This one is really personal. and I will get to why, below. Most who end up here or keep coming back to the Corner ( I thank you for that!) know how I feel about fossil fuels and that the United States should use ALL the resources that we have to produce energy.
I like coal, oil, natural gas, hydroelectric, nuclear and am all right with solar power but it has some limitations. Just ask Germany about solar and why they are building NEW coal fired plants to generate electricity. While we shoot ourselves in the foot over and over again, here in amerika, the United States, we are burdened with business killing government over regulation, much of the world is bringing back coal and rightfully so.
Here in the Pacific Northwest the environazis, the governors of both Oregon and Washington are doing all they can to kill a plan to export our coal to countries who want to buy our coal because we are too stupid to use it ourselves. It makes no difference that the coal would be delivered by rail in covered, sealed hoppers. Coal and all fossil fuels are evil but hey, let's take food out of the mouth of our country by wasting corn and turning it into ethanol. Another story for another time.
I mentioned this is personal and here is why: This is where I lived for many years, Arizona and more specifically, Northern Arizona. The Colorado, Kaibab Plateau, the incredibly wild, rugged and remote Mollogon Rim, which I know so very well.
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| Navajo Generating Station |
Northern Arizona is home to the Navajo Generating Station, a large coal fired plant that has been around for many years with the first generating plant going online in 1974. Two other generating plants came on line in 1975 and 1976.
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| San Francisco Peaks |
I lived in Flagstaff, Arizona from 1971 to 1986. I went to college and graduated from Northern Arizona University. Yes, I am a Lumberjack and damn proud of that. Back in the early 70's the football team was so bad they were know as the 'fumblejerks' and rightfully so but I digress. I spent a lot of time in and near the Grand Canyon, on Lake Powell, the Navajo and Hope Indian reservations. I fished and hunted all over Northern Arizona, much of this time was at high elevations in the San Francisco Peaks, The White Mountains and many wilderness areas. The Inner Basin inside the peaks is a truly special and sacred area.When I wanted to truly be alone that is where I headed as back then access to the basin took a big 4x4 with lots of clearance. In winter, the weather could turn extremely nasty in a matter of hours and you had to be prepared or be able to get out. It was only known to the native Americans and locals back in the early 70's and is one source of water for Flagstaff. This is the BEST water I have ever tasted, period.
This is truly God's country and is Big Sky Country, at least for me it is and always will be. Montana has no monopoly on Big Sky, not even close.
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| Inner Basin inside the peaks |
I can tell you that BEFORE the Navajo Generating Station was built, there was already haze in the region of the Grand Canyon. We could see it from the top of Mt. Humphreys or from the north or South rim of the Grand Canyon. Did it change the view of the canyon or any other scenic, special areas? Absolutely not! So when the NGS was brought online with all three stations, nothing really changed.
Environmentalists would not leave the NGS station alone nor would the government
This is the 'hope and change that obama and his administration of un agenda 21 supporters wants to force upon the American people. These jack asses want to turn back time and force us all to live in collective, clustered housing with few amenities, virtually no cars and dependent on the government for as much of yours and mine's survival, as possible.These morons, who ride unicorns to the end of the rainbow while slurping the Kool Aid, think they know what is best for us and trust me, it is not warm and fuzzy. Wait, we will have electric cars if you are lucky enough to have one but where will the electricity come from? Solar, wind, algae, wave generation, or all that hot gas emanating from the collective asses of of the brainwashed politicians who buy into this garbage of the epa and agenda 21.
The article below is a perfect picture of what is wrong with America and how our country, you and me are suffering from the past governance of many past administrations. There is no administration as evil, as corrupt as the one ruled by the first illegal alien muslim potus, obama.
This is a superb article by Jonathan DuHamel via the TusconCitizen.
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EPA war on coal threatens Tucson water supply
Much
of Southern Arizona’s water supply comes via the Central Arizona
Project (CAP) which takes water from the Colorado River at Lake Havasu,
and distributes it
over 300 miles of canal and 3,000 feet up in elevation to Tucson (see
map below). Electricity for the 14 pumping stations comes from the
coal-fired Navajo Generating Station (NGS)
near Page, Arizona. That station supplies 2,250 megawatts from three
750-MW units. The coal comes from the Kayenta mine on the Navajo
Reservation 78 miles southeast of the station. The mine is operated by
Peabody Western Coal Company. The electric plant is under fire from the
EPA, for among other things, air quality in the Grand Canyon. The plant may fall victim to the EPA’s war on coal (see here, here, here, and here for commentary.)
According to a report from KSL.com,
“Owners of the Navajo Generating Station say an Environmental
Protection Agency proposal to clear the air in the region’s national
parks may push the plant into an unacceptable financial
situation. They’ve indicated it could force a shutdown as early as
2017.” “A shutdown of the plant would put nearly 1,000 people out of
work on the Navajo Indian Reservation that is already deeply mired in
unemployment and poverty.” “The owners insist they cannot spend more
than $1 billion on environmental improvements without a guarantee
they’ll be allowed to operate beyond 2019. The owners are several public
agencies and utilities, including the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation,
Tucson Electric Power and the Los Angeles Department of Water and
Power.”
Critics allege that emissions from the
plant contribute to regional haze. However, even if the plant builds the
required upgrades, there is no guarantee that the change in haze would
be noticeable.
According to information from the Salt
River Project, one of the owners of the plant, “NGS complies with all
federal air quality standards and emission limitations. Electrostatic
precipitators capture 99% of the fly ash, which is recycled for use in
concrete, cement and other construction materials. Limestone scrubbers
remove over 90% of SO2 emissions. Installation of low NOx burners and
separated overfire air technology reduces NOx emissions by approximately
40%.”
The new “haze” rule from EPA could cause
NGS to shut down, eliminating a major contributor to the economy of the
Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, the city of Page, Coconino County, and
the state of Arizona. And, a shutdown would stop the pumps supplying
water to Southern Arizona. The EPA ‘haze” rule will cause three of five
generators at the coal-fired Four Corners Power Plant in northwest New Mexico to shut down also.
Remember, during the 2008 presidential
campaign candidate Obama said, “that under his cap-and-trade plan, “if
somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can. It’s just that
it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for
all that greenhouse gas
that’s being emitted.” (CNN) Also during the 2008 campaign Joe Biden
said the Obama policy was “no coal plants here in America.” (Arizona
Daily Star).
In contrast to Obama policy, Germany is building 23 new coal-fire plants. Although Germany is a leader in solar energy installation, they need the coal plants because they found that solar energy is unreliable and too expensive.
Maybe the war on coal is a plan to create
jobs. Obama could hire thousands of people to form bucket brigades to
move water along the CAP canal.
Original source is here.
See also:
EPA versus Arizona on regional haze issue
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