Have people been following the fiasco with the city of DM and their
war on Hope builders and the “hooch” dwellers?

A church activist helped a bunch of homeless guys build some nice
little shacks from recycled materials to keep them from living in
boxes under a bridge. They pulled together and built a tight little
camp. Of course, there was a fire, and that was all the excuse the
city needed to doze the whole place.

I understand that it was on city land, safety and liability issues, etc, but what
a shame to let the jack-boot of bureaucracy stomp on imagination and
personal initiative.

I'm afraid this is not the last shanty-town that we will be seeing
before the economy recovers- I'm disappointed that Mayor Cownie didn't
look for a better solution.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081203/NEWS/812030381/1001

Watch the video – breaks your heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEwOA7NZnq8

MidAm to buy Constellation Energy

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=252332
“MidAmerican produces energy from fuel sources including geothermal, natural gas, hydroelectric, nuclear, coal and wind. The Des Moines, Iowa-based company also supplies energy in the US and British consumer markets, with 6.7 million electricity and gas customers.

Constellation supplies electricity nationwide from diversified fuel types, including nuclear, coal, gas and renewable sources.

The Baltimore, Maryland-based company teamed up with French energy giant EDF in July 2007 UniStar Nuclear Energy, to operate new nuclear power plants in the United States…”

http://www.kciinvesting.com/articles/9450/1/Banks-and-Utilities-/Page1.html
“…This deal also brings nuclear energy to Berkshire’s utility empire for the first time, an area where Buffett has professed great interest. Constellation operates a highly efficient fleet of plants and has plans to build several more. The merger effectively allies Berkshire with French nuclear giant Electricite de France—which owns 10 percent of Constellation—and its nuclear construction partner, French government-backed Areva. The pair has plans to build four advanced reactors in the US, and joining their interests to Buffett’s deep pockets could accelerate their development.”

French poised to snap up British Energy in £12.4bn deal

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1058786/French-poised-snap-British-Energy-12-4bn-deal.html
“…French energy giant EDF will table its long-awaited £12.4bn bid for British Energy this week, providing a huge cash windfall for the Government and kick-starting a massive rollout of new nuclear power stations…”

MSNBC Takes Incendiary Hosts From Anchor Seat

New York Times

MSNBC tried a bold experiment this year by putting two politically incendiary hosts, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, in the anchor chair to lead the cable news channel’s coverage of the election.

That experiment appears to be over…

 
Iowa stands to gain jobs by investing in global-warming solutions

 (September 9, 2008) — As Congress takes up debate this week on legislation to confront the current energy crisis, a new report released today by The Political Economy Research Institute shows that the U.S. can create two million jobs nationwide by investing in clean energy technologies that will strengthen the economy and fight global warming. The report finds that investing in clean energy would create four times as many jobs as spending the same amount of money within the oil industry, and in Iowa, 21,000 – jobs would be created.

“This report is very encouraging, but bases its numbers solely on state population numbers – if we take Iowa's huge resource base for renewable energy like wind, solar and biomass into account, the numbers would undoubtedly be far higher,” said Michelle Kenyon Brown, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Energy Association (IRENEW). IRENEW hosts it 17th annual renewable energy expo this weekend in Cedar Falls, showcasing the latest in clean energy technologies.

“Green Recovery – A Program to Create Good Jobs and Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy” analyzes the potential for a two year $100 billion green investment program – which would be comparable to the size of the April 2008 federal stimulus package dedicated to consumer rebates – to be an engine for job creation in Iowa and nationwide. The program could be paid for with proceeds from auctions of carbon permits under a global warming cap-and-trade program.  A global warming cap-and-trade program will drive private investments into clean energy and raise public revenue through carbon permit auctions. A cap will enable America to reduce global warming pollution to the levels science indicates are needed to avoid the worst effects of global warming.

The package is illustrative of the potential for clean energy – and specifically green infrastructure investments – to create new jobs and strengthen the economy.  The specific package would invest in six green infrastructure priorities: retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency, expanding mass transit and freight rail, constructing “smart” electrical grid transmission systems, wind power, solar power, and next-generation biofuels. 

In addition to creating two million jobs nationwide over two years, a $100 billion initial investment in our clean energy future would:

∑ Create nearly four times more jobs than spending the same amount of money within the oil industry and 300,000 more jobs than a similar amount of spending directed toward household consumption via an economic stimulus refund to taxpayers.
∑ Create roughly triple the number of good jobs — paying at least $16 dollars an hour — as spending the same amount of money within the oil industry.   
∑ Bolster employment especially in construction and manufacturing.  Construction employment has fallen from 8 million to 7.2 million over the past two years due to the housing bubble collapse.  The Green Recovery program can, at the least, bring back these lost 800,000 construction jobs.

The report was written by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, under commission by the Center for American Progress (CAP) and released by a coalition of labor and environmental groups.  The authors of the report are Robert Pollin, Heidi Garrett-Peltier, James Heintz, and Helen Scharber of PERI. For the complete report findings go to www.peri.umass.edu/green_recovery

For more on the IRENEW Energy Expo, please visit www.irenew.org on the web.

###

PERI Contact:  Debbie Zeidenberg, (413) 577-3147; dzeiden@peri.umass.edu
CAP Contact:  John Neurohr, (202) 481-8182; jneurohr@americanprogress.org
Local Contact: Mike Carberry (319)594-6453; michaelcarberry@hotmail.com

Believe it or not, the Iowa House of Representatives is in the process of passing a bill to
“…allow the state's Office of Energy Independence to add nuclear energy to the mix of alternative and renewable energy sources that could apply for millions of dollars in state grant money.” (Todays DM Register – http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS10/802280389/1001/NEWS ).

A crazy plan by a few crackpot tools of the utilities, you say? No – in fact House File 2305  is co-sponsored by 57 representatives, including a bunch of democrats (who should be ashamed of themselves!).  Sponsors include:
 
PAULSEN, STRUYK, KAUFMANN, BAUDLER,DEYOE, RAYHONS, SODERBERG, UPMEYER,HEATON, TJEPKES, TYMESON, FORRISTALL, L. MILLER, GREINER, HOFFMAN, CHAMBERS, ALONS, WORTHAN, MAY, DE BOEF, SANDS, WATTS, LUKAN, DOLECHECK, RANTS, ROBERTS, D. TAYLOR, JACOBS, VAN FOSSEN, BOAL, VAN ENGELENHOVEN, PETTENGILL, TOMENGA, QUIRK, T. TAYLOR, DANDEKAR, KELLEY, SHOMSHOR, BUKTA, BAILEY, ZIRKELBACH, JACOBY, GIPP, RAECKER, DRAKE, FOEGE, HUSEMAN, R. OLSON, CLUTE, ANDERSON, WISE, GRASSLEY, RASMUSSEN, HUSER, SCHICKEL, WINDSCHITL, and BERRY.

If these folks are your reps, please call them up and ask them what the hell they are thinking…. I think we can all agree that Uranium is not a renewable resource, and as far as alternative – after 50 years and 60-80 billion dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies, I don't think it really qualifies as alternative, either.  In fact, it is the most expensive segment of the power industry, and has been from the start.

Please go to http://www.legis.state.ia.us and find the contact info for these people, and ask them to please extract their heads from their hindquarters before they embarrass our entire state.

Rich Dana
rich@gotoplanb.net

Hey Folks –

If you are a supporter of renewable energy in Iowa, I hope
you will consider making a call of support to your legislator –

The 25% by 2025 RPS is up tomorrow in the Iowa Senate in subcommittee
and might be in the full Natural Resources & Environmental Protection
committee on Thursday for consideration and a vote.

We are trying to generate some calls, e-mails, etc., to the
subcommittee members (Sen. Hogg, Sen. Ragan and Sen. Gaskill. and to
the full committee (see below). The bills are SF2070 and SF2071. There
are two  SF2070 is more complex and sponsored by Hogg, SF2071 is very
simple and has 22 Senate Democrats as co-sponsors (Sen. Ragan is a
cosponsor). Read the bills here –
http://www.legis.state.ia.us/Legislation.html

If you are constituents of these senators, please call them at the
senate switchboard – (515) 281-3371 .

Thanks-

Rich Dana
Iowa Outreach Coordinator
Union of Concerned Scientists
319.530.6051
rich@…
—————————-

Natural Resources and Environment
Committee Members

* Dennis H. Black (D, District 21), Chair (Newton Area)
* Tom Hancock (D, District 16), Vice Chair (Dubuque Area)
* E. Thurman Gaskill (R, District 6), Ranking Member (Clear Lake Area)
* Jerry Behn (R, District 24) (Urbandale/Boone area)
* Joe Bolkcom (D, District 39) (Iowa City area)
* Dick L. Dearden (D, District 34)(Des Moines East)
* Rob Hogg (D, District 19) (Cedar Rapids)
* David Johnson (R, District 3) (Spirit Lake Area)
* Steve Kettering (R, District 26) (Sac City Area)
* Mary Lundby (R, District 18) (Marion)
* Larry Noble (R, District 35) (Ankeny Area)
* Amanda Ragan (D, District 7) (Mason City Area)
* Brian Schoenjahn (D, District 12) (Strawberry Point Area)
* Dr. Joe M. Seng (D, District 43) (Davenport)
* Frank Wood (D, District 42) (Eldridge Area)

Find your Legislator Here: http://www.legis.state.ia.us/FindLeg/