I receive the following e-mail from Dr. Steve Shirley, DSU VP/Dean of Student Affairs, over breakfast [emphasis mine]:
A reminder the Spring 2008 All-Campus Convocation sponsored by the DSU Student Senate will be at 11 a.m. TODAY at the Dakota Prairie Playhouse. All 11 a.m. classes on the DSU campus have been canceled today. Dusty Johnson, South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioner, will deliver the keynote address, “Avoiding the Siren’s Call: Being a Common Sense Environmentalist.” In addition, the campus will be recognizing student achievement for academic, artistic, athletic, and student involvement.
For those unable to be on campus this morning, you can also view the webcast here: http://streaming.dsu.edu/live (the link will be active about 10 minutes prior to the start of the Convocation). If you are unable to watch live this morning, the Convocation will be archived at this link: http://streaming.dsu.edu/students/Convocation_S_08.wmv (should be active about a half-hour after the Convocation has concluded).
“Avoiding the Siren’s Call: Being a Common Sense Environmentalist.” Do I hear some GOP denial coming? Some economic development boosterism? A signal that the PUC is about to rule in favor of running the TransCanada Keystone pipeline (and more pipelines in the future) through prime South Dakota farmland and wildlife habitat?
I'm probably just being paranoid. And I have a ton of homework, so I won't be able to go convoke with my fellow Trojans this morning and hear Dusty's message. But for those of you interested in hearing what sort of environmental thinking is guiding the PUC's decisions on TransCanada and other projects, tune in this morning at 11, or check out the archived video later.
You are not acting paranoid. They forgot that "conserve" is the root word of "conservative". With peak oil, if the refinery were up and running today, gas would still hit $4/gal, or more, this summer. The cheap, easy-to-recover oil is gone. We're on backside of oil boom and its economy. There is no reason to trash our nest for diminishing returns. It's past the time to get serious about other alternatives. The PUC is a shallow industry lapdog. They failed to protect the public interest from the malfeasance of former NWPS management (despite the siren cries from the Montana PUC, press, and shareholders). They fail to install mandatory net metering with a free market rate of return. They fail to demand profit sharing in wind farm development. They fail to facilitate wind farm transmission alternatives. They fail to meaningfully support solar power.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 5:46 PM,
ReplyDeleteI am afraid we disagree on a few points. At the PUC, we are quite focused on energy conservation, and have several dockets pending before us on that very issue. Also, when I spoke at DSU just this morning, the first of my five main points was on the importance of energy efficiency. You might also want to visit www.sdenergysmart.com, an outreach initiative the PUC has coordinated on conservation and efficiency.
I wasn't at the Commission during the Northwestern bankruptcy, so can't speak as intelligently as I'd like about that issue, but my understanding of facts is different than yours. I had planned to criticize my opponent (Commissioner Jim Burg) on that issue during the 2004 campaign, but held off, because I found that the issue wasn't quite as black and white as I believed it to be. Ultimately, I thought it disingenous to criticize him under those circumstances.
You are mistaken about the state's support for solar power, and I would ask you to review the significant resources that have been invested into research on solar power at SDSU. One of the best teams of solar power researchers in the country has been assembled there, and what they are working on is really quite impressive.
Your comments on net metering, community-based development, and transmission are also just a bit off-the-mark. I'd love to chat about these topics with you, if you have the time. I would enjoy hearing your ideas, and I suspect that I would learn a thing or two (or ten) from you. Please give me a ring at 773-3201, if you're so inclined.
Many thanks,
Dusty Johnson
I love South Dakota! We may grumble about open government, but at least one of our elected officials not only reads the blogs but comments by name and leaves his phone number so you can continue the conversation.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Commissioner Johnson. I'll have the review of your speech at DSU today up tomorrow.
Dusty Johnson: thank you for your openness. It is one of the few bright spots in state government. You put your finger on the problem. Talk. Talk is not action. One "advantage" of being 50th in nearly everything is that 49 models exist on how to improve. We need action this day, to paraphrase Churchill. Madville identified the problem as "will". We agree. Without covering the range of solutions here's three. Minnesota statutory scheme encourages co-op wind farms. Profits stay on the farm in lieu of being shipped to Florida. Second, enforce the free market for consumers via a free market net metering law. Utilities screamed and whined for deregulation. They received it. Yet they refuse to deregulate us consumers. We ought to be able to sell our produced electricity at market rates to a utility we find with the highest net metering rate. Third, utilities whine about deregulation in their first excuse as to why they don't invest in increased wind transmission capability. This is the same deregulation they insisted upon.
ReplyDeleteSolar? We're "researching" - glorified version of "talk". Yet other states and countries, even northern tiered countries outfit homes, businesses, and power production. If those folks (utilities) had managed NASA we never would have reached the moon.