company nearly 12 hours to locate the break. The result? Enough oil spilled to be noticeable for more than three days along nearly 40 miles of Belt Creek and the Missouri River.

In addition to those listed above, Montana streams that were polluted as a result of petroleum-related pipeline breaks in 1978 included the Two Medicine River, Cut Bank Creek, the Musselshell River, ....'{emphasis added}

The 1979 article concludes ...
'Because of the potential for serious environmental degradation to fish and wildlife habitat, not to mention the potential for contamination of agricultural, domestic and other beneficial uses of water in Montana, careful and thorough planning of pipeline routes must be conducted to ensure that surface water crossings are reduced to an absolute minimum and that fragile ground water and wetland zones are avoided. In view of the impacts of pipeline breaks discussed in this article, such planning should be considered necessary, logical and in the best interest of Montana’s natural resources.'The entire magazine is available here, while the article referenced above can be read as page one and page two.

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There has obviously been significant technological progress since 1979, unfortunately, the political atmosphere has not progressed accordingly IMO.
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I'd like to give a shout out to both the Havre Daily Corrector and the Montana Watchdog for covering the Keystone XL, and if you are a supporter of the folks at Montana Watchdog, please donate.

In my opinion the environmental movement is currently in disarray. Thank you to those who have made Montana what it is.

Montana Outdoors 1979 is a far cry from Montana Outdoors 2012.

What would Montana Outdoors 1979 be saying about wind turbines very near the Musselshell River?

Rim Rock's Raptors: Too Little Too Late

Many years have passed in Montana since an article has appeared like yesterday's front page piece in the Great Falls Tribune.

The print-only article, titled "Wind farms face raptor blowback" comes just days after a flurry of pro-wind farm, pro-transmission line press releases, news, and opinion pieces touting the success of the MATL transmission line lawsuit and much delayed start of construction of the Rim Rock Wind Farm here in Montana. One such opinion piece was contained in the same newspaper as the Raptor Blowback article, not behind their paywall.

*** Update 1/17/12 ***
The entire article is now available here.

The very pro-wind Great Falls Tribune came out today with a typical, timid op-ed pretenting to care about viewsheds and wildlife. You can read it here. There is some misinformation that I'll highlight in an upcoming post I've been working on for those interested.
*** End Update 1/17/12 ***

Prominently displayed next to the title of the front page article is a picture of a golden eagle with the caption ...'The federally protected golden eagle is among 10 species of raptors that inhabit Montana's Kevin Rim, the site of a planned 126-turbine wind farm.'Anyone following the mainstream media and opinion pages closely here in Montana can confidently say that the environmental wildlife protection movement in Montana has been basically silent when it comes to wind farms located in the state for many years.

Sunday's piece, sitting behind their paywall, discusses involvement of attempted implementation of siting guidelines for wind turbines, proposed meetings between Audubon and California utility officials, and (remember this) U.S. Fish and Wildlife personnel shortages.

Perhaps the most laughable paragraph states that the Rim Rock Wind Farm owner and operator, NaturEner, has already studied the movement of raptors and waterfowl in the Kevin Rim and is locating the turbines 'to create corridors so birds can safely pass'.

Somebody tell the birds.

All of this is too little too late in my opinion, and if anyone thinks that the Morgan Stanley 1%ers, NaturEner, and our Governor are going to bow down to these late, futile attempts to have significant changes in turbine siting at the already delayed Rim Rock Wind Farm, they're living in a dream world.

So do I believe Sunday's article reports of the Obama Administration's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel shortages? Not in the least, they have other plans to deal with wind farms ...

Feds propose allowing wind-farm developer to kill golden eagles Jan 4, 2012'The federal government is proposing to grant a first-of-its-kind permit that would allow the developer of a central Oregon wind-power project to legally kill golden eagles, a regulatory move being closely watched by conservationists.

The Interior Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday released a draft environmental assessment that would allow West Butte Wind Power LLC to kill as many as three protected golden eagles over five years if the company fulfills its conservation commitments.

It’s the first eagle “take permit” application to be received and acted on by U.S. Fish and Wildlife under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. (“Take” means to kill, harass or disturb the birds, their nests or their eggs.)'
...
'Regulations adopted in 2009 enabled the agency to authorize, for the first time, the “take” of eagles for activities that are otherwise lawful but that result in either disturbance or death. In this case "taking" would be the killing of eagles hit by the wind turbines' huge blades.

Public comments on the draft environmental assessment of the Wind Butte project will be accepted until Feb. 2.'
...-
When it was big oil and Republicans "endangering" Montana wildlife, Katy, bar the door.

Now that the meme of green energy saving the world from climate change fills the coffers (which has somehow morphed into jobs, jobs, jobs), the folks and organisations that have made Montana what it is have been told to get in the back seat and shut up, until after the plans have been "cemented".
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Previous Rim Rock Wind Farm posts can be viewed here.

Auto Bailouts In Australia: Government To The Rescue Once Again?

To most Americans, the word Holden may simply elicit a raised eyebrow with a possible Texas card game response.

Simply put, Holden is to Australia as Chevy is to America.

Sitting around the garage chatting up cars talking Holdens and kilowatts is like doing the same for Chevys and horsepower here in America.

Holden became part of General Motors in 1931, now GM Holden Limited, and is struggling financially in Australia ...



Caption:
Jan 10, 2012 Top level talks in America over the future of our Holden exports have revealed South Australia needs a multi-million dollar government bailout to keep Holden's Elizabeth plant alive. See more at tennews.com.au.-

Rim Rock Rolling While Waiting On The MATL

A small victory for the Canadian owned Enbridge, Inc. yesterday in the announcement by the media regarding construction and financing of the Rim Rock wind farm in northwestern Montana needing all the help it can get.

Enbridge, is the company that took over the Montana Alberta Tie Limited (MATL) transmission line that will eventually stretch from Great Falls into Canada. The transmission line is reported to be a requirement for the 309MW 189MW Rim Rock Wind Farm and is currently caught up in litigation with Montana land owners.

All of this timing is quite interesting as an announcement is expected any minute by Montana Sixth Judicial District Judge Nels Swandal out of Livingston on a widely reported eminent domain case involving the MATL transmission line. (background)


*** Update 1/11/12 3:40PM ***
Judge Swandal rules HB 198 is Constitutional ...

*** End Update 1/11/12 3:40PM ***

*** Update 1/11/12 4:30PM ***
More on the HB198 portion of the eminent domain decision here.
*** End Update 1/11/12 4:30PM


Of course, those that have been paying attention know that last October the Minneapolis based Mortenson Construction was already working on the Rim Rock project ...

NatureEner Wind Farm project a go; construction underway Oct 12, 2011


Two days ago, on Monday, Mortenson officially announced the deal and yesterday saw a barrage of press releases and media articles announcing a $320M deal with Morgan Stanley to complete the project.

See here, here, here, here, etc.
'The proposed wind farm would include over 121.5 megawatt turbines and ....' (huh?)


As most readers know, the renewable energy credits for the Rim Rock project will go to southern California utility San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) while the electricity will head north to Canada. The project was touted at length to be a $800M 300MW project, as recently as January 1, 2012, even though the NaturEner web site has listed the project to be 189MW for many months.


Enbridge, Inc must take the victories when it can as it is currently involved in its own land and pipeline problems in Canada and the U.S. ...

Should the Northern Gateway oil pipeline be approved? Jan 10, 2012

Enbridge reports leak from U.S. pipeline as Northern Gateway hearings begin Jan 10, 2012

Who Influences The Governor?: Montana Magazine Circa 1977

Great Falls Tribune reporter Thomas Kotynski wrote an article in 1977 about the people and organizations that influence the Governor.

Montana Governor Thomas Lee Judge, who served two terms from 1973 through January 5, 1981, was the focus of the article and at the time his Lieutenant Governor was Ted Schwinden.

Mr. Kotynski listed ten people and organizations that he believed had the most influence over the Governor's direction; the list was compiled through a survey and his own experience.




Who Influences State Government!
The 10 Most Influential
Montana Magazine Summer 77 - by Thomas Kotynski'It is pretty safe to say that Tom Judge, as Montana’s governor, is the most influential individual involved in and with state government. But, have you ever wondered who those people and forces are who can influence Judges direction? Or, in and of themseleves[sic] work an influence on the state? Who are these people, businesses, groups and coalitions that make state government work, or even
change its course?

As a newspaper reporter it is part of my job to be aware of who and what these forces might be. The following is a list of who I think the “Top Ten” in influences are in and with state government.

My list is drawn from my own experience as a reporter working the Capitol beat and a survey I conducted.

I surveyed 30 people from a broad range of interests in Montana including those involved with business, industry, politics, agriculture, the environment, education, labor, low income interests, the minorities, the public interest, women and journalism.'
...Mr. Kotynski's lengthy piece has many interesting aspects, but perhaps the most interesting to me was ranked at number 4, The Press ...'While few mentioned “The Press,” per se, almost everyone had some member of the Montana press mentioned on their surveys.

Among members of the press mentioned were: Great Falls Tribune Editor, William D. James, The Tribune Capitol Bureau and its columnist Frank Adams; Billings Gazette Editor, William Roesgen; the Lee Newspapers State Bureau; Missoulian editorial writer, Sam Reynolds and the Associated Press.

From my perspective I’d pick Associated Press reporter J.D. Holmes as the most influential among the Montana Press although he was not mentioned by name on any of the surveys. Holmes has covered the state capitol scene out of Helena for AP since 1949. His stories are picked up by all of the state’s daily newspapers and many of the radio and television stations as their sole source of state news. To avoid duplication,the Tribune and Lee news bureaus in Helena discourage coverage of stories which Holmes might originate from his beat. Therefore, Holmes has an almost virtual lock on news from the Capitol “beat.” Over the years he has been able to pick and choose the news.

I estimate that no other man has had his name in print more times in the history of the state. Because Holmes rarely analyzes the news and because his reports are little more than barebones information it has been said that his uncritical coverage of the Supreme Court led to the 20 years of “Castles Court.”

Much credit has been given the Tribune’s Frank Adams for exposing that court and causing Castles’ unseating in the 1976 election.

Likewise, in other areas Holmes has chosen for 30 years what information about state government Montanans should or should not read. That is real influence. I was quite tempted to choose “J. D.” ahead of Schwinden as “No. 1.”'{emphasis added}

In 1999, Representative Hal Harper successfully moved House Joint Resolution No. 36 through the legislature. Some excerpts of the Resolution titled "Designate capitol newsroom as J.D. Holmes memorial" ...'WHEREAS, Joseph Defrees Holmes, more widely known as J.D. Holmes, served the people of Montana as the Associated Press Capitol correspondent, exemplifying the conduct and appearance of the Capitol journalist, during a career spanning 30 years; and'
...
'WHEREAS, he served the people of Montana in an exemplary manner by providing accurate and unbiased reporting of actions and activities of their state government, facts attested to by Governor Tim Babcock who praised him as, "the fairest person I ever knew," adding, "when he wrote something, you didn't have to worry about its accuracy"; and'
...
'That, following Capitol renovation, the Press Room on the third floor of the Montana Capitol be named "The J.D. Holmes Press Room" to permanently honor the professionalism and citizenship exemplified by the life of Joseph Defrees Holmes.'HJ 36 of the 56th session of the Montana Legislature is currently available here.

For those interested, the 1977 article referenced above can be seen in five parts: page 38, page 39, page 40, page 41, and page 42.

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So if by some chance the seas parted, and a Montana State Capitol beat reporter dared publicly released a realistic list of today's most influential, who would make the top ten?

Which corporations would make the most influential, and just how closely do the reporters of today follow their Governor, do they know who really influences his decisions?

For example, how many Montana based reporters and Montanans know whose ears get bent where?

Are his decisions based on what is best for Montana and the people of Montana, or are his decisions based on what is best for him and his future?

Would the current Lieutenant Governor, John Bohlinger, make the top ten? (LOL)

We'll likely never know the answers to these and similar questions, and from what very little time (in the grand scheme) that I've followed the press and their relationship with our current Governor, I won't hold my breath.

CA MATL Deadline Extended & Rim Rock FERC Approval

While watching and waiting for the eminent domain lawsuit decision by Montana Sixth Judicial District Court Judge Nels Swandal concerning the Rim Rock wind farm required MATL transmission line, two additional related news items have emerged with little U.S. press coverage.

*** Update at end of post ***

First, the Alberta Utilities Commission released a ruling on December 21, 2011 extending MATL's original approval deadline of December 31, 2011 for a Canadian portion of the project.

Although a MATL request to extend the deadline until the end of 2012 was not given, the Commission did grant an interim order for an extension of time until May 31, 2012 giving more time to review applications.

Both Montana Alberta Tie Limited (MATL) and Altalink Management Limited (AltaLink) filed applications requesting time extensions for their projects, citing construction delays due to bad weather and contractor disputes.

Altalink, who is working on a MATL substation and interconnect for the project, also stated in their extension application that MATL has not yet completed the transfer of land for the Picture Butte 120S substation.

The AUC interim order is currently available here, and an Edmonton Journal article about the interim order is currently available here.



Another story that gained little traction here in the U.S. media was an important decision regarding the Rim Rock wind farm that will send energy North to Canada through the transmission infrastructure which just won that short reprieve ...

San Diego Gas & Electric wins FERC approval for Montana wind farm Dec 22, 2011'San Diego Gas & Electric won Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval Wednesday to invest in a planned Montana wind farm, as well as an arrangement whereby SDG&E will immediately sell the power back to the project's developer, but keep the renewable energy certificates.

NaturEner USA, a subsidiary of the Spanish renewable energy company Grupo NaturEner, is developing the 189-MW project, which it will own and operate.

Any concerns about the potential for "affiliate abuse" were satisfied, FERC said.

SDG&E will be able to use the RECs from the Rim Rock Wind Farm to help satisfy California's 33% renewable portfolio standard.

The California Public Utilities Commission recently passed rules prohibiting these types of deals from counting toward a utility's RPS obligations, but the new rules apply only to contracts signed after June 1, 2010. SDG&E struck its deal with NaturEner before that date and received PUC authorization in November 2009.'
...-
*** Update 1/12/11 ***
Judge Swandal released a decision upholding the constitutionality of HB198 in a portion of the lawsuit's outcome, some information is available from the Great Falls Tribune here.

Marnee Banks, a hardworking reporter at KXLH here in Helena, highlights some ongoing loose MATL ends, some of which are discussed above ...

MATL project still delayed Jan 12, 2012
*** End Update 1/12/11 ***

MATL HB 198 Lawsuit Hearing Tomorrow

*** Update 12/22/11 11PM ***
The AP reports on today's MATL lawsuit activities in Livingston ...

Judge asks for quick action in power line case Dec 23, 2011'A judge hearing disputes Thursday between landowners and the Montana-Alberta Tie Line project is asking for quick action from each side in a case that has long stalled the project.

The power line running from the Great Falls area to Canada has been the focus of high-profile legal and legislative battles in Montana. Some landowners are refusing to sell rights of way to the company, leading to bitter eminent domain claims that have slowed construction considerably.

The Livingston Enterprise reported Thursday that Judge Nels Swandal told both sides to quickly send him final arguments so he can render a decision on the matter.'
...*** End Update 12/22/11 11PM ***


Arguments in the HB 198 lawsuit against the State of Montana and MATL LLP by Maurer Farms Inc. and other landowners will be heard tomorrow in Livingston.

The 2010-11 Montana legislature, pushed along by Governor Brian Schweitzer, passed House Bill 198 that was supposed to allow the owners of the partially built Montana Alberta Tie Limited transmission line to use eminent domain to complete the project. This transmission line is required for expanded wind energy production here in Montana, included the much touted 300MW 189MW Rim Rock wind farm.

One of few Montana media outlets that have reported on this very important case, the Choteau Acantha, gives some details ...

Locals can listen to eminent domain hearing Dec 21, 2011'The lawyers for the trouble-plagued Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. transmission line will present their arguments at 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 22 that MATL L.L.P. has the authority of eminent domain and that landowners along the right-of-way had ample opportunity to engage in the public review process before the corridor was determined.

The power line is partly built between Great Falls and Lethbridge, Alta.

The hearing will take place in the Livingston courthouse before 6th District Court Judge William Nels Swandal, but it will be broadcast via a one-way videoconference in the Teton County courtroom in Choteau.

Twelve Teton and Pondera county landowners whose property is located in MATL's state-approved right-of-way brought a lawsuit on May 20 against the state and MATL asking the district court to declare House Bill 198 unconstitutional. Passed by the 2011 Legislature, the bill extended the power of eminent domain to regulated public utilities outright and to developers such as MATL that received a certificate from the state Department of Environmental Quality that administers the Major Facility Siting Act.'
...
The Shelby Promoter reported earlier this month, and was highlighted in the above mentioned article, a new builder has been hired by Canadian company Enbridge Inc., the new owners of the transmission line ...

Work on MATL to resume Dec 14, 2011'Renewable Energy Systems (RES) Americas has been hired by Enbridge Inc. and issued a limited notice to proceed as the new contractor to complete the Montana-Alberta Tie Line, said Darryl James, regulatory manager for MATL. RES Americas will be out working in the field by the first part of January, he said.

Tonbridge Power Inc., sold the MATL line to Enbridge Inc. Oct. 13, 2011. Enbridge Inc., is a Calgary-based company that operates the Enbridge Pipeline System in the United States and Canada and owns and operates Enbridge Gas Distribution in Canada.

RES Americas and its subsidiary, Probst Electric, will first have to complete reconstruction, retrofitting and repair of existing poles and lines, said James. Because construction was stopped so abruptly last year, “there are a number of issues,” including reclamation problems and problems with poles and foundations that need to be addressed before additional construction can occur.'
...
A different MATL transmission line lawsuit in Cascade county, MATL LLP versus James Sheffels et al., has been stayed because of the Maurer Farms Inc. case. The stay was opposed by MATL LLP because of the need to finish the transmission line due to thier $161M stimulus loan.

*** Update 12/21/11 7pm ***
I was only half right regarding the time constraints ...

Montana-Alberta wind power line faces regulatory delays Dec 21, 2011

Regulator cuts short plea to extend permitting to end of 2012'CALGARY — A merchant power line linking wind generation in Montana to Alberta’s electricity grid will be delayed, but not as long as proponents had applied for.

Provincial regulators denied Enbridge Inc. a request to extend permitting deadlines on the Montana-Alberta Tie Line by a year, instead granting the pipeline and energy giant a regulatory break until May 2012.

Power line builder and operator AltaLink was included in Wednesday’s decision on the 230-kilovolt transmission line by the Alberta Utilities Commission, having also applied for an extension on its substation project associated with the project.'
...*** End Update 12/21/11 7pm ***
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As expected by anyone that pays attention to the bias here in the Montana media, the new developments of these multiple lawsuits against and by Montana landowners isn't widely reported. Thanks very much to those few real journalists for keeping the public informed.

Although I'm not associated with the group Concerned Citizens Montana, they have some of the Maurer Farms Inc. court documents available on their web site.

Oz Healthcare & CO2

Now I'm not trying to pick on my Australian friends with this, but maybe just a tad more money should be spent on healthcare instead of carbon.

One Of The Greatest Chief Executives Of Any State In America

Fresh off last week's visit to the House Agriculture Committee, former New Jersey Governor and Senator Jon Corzine testified today in Washington before the Senate Committee on Agriculture.

MF's Corzine said to know of customer fund misuse Dec 13, 2011'The regulatory arm of CME Group has turned over interviews to the Justice Department that allege former MF Global chief Jon Corzine knew that the now-bankrupt brokerage firm used customer money to lend to a European affiliate, a CME executive said on Tuesday.'
...Once Chairman and CEO of MF Global Holdings Ltd., Corzine apparently does not know where $1.2 billion ended up.

Bets on European government debt sank the company causing the eighth largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, hitting ranchers and farmers who invested their money particularly hard.

Of course, time will tell if he is found guilty of any wrongdoing in this fiasco, but it doesn't bode too well for the Chairman and CEO to lose such an unbelievable amount of money.

*** Update 12/18/2011 ***
The Motley Fool has been doing some great reporting on MF, here is agreat place to start.
*** End Update ***

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In 2009, and later panned by some for the move, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer had some glowing things to say about the then Governor of New Jersey in a speech on June 4 in Newark.

While warming up the crowd for Bon Jovi during a Corzine for New Jersey Governor fundraiser, Governor Schweitzer said he is "one of the greatest Chief Executives of any State in America", also proclaiming "Jon Corzine is the architect of the American Recovery Act", and "we need Jon for the entire country".

The 6 minute speech is currently available here.

*** Update 12/28/11 ***
I wonder if Governor Schweitzer gave back Jon Corzine's $1200 contribution like President Obama did, discounting bundlers of course.
*** End Update 12/28/11 ***