USD Student Project: Hyperion Refinery Not Sustainable

...but USD Math Dept. Cringes at Bad Pollution Math

Old Cranky brings to our attention a Vermillion Plain Talk report about a new assessment of the proposed Hyperion oil refinery in Union County. The assessors: a team of undergrads from the University of South Dakota. The assessment: on four out of five criteria, a big oil refinery near Elk Point is not a sustainable project.

The students are part of IDEA 410, a capstone course in USD's Interdisciplinary Education and Action program. Various sections of the course tackle various issues. This section—titled "Wall Street & Ethics: Do Social Justice, Community, and Sustainability Cost Too Much?"— is apparently taught by USD School of Business Professor Gregory M. Huckabee. And if he can get his kids to do research like this, then I do indeed heart Huckabee!

The students analyzed the Hyperion refinery proposal through a framework of criteria presented in Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Writes VPT's David Lias:

Diamond believes that societies can be determined to be sustainable, or not, by applying five criteria to specific circumstances. These criteria are: environmental damage, climate change, loss of friendly contacts, rise of hostile contacts, and political, economic, social and cultural setting.

The students told aldermen that only the final criteria – political, economic, social and cultural setting – could be deemed sustainable [David Lias, "USD Students: Hyperion Is Not Sustainable," Vermillion Plain Talk, 2009.12.11].

The students identify various problems like the 9 to 12 million gallons of water the refinery would slurp out of everyone's milkshake daily and the 19.6 million tons of pollutants the refinery would belch out in return each year.

The USD students noted in their presentation that some individuals, including Gov. Mike Rounds, argue the emissions from this plant will only be 32 percent of what is currently emitted from Sioux Falls [Lias, 2009.12.11].

The Governor said that? Really?! Hang on, kids: five points off for botching the numbers. According to the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources (which, interestingly, actually uses exclamation points to explain itself in this Q&A sheet on Hyperion), the proposed refinery would emit a mass of air pollutants equal to 7% of the pollution emitted by everyone in Minnehaha County.

While the kids sign up for spreadsheet lessons, I still would like to ask: since when is it o.k. for one person (and remember, under our twisted laws, a corporation like Hyperion is a "person") to emit as much air pollution as nearly 13,000 people?

Now I think I hear the indigestion burbling up from my conservative friends: bad enough the kids can't run Excel, but they take classes at a public university to promote their liberal tree-hugging (well, cornfield-hugging) agenda? When my conservative friends read the theme of the interdisciplinary program—"Liberal Learning: Students in a Global Community"—they'll lob all sorts of New World Order critiques.

I do find it interesting that these students giving Hyperion a studious thumbs-down are the business school kids. (The hippies at USD are all in theater, right? ;-) ) They didn't just look at the immediate short-term profit; they took the long view, all the way to the boreal forest that has to be torn down and the ducks that get killed to get at the tar sands oil Hyperion would process, the dirtiest oil in the world. Even USD B-school students can recognize that oil like that isn't worth the trouble.

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Ted Klaudt Claims Copyright on "Ted Klaudt"

First Ted Klaudt made headlines by pretending to be a medical examiner. Now Ted Klaudt seems to be trying to stop headlines by pretending to be an intellectual property rights lawyer. Mr. Mercer at Pure Pierre Politics posts what has to be either a joke or a sign of sheer stupidity: Ted Klaudt is sending letters to news media telling them they must request permission 20 days ahead of time, in writing, to use his name in any way. (Hey, Ted Klaudt, where's my letter?)

Good grief, Ted Klaudt, who do you think you are? Even the Lord lets us use His name freely, as long as we don't take it in vain.

Of course, it took real legal scholar Tim Gebhart less than a couple hours to drop by Mr. Mercer's comment section and point out you can't copyright your own name. Trademark, maybe, but not copyright. It's really not even intellectual property: Ted Klaudt's parents might be able to make that claim for giving it to him, but unless Ted Klaudt has changed his name in court, Ted Klaudt can't claim to have created it.

But I suppose if Ted Klaudt has transferred his fantasies from raping his foster daughters to making up imaginary copyright law, that's a sign of psychological progress... isn't it?

Now I don't think I've ever blogged about Ted Klaudt previously, as I found Ted Klaudt's actions too disgusting to bother mentioning. But there, Ted Klaudt. I mentioned your name twelve times, fourteen counting the headline. What "charges and other legal actions" do you have in mind for the Madville Times?

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Keystone Jobs: How Many South Dakotans?

As I hustle out the door to the library, I notice my friends at South Dakota Tar Sands Pipeline have noted a black man has filed suit against a Keystone pipeline contractor for alleged discrimination he experienced while doing prep work for TrasnCanada's pipeline in North Dakota last year. SDTSP notes that the plaintiff is an Illinois man; the defendant, a Pennsylvania company.

So I'm curious: how many South Dakotans did the Keystone construction effort employ? How many jobs will we get from Keystone XL? Is the only boost we get from trrenching these lines a brief surge in sandwich and motel room sales, followed by higher electric rates as the pumping stations slurp up our power?

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Copenhagen Enjoys Progressive Energy Policies and Economic Growth

As leaders in Copenhagen work on fixing the planet, they may hear my conservative friends argue that government restrictions on carbon emissions and requirements to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy would hurt economic growth. That's at least more reasonable than contending that a few hacked e-mails disprove decades of scientific research.

Or is it?

A central argument for resisting binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions is concern for economic growth. However, experience from Denmark shows that with a persistent and active energy policy focused on increasing energy efficiency it is possible to maintain high economic growth, while at the same time reducing the dependency on fossil fuels and protecting the environment.

Denmark's energy efficiency is today among the highest in the EU, and continues to rise each year. The country has one of the most efficient uses of energy and a low level of CO2-emission in relation to production levels, compared to other EU and OECD countries. Since 1980, Denmark's economy has grown by 78%, alongside nearly stable energy consumption and reduced CO2 emissions.

The country's sustainable growth has been created by a combination of investments in technological development, green taxes and a political effort to promote the use of renewable energy. Since the 1970s Denmark has seen major investments and research into alternative energy sources, especially wind, and efficiency improvements of existing power stations.

Today, renewable energy comprises 19% of overall energy consumption. This has increased energy supply security and contributed significantly to the attainment of Denmark's climate targets. From 1990 to 2007, economic activity in Denmark increased by more than 45%, while CO2 emissions decreased by more than 13% [Ambassador Einar Hebogard Jensen, "Bangladesh on the Road to COP15 in Copenhagen," The Daily Star, 2009.08.28].

The city of Copenhagen also burns 75% of its garbage for electricity and heat. 36% of its residents bike as their main mode of transportation. The Danes also feel pretty darned happy.

In other news Copenhagen-watchers might find interesting, Mr. Price at Robbinsdale Radical shares videos from Copenhagen from South Dakota's Jamie Horter. She's the Augustana student working for strong climate change action at the summit.

Jamie might want to pass around copies of this new Ipsos Public Affairs poll that finds 70% of Americans believe global warming is real and that 61% of those folks believe it's mostly human-caused. 52% support using cap-and-trade to tackle carbon emissions. The poll also finds people are more worried about jobs than electric rate increases: support for cap-and-trade drops to 43% if it includes a hypothetical $25-per-month hike in electric bills, but that support bounces back to 60% if that hike is accompanied by "a significant number of 'GREEN' jobs."

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Hadrick Boosts Monolithic Ag Industry, Ignores Animal Rights Allies

I read Troy Hadrick's blog, Advocates for Agriculture, to keep my finger on the pulse of propaganda from the ag-industrial complex. His latest post is another sad example of his failure to effectively advocate for the family farms and ranches he claims to represent.

Hadrick describes the opportunity he and his wife had to make another couple thousand dollars in speaking fees at the Range Beef Cow Symposium in Casper, Wyoming. He shared the usual platitudes—tell your story, work together, etc. Hadrick then turns to denigrating the following speaker who told his story. Hadrick apparently found this speaker so distasteful he can't even mention the man's name. Hadrick takes issue with Rollin's recommendation that beef producers take advantage of consumer desire for a product raised in humane conditions by emphasizing that American cattle spend their lives in far healthier conditions than do pigs or poultry. Hadrick says all ag producers need to stick together as a united industry and not "trash" competing commodities.

Now there is a reasonable argument about marketing and business strategy, even if it does smell faintly of unionism and collusion. But Hadrick never feels secure enough in his argument to stick with the issues. He resorts here as usual to attacks on personality and association. He criticizes the man for being an ethicist with a Ph.D. who "sit[s] at a desk for a career." He notes the speaker grew up in Brooklyn and clearly "knows nothing about the cowboy culture" (because, like Sarah Palin, Hadrick apparently doesn't think urban American produces "real" Americans). Hadrick brands this man as a tool of the Humane Society and lobbyists in Washington, D.C. (Never mind that Hadrick himself is big in the Farm Bureau and thus associates with numerous D.C. lobbyists.) How can "a person like this" have any authority to tell farmers and ranchers what's right or wrong?

[Photo credit: Today@Colorado State]

Who is this unnamed sissified urbanite destroyer of agriculture?

Dr. Bernard E. Rollin, bioethicist and University Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Animal Sciences, and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University. When he's not lifting weights or riding his Harley, Professor Rollin writes books and teaches about animals and morality. Last month, Dr. Rollin had the audacity to give one of his lectures right in the heart of rural America at South Dakota State University. Amanda Nolz, a passionate advocate of agriculture herself, wrote up his Brookings presentation to 300 beef producers and students. Her assessment:

At first, his audience was unsure of Rollin's allegiance, but by the end of his lecture, there wasn't a doubt that he was a true champion for the beef cattle industry [Amanda Nolz, "Animal Ethics Professor Offers Advice to Beef Industry," Tri-State Livestock News, 2009.11.20].

But what about all his academic namby-pamby animal rights talk?

Rollin said that producers often mistake ‘animal rights' as a dirty phrase because groups like PETA and HSUS so heavily use that word. He warns producers not to let those groups take that phrase from them.

“Animal rights is a word producers should own because it's a very powerful word,” said Rollin. “The vast majority of ranchers truly believe that animals have rights. Animals do have certain entitlements: access to food, water, shelter and shade. Ranchers follow that code everyday, so why not own it?”

Hm. Sounds to me as if Dr. Rollin has a pretty level-headed understanding of what ranching is about and how beef can sell itself as a superior product. Nolz and the Brookings audience appear to have gotten that message. But Troy Hadrick seems to be so overwhelmed by the fumes of his own propaganda that he'd rather stand cheek by filthy jowl with ag atrocities like Smithfield Foods than embrace the message of a thoughtful advocate who shares the values of South Dakota's family farmers and ranchers.

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By the way, still not one word from Hadrick in defense of the family farms our state may put out of business with oppressive new rules on raw milk sales. Read this letter from Lila Streff of Streff Ridge Farm Goat Dairy near Custer as she tells her story... and then ask Hadrick why he's not advocating for South Dakota's small dairies.

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Poll! Vote Now on Rounds Budget Proposal

Hey, subscribers! If you're reading in Google Reader or other convenient windows, take a moment to drop by the Madville Times home site and vote in the latest poll (see left sidebar). Tell us what you think about the South Dakota state budget proposed by Governor M. Michael Rounds last week. Does it spend too much? Too little? Just the right amount? The poll is open until breakfast tomorrow, so vote soon! We'll discuss the results this week.

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Pronouns in the Press... and PSA Death Pig!

I judged Central Forensic Conference debate at Lennox HS yesterday. Between rounds, I found more interesting posters:
In the Kealey Bultena Memorial Visual News Laboratory,* I found this eye-catching admonition about pronouns. It struck me as metaphorically significant that we instruct our young journalists to associate I, you, and we with a frowny face. The poster reminds us that in its pretense to objectivity, professional journalism (not to mention academic research) strips its practitioners of identity and community membership. Each of us (not just reporters and bloggers, but every one of us capable of communication) tells stories as an I. We direct our stories toward you. We tell stories about us. To remove even those simple pronouns that mark the identity and context of a story unavoidably diminishes the story's authenticity.

And in lighter news, I found this public service announcement:


I generally oppose fear-mongering... but not when it's this funny. This student artist clearly understands how to increase immunization rates: beware the vampire pig! (Principal Raabe, I have Mr. Rommereim from the South Dakota Pork Producers Council on line 2....)

*Kealey! Kidding! You know we all love you. ;-)

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Gun Laws Getting Looser Under Obama

Seems like I heard somewhere that that durned Obama was coming to take our guns.

Reality check:

A nationwide review by The Associated Press found that over the last two years, 24 states, mostly in the South and West, have passed 47 new laws loosening gun restrictions.

Among other things, legislatures have allowed firearms to be carried in cars, made it illegal to ask job candidates whether they own a gun, and expanded agreements that make permits to carry handguns in one state valid in another [Erik Schelzig, "Gun Laws Are Getting Looser Across Much of U.S.," AP via Yahoo News, 2009.12.11].

Among the new laws: Arizona will let you bring your gun into a bar. Great.

Update 2009.12.13 14:55 CST: Similar thoughts from responsible gun owner Kevin Woster at Mount Blogmore.

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GAO Report: Ethanol Has High Water Cost, Especially in South Dakota

I've written previously that, among other things, increasing corn ethanol production may drain water supplies and be harm water quality. The General Accounting Office has issued a new report that supports the idea that, even if ethanol is a good domestic alternative to foreign fossil fuel, we need to consider the other resources we'll pour into the ground to get it.

The report notes that South Dakota is part of a twelve-state region that produced 89% of America's corn in 2007 and 2008 and 95% of the corn ethanol in 2007. The states in USDA Region 7 (that's us, along with North Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas) rely heavily on irrigation to get corn to grow. In our neck of the woods, growing one bushel of corn requires 865 gallons of irrigated water. In the other big corn-producing states (the rest of the Midwest, from Minnesota and Iowa over to Michigan and Ohio), it rains enough that the same bushel of corn requires only 19 to 38 gallons of irrigation.

Given an average yield in 2008 of 153.8 bushels per acre, another section of grassland turned to corn grown with irrigation will consume another 88 million gallons of water. That's as much water as South Dakotans consume for domestic use every eleven days. And that's a single section turned to corn. Look bigger: South Dakota's ethanol refineries use 291 million bushels of corn each year. That corn took a staggering 252 billion gallons of water to grow, almost 90 years worth of South Dakota domestic water consumption.

Ninety years of domestic water supply, traded for one year of ethanol production. How long can we sustain that trade-off?

p.s.: U.S. Farm Service data suggest that between 2002 and 2007, 475,000 acres of grassland in North and South Dakota were newly plowed for crop production.

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80 Bicycles Power One House

The BBC puts 80 cyclists to the test huffing-and-puffing to generate enough electricity to keep up with an electric water heater. Watch this video (dang! no embed!)... and watch out for the naked guy!

1 house, 80 cyclists... o.k., so maybe bicycle power isn't a viable option for all of our home electricity needs. Of course, we could always try slavery, like they did in good old Athens... though for that many drachmas, a wind turbine and solar panel shingles are probably still a better deal.

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Utah Gov. Orders Across-the-Board Cuts

While South Dakota Apparently skates by with spending freezes and stimulus money, rookie Utah Governor Gary Herbert is biting the budget bullet and ordering his state agencies to make immediate 3% cuts in their spending. Potentially on the chopping block:

• 942 state jobs, on top of nearly 2000 already made this year
• K-12 teachers (meaning more kids per classroom)
• university enrollment (imagine our Board of Regents telling SDSU and the other campuses, "Don't admit any more students")
• housing assistance for the disabled
• prison bunks—some cons could get early release!

Well, South Dakota, how was your budget week?

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Habitat for Humanity Completes Another Madison Home, Thanks Volunteers

The East Central South Dakota chapter of Habitat for Humanity just finished its 2009 house in Madison. Happy owners Nicole and Jacob Williams officially closed on the house yesterday. They and their daughter McKenna are moving their stuff into their new home on the north side of town just in time for Christmas. The Williams family came to the Habitat volunteer thank-you dinner to express their thanks in person:



The Habitat chapter took time to extend thanks to a lot of people, including 2009 Supporter of the Year Shawn Miller of Madison. He's busted his chops for Habitat, putting in hundreds of hours on two houses and serving on the board (some might argue that board meetings are more taxing than shingling).

Also offering thanks to the volunteers were the DSU Singers, Barb Hegg's intrepid student singers, who took time off from studying for finals to come perform some a cappella Christmas music, including a lively little PDQ Bach holiday arrangement.

If you missed the dinner, you can check out some more pix here. And you can consider yourself invited to next year's thank-you dinner: all you have to do is donate... and warm up your hammers for the 2010 Habitat house!

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