B
BJE80
Guest
Finally some good news.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statep...r-budget-proposals-b99481087z1-299779721.html
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statep...r-budget-proposals-b99481087z1-299779721.html
Walkers plan to strip power of the NRB has been abondoned by lawmakers.
bueller
Moderator
Awesome I can once again sleep at night :rolleyes:. Honestly I don't pay much attention to political BS anymore and refuse to let it get me all worked up. I'd rather enjoy the time I have here instead of sitting around drinking coffee complaining about crap that I have absolutely no say in.
B
BJE80
Guest
On a lighter note. Could they of found a worse picture of Alberta Darling? :D
shawnv
5 year old buck +
Sometimes that is true but in this case it was people who paid attention that turned the tide for this issue. The State Reps received a lot of push-back from their constituents.
bueller
Moderator
or did the State Reps already have their minds made up anyways and want you to believe that your voice was heard. Politicans make their careers spinning and making things fit into place for whatever is good at the time. I don't trust them, even the ones I know personally, still don't trust them when it comes to a political issue.
bowhunternw
5 year old buck +
I don't live there but it does make me happy to hear that, some common sense prevails.
Maybe you are right, but I also know that you are wrong. I have been involved in a previous grassroots movement to make a change similar to what happened with the NRB. I know first hand that your voice does matter, at least some of the time. My instinct on this one says constituent push back made a difference.
wiscwhip
5 year old buck +
I'm still skeptical that they won't try to push this through by some under the table method. Sure it's not in the budget anymore, but don't think for one minute that Scooter is going to let this fade quietly into the night. This clown is a piece of work, he is essentially trying to eliminate every watchdog agency in the state. He wants the people that oversee the State Supreme Court to be controlled by the Supreme Court? WTF is that BS? And then we are cutting everything possible in the budget, but the Koch's oil interests want him to fund another study proving that wind power is bad, that has already been done twice in the last 5 years and the evidence was inconclusive on both occasions.
Steve Bartylla
5 year old buck +
The first line may or may not be true, but who cares which it was? Can't speak for anyone else, but I'm just pleased with the result. That said, I'd give better odds for than against that it helped in this case. The GOP had financial incentives to vote for it, but nothing financially to gain from voting it down....outside of reelection concerns. Now, on stopping the DNR from disbanding their independent research dept., frankly, I think it's already been decided and nothing we do would matter. The Governor is the only one that matters and I have a real hard time believing the thought of losing a few votes could stand against the political donations he can turn that into. Not a chance in heck the mining company that has been donating to Walker wouldn't be plea$ed that the dept that came out with research against their mining interests had been disbanded.
Personally, I also couldn't agree more with your last two sentences. I'd only add to it, if one wants to know the real motive behind over 95% of legislation, follow the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and the answer becomes crystal clear.
"but the Koch's oil interests want him to fund another study proving that wind power is bad, that has already been done twice in the last 5 years and the evidence was inconclusive on both occasions."
Typical uninformed comment, tying this to the Koch oil interests is ignorant. I am pretty sure this study is related to the health problems those that live near certain wind turbines are having. Research Shirley Wind Farm.
Typical uninformed comment, tying this to the Koch oil interests is ignorant. I am pretty sure this study is related to the health problems those that live near certain wind turbines are having. Research Shirley Wind Farm.
wiscwhip
5 year old buck +
Maybe? Is it ignorant? Is it as uninformed as you say or are you burying your head in the sand? You ever do any research into health issues related to folks who live near oil refineries. It is far, far from flowers and unicorns for those folks either, but you don't hear about that very often, as it gets buried by the big money oil interests. Is it so farfetched to believe that those same interests would like to muddy the waters for their competition in the energy business? They surely don't fund 3 studies in 6 years to address the concerns of people living in those locations. Recent studies indicate that people downwind of oil refineries have a 50% greater incidence of leukemia than people who do not live near a refinery. Statistically speaking, that is very significant. Is it so far reaching to believe that the oil interests would want a study that shows other competing forms of energy generation are just as bad as they are, where health and environmental risks are concerned? I will paste a few comments from a recently published news articles on the subject and then my "ignorance" will leave it at that:
"Wind power in the state has been the subject of some public debate, drawing campaigns paid for by conservative groups with ties to fossil fuel interests on one side and by renewable energy advocates on the other."
"The conservative Heartland Institute, which advocates for "free-market solutions," has touted the Brown County decision, and used it as an opportunity to criticize the state for "imposing its wind power mandates." Heartland has received funding in the past from fossil fuel interests. Walker has appeared as a guest speaker at the group's events."
Heartland Institute is a Koch funded organization that Scooter has direct ties to, of course he and they would "criticize" green energy sources. But never mind any of that, lets just put our heads in the sand.
"Previous studies have found no link between wind farms and increased health problems. The Wisconsin Wind Siting Council, an advisory group to the state's public service commission, issued a report to the state legislature last fall that concluded that "some individuals residing in close proximity to wind turbines perceive audible noise and find it annoying," but "it appears that this group is in the minority and that most individuals do not experience annoyance, stress, or perceived adverse health effects due to the operation of wind turbines."
Canada's health department also undertook a large-scale study of the subject in 2012, and concluded last year that wind turbine noise could not be linked to sleep disorders, illnesses, dizziness, ringing in the ears, migraines or headaches, perceived stress, or quality of life concerns. The only thing Canadian health officials did find to be related to wind turbine noise: annoyance with features of turbines, such as noise, shadows cast by the blades, blinking lights, vibrations and visual impacts. They found that louder turbines had a greater impact in that regard. A panel of health experts in Massachusetts also released a study on wind turbine health impacts in 2012 that reached similar conclusions.
"All peer-reviewed studies to date indicate using the wind is a safe way to generate electricity, far safer for human health than other forms of electricity production, such as coal,"
Looks like independent studies have been done by many agencies in and outside this country and it looks like they all come to the same conclusions, it is a non-issue or very small at best.
"A recent flood of Koch-supported think tanks, junk scientists and astroturf groups from inside and outside of Kansas are awaiting the outcome of a bill this week that could stall progress on the growth of clean energy in Kansas."
Unfortunately, clean energy is not palatable to the billionaire Koch brothers or the influence peddlers they finance. All of the following State Policy Network affiliates (except the Kansas Policy Institute) are directly funded by the Koch brothers, while most of the groups get secretive grants through the Koch-affiliated “Dark Money ATM”
NO WAY the Koch Bros could have anything to do with any of this, I must be truly IGNORANT! Ever hear of ALEC?
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC):
$858,858 from Koch foundations since 1997
Ongoing funding from Koch Industries and numerous coal, oil & gas interests
Koch lobbyist Mike Morgan sits on ALEC’s corporate board
ALEC is leading the nationally-coordinated attack on state renewable portfolio standards as part of an ambitious dirty energy agenda for the members of its anti-environmental task force, like Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, Peabody Energy, Duke Energy and other major oil, gas and coal interests.
KOCH INDUSTRIES
Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who own Koch Industries, have spent over $67,000,000 from their family foundations on groups who have denied the existence or extent of global climate change, promote fossil fuel use and block policies that promote clean energy development.
Still think the Koch Brothers couldn't have anything to do with Scooter putting this study funding into the budget? Now, I may be ignorant by your apparently highly informed lofty standards, but the evidence is right in front of you and if you don't believe me just look it up for yourself. The proof is in the pudding as it were. You can bury your head in the sand as I said before, but if you are going to call someone ignorant, you better have your information straight and you should probably use more than one incident to back up your accusations, I did. Who looks like the uninformed one now?
"Wind power in the state has been the subject of some public debate, drawing campaigns paid for by conservative groups with ties to fossil fuel interests on one side and by renewable energy advocates on the other."
"The conservative Heartland Institute, which advocates for "free-market solutions," has touted the Brown County decision, and used it as an opportunity to criticize the state for "imposing its wind power mandates." Heartland has received funding in the past from fossil fuel interests. Walker has appeared as a guest speaker at the group's events."
Heartland Institute is a Koch funded organization that Scooter has direct ties to, of course he and they would "criticize" green energy sources. But never mind any of that, lets just put our heads in the sand.
"Previous studies have found no link between wind farms and increased health problems. The Wisconsin Wind Siting Council, an advisory group to the state's public service commission, issued a report to the state legislature last fall that concluded that "some individuals residing in close proximity to wind turbines perceive audible noise and find it annoying," but "it appears that this group is in the minority and that most individuals do not experience annoyance, stress, or perceived adverse health effects due to the operation of wind turbines."
Canada's health department also undertook a large-scale study of the subject in 2012, and concluded last year that wind turbine noise could not be linked to sleep disorders, illnesses, dizziness, ringing in the ears, migraines or headaches, perceived stress, or quality of life concerns. The only thing Canadian health officials did find to be related to wind turbine noise: annoyance with features of turbines, such as noise, shadows cast by the blades, blinking lights, vibrations and visual impacts. They found that louder turbines had a greater impact in that regard. A panel of health experts in Massachusetts also released a study on wind turbine health impacts in 2012 that reached similar conclusions.
"All peer-reviewed studies to date indicate using the wind is a safe way to generate electricity, far safer for human health than other forms of electricity production, such as coal,"
Looks like independent studies have been done by many agencies in and outside this country and it looks like they all come to the same conclusions, it is a non-issue or very small at best.
"A recent flood of Koch-supported think tanks, junk scientists and astroturf groups from inside and outside of Kansas are awaiting the outcome of a bill this week that could stall progress on the growth of clean energy in Kansas."
Unfortunately, clean energy is not palatable to the billionaire Koch brothers or the influence peddlers they finance. All of the following State Policy Network affiliates (except the Kansas Policy Institute) are directly funded by the Koch brothers, while most of the groups get secretive grants through the Koch-affiliated “Dark Money ATM”
NO WAY the Koch Bros could have anything to do with any of this, I must be truly IGNORANT! Ever hear of ALEC?
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC):
$858,858 from Koch foundations since 1997
Ongoing funding from Koch Industries and numerous coal, oil & gas interests
Koch lobbyist Mike Morgan sits on ALEC’s corporate board
ALEC is leading the nationally-coordinated attack on state renewable portfolio standards as part of an ambitious dirty energy agenda for the members of its anti-environmental task force, like Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, Peabody Energy, Duke Energy and other major oil, gas and coal interests.
KOCH INDUSTRIES
- Based in Wichita, Kansas
- Operations in oil refining, oil and gas pipelines, fossil fuel commodity & derivatives trading, petrochemical manufacturing, fertilizers, textiles, wood and paper products, consumer tissue products, cattle ranching, and other ventures.
- 84% private owned between brothers Charles Koch and David Koch, each worth an estimated $34 billion (Forbes) to $44.7 billion (Bloomberg).
- Member of ALEC’s anti-environmental task force
- Associated foundations fund State Policy Network, ALEC, Heartland Institute, Americans for Prosperity, Beacon Hill Institute, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Americans for Tax Reform and Dr. Willie Soon.
- Koch brothers founded Americans for Prosperity and helped establish the Heartland Institute.
Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who own Koch Industries, have spent over $67,000,000 from their family foundations on groups who have denied the existence or extent of global climate change, promote fossil fuel use and block policies that promote clean energy development.
Still think the Koch Brothers couldn't have anything to do with Scooter putting this study funding into the budget? Now, I may be ignorant by your apparently highly informed lofty standards, but the evidence is right in front of you and if you don't believe me just look it up for yourself. The proof is in the pudding as it were. You can bury your head in the sand as I said before, but if you are going to call someone ignorant, you better have your information straight and you should probably use more than one incident to back up your accusations, I did. Who looks like the uninformed one now?
Similar threads
