by jboullion | Dec 18, 2008 | Uncategorized
An editorial from The Tomah Journal:
As of Friday, gas was $1.68.9 a gallon in Tomah, which is down from $4.06.9 a gallon in mid-summer. That’s an enormous swing, but here’s something that didn’t change: Oil is a finite resource and will be depleted one day. Does anyone believe, barring a Great Depression, that gas will be $1.68.9 a gallon two years from now? When it comes to developing renewable energy sources, there is no time like the present.
Fortunately, president-elect Barack Obama plans to make renewable energy a major part of an economic stimulus plan he’ll present to Congress shortly after his term begins next month. It’s important for the government to take the initiative because private markets won’t. There is simply too much price fluctuation, and if we wait for the market to develop alternative fuels and alternative vehicles, it won’t happen until a more expensive crash program is required.
The government actually has a good record in research and development. It wasn’t the private sector that developed the atomic bomb, sent a man to the moon or created the infrastructure that led to the Internet. It was all done by government researchers who didn’t have to answer to stockholders who cared more about the next quarter than the next decade.
That doesn’t mean the private sector won’t have the largest role in getting alternative energy products to consumers. The private sector is far better equipped to manufacture, market and distribute profitable goods and services than the government. However, it’s the government, not the private sector, that has the luxury of funding research that doesn’t pay off immediately.
Research on alternative vehicles and renewable energy needed to power them can’t hinge on the price of gas in a given week. Perhaps the benefits won’t be felt immediately, but clean and renewable energy will benefit Americans long after next year’s stimulus package is passed.
by jboullion | Dec 17, 2008 | Uncategorized
From a story posted on WKBT-TV:
[The] Grand River Station in downtown La Crosse . . . which will be more than just a new place to catch the bus. “In addition to the transit center, there’s commercial space here as well as 87 residential apartments and condos; it’s a six-story building and it will bring a lot of people activity downtown La Crosse,” says La Crosse Transit Utility Manager Keith Carlson.
The $20 million construction project has been in the works for years, and will serve as the new hub for public transportation in La Crosse. The new station will serve more than just the River City, with routes going to other near-by areas. “I think that not only does this help within the city of La Crosse from a transportation standpoint, using mass transit, but I think it’s got an awful lot of potential of brining communities together,” says La Crosse Mayor Mark Johnsrud.
by jboullion | Dec 16, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article by K.J. Lang in the La Crosse Tribune:
Western’s newest vehicle is a commitment to environmental sustainability and a conversation starter.
“People practically break their neck to look at you,” said Marlin Peterson, site supervisor for Per Mar Security at Western.
Marlin Peterson, Per Mar Security sight supervisor at Western Technical College, gets back into Western’s new NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle) while working parking detail Thursday.
Peterson drives the $13,000 vehicle around campus for parking enforcement and security. He often stops to answer questions about the vehicle, a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle or NEV, that runs on eight, six-volt batteries.
It costs considerably less than the previous security department fleet vehicle, a Chevy Malibu. A typical fleet vehicle had cost the department about 48 cents per mile to run; the NEV costs about 3 cents per mile.
by jboullion | Dec 15, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article by Mark Sommerhauser in the La Crosse Tribune:
A proposal for high-speed rail service from Chicago to St. Paul – with stops in La Crosse and Winona, Minn. – is gaining new steam, buoyed by new federal interest in passenger rail and an aggressive push from St. Paul-area officials.
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Ramsey County officials are engaging leaders in Winona and other Minnesota municipalities on Amtrak’s Empire Builder line, which they say could eventually be improved to carry high-speed trains if federal lawmakers fund the project as early as 2009. Coleman and others say overhauling the Empire Builder line would fast-track Minnesota’s best bid for high-speed rail, though the proposal may face questions from state officials and Rochester leaders who hope to be included on a new route.
A high-speed rail on the Empire Builder line, which runs from Chicago to La Crosse, and up the Mississippi River through St. Paul, was first proposed in a 2004 study by transportation departments in Minnesota and 10 other Midwest states. That study estimated an upfront cost of $1.86 billion to improve the line and proposed running five, 110-mph trains per day on the route.
Now, with Amtrak ridership climbing, President-elect Obama and other newly elected Democrats are discussing an ambitious, nationwide effort to fund high-speed rail, possibly as part of a stimulus package focused on infrastructure projects. The sudden prospect of federal support has put supporters in high gear: Mayor Jerry Miller confirmed he plans to meet with Coleman and Rep. Tim Walz, DFL-Minn., next week to discuss high-speed rail.
by jboullion | Dec 12, 2008 | Uncategorized
From an article by Paul Snyder in The Daily Reporter:
Summit Ridge Energy LLC isn’t yet ready to let a Monroe County Circuit Court ruling kill a 60-turbine wind farm proposal for the towns of Ridgeville, Wells and Wilton.
“At this point we’re talking with our consultants and looking at all our options,” said Susan Dennison, spokeswoman for Summit Ridge’s parent company, Chicago-based Invenergy LLC. “I don’t think we’re ready to say it’s over.”
After the company developed the Forward Energy Center wind farm in Fond du Lac and Dodge counties, Invenergy planned to build its next Wisconsin farm on land in Ridgeville, Wells and Wilton.
All three towns in 2007 granted Summit Ridge conditional-use permits for the wind farm, but Ridgeville and Wilton vetoed those permits, prompting Summit Ridge to sue.
As the case played out, the two towns also passed ordinances requiring wind farms to be set back a half-mile from property lines. Wilton Supervisor Tim O’Rourke said the ordinance leaves little developable space in the town.
Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Michael McAlpine at the end of November upheld the two towns’ vetoes, but ordinances and withdrawn permits might not be enough to stop the farm.
The development’s estimated energy output is just less than 100 megawatts. Ridgeville Chairman Mike Luethe said he would not be surprised if Summit Ridge increases the capacity to more than 100 megawatts, which, by law, puts project approval in the hands of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.
If Invenergy is willing to wait, it might not need to increase capacity. Several state lawmakers said the Legislature will try to pass a bill establishing statewide requirements for wind farms, regardless of size.
That possibility does not sit well with small communities that passed their own ordinances.
“If (lawmakers) do that, they take power away from local governments,” Luethe said. “I’m a big believer in local government, and I think it’s hard for them (lawmakers) to make decisions about areas where they don’t even know what it looks like.”
But local governments might have an ally in state Rep. Andy Jorgenson, the newly appointed chairman of the Assembly Committee on Renewable Energy and Rural Affairs. The Fort Atkinson Democrat said he sympathizes with local governments on development issues. But he would not commit to opposing statewide wind farm regulations, arguing any developments need to be considered if they can help the state snap out of the economic crisis.
“We need to hear what the concerns of the local governments are because it’s something we can all learn from,” he said. “But it’s a discussion I’m looking forward to having, and hopefully we can come together on a decision.”
