McCain Criticizes Katrina Response as ‘Disgraceful’ – New York Times

Elisabeth Bumiller reports in the

Times

that Senator McCain has not only described the Administration’s reponse to Katrina a ‘disgraceful,’ but that he also believed that the President was directly responsible.

Asked at an outdoor news conference if he traced the failure of leadership straight to the top, Mr. McCain, who has vowed to campaign with President Bush, said, emphatically, “yes.”

Before his news conference, Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, spent about half an hour on a walking tour of rubble and still-dilapidated houses in the Lower Ninth Ward, all recorded by two packed, slow-moving flatbed trucks of reporters and camera crews who rumbled just ahead of the candidate and his wife, Cindy.

At least one resident was disturbed by all the media attention, particularly by the lack of seats for local residents at Mr. McCain’s 20-minute news conference. “We need to have an opportunity to have a meaningful dialogue,” said Mary Fontenot, who is with All Congregations Together, a church group working to rebuilding New Orleans. “Twenty minutes out on the lawn does not suffice, with a designated seating for traveling journalists.”

Elisabeth Bumiller, “McCain Criticizes Katrina Response as ‘Disgraceful’ “- The New York Times

Via Buzzflash.

Nuclear Plants: High Cost in Time and Money

Rebecca Smith reported in the Wall Street Journal that Florida Power and Light, FPL, is considering spending $12 to $18 Billion to construct two nuclear reactors at its appropriately named Turkey Point facility in southeast Florida.

Florida Power says “two advanced-design nuclear plants at Turkey Point that would add between 2,200 and 3,000 megawatts. If built, the units are expected to go into service in the years 2018 and 2020.”

John Dorschner writes in the Miami Herald that FPL wants to start billing today for plants that may or may not be built and running in 10 to 12 years!“ The average home electric bill in South Florida is likely to increase about $2.50 a month next year to start paying for two nuclear power plants that Florida Power & Light hopes to put in service in 10 or 12 years.” That’s like “buy now pay later,” except it’s “pay now, buy later”. And the plants haven’t been approved by Florida’s Public Service Commission. So it’s “Pay now, buy later — maybe!’

What about Wind Power? The 7.5 MW Atlantic County Utilities Authority Wind Farm cost an estimated $12 million, approximately $1.6 per watt. (click here)

Putting the pieces of this puzzle together, FPL wants to spend $12 to $18 Billion, assuming no cost overruns, to add 2200 to 3000 mw of capacity in 2018 or 2020. If $12 Billion builds 2200 MW, then we are looking at $5.46 per watt of capacity. Similarly, if $18 Billion builds 3000 MW, we are looking at $6.00 per watt. That’s about what it costs to install commercial scale PV solar, and about four times what it costs to build land based wind farms, and twice what it costs to construct an offshore wind farm. And it takes a whole lot less than 10 or 12 years to install solar panels and build wind farms. Since there is no fuel, there is no fuel cycle, there are no fuel costs, there is no waste heat, and are no toxic or radioactive wastes with wind and solar.

Let’s ignore for a second the fact that nuclear plants present terrorists with targets, the massive subsidies that the government provides nuclear power, the national security ramifications of nuclear power, and the fact that the NRC fires whistleblowers and ignores critics — which in and of itself is a cause for concern — the regulator appears to be incompetent. Why should we spend Billions to build nuclear plants that won’t be operational for at least 10 or 12 years when we could spend a fraction to build solar and wind systems — which are available almost immediately with no pollution, no security challenges, no potential for disaster, and no need for incompetent government regulators?

  Nuclear PV Solar PV Solar Wind — Offshore Wind — Onshore
  FPL Turkey Point NJ Residential NJ Commercial Estimated NJ ACMUA
Cost $12 Billion $80,000 $20 Million $24 Million $12 Million
Capacity 2.2 GW 10 KW 3.5 MW 7.5 MW 75 MW
Cost / watt $5.45 $8.00 $5.71 $3.20 $1.60
Fuel Unknown $Zero $Zero $Zero $Zero
Safety & Oversight Unknown $Zero $Zero $Zero $Zero
Security Unknown $Zero $Zero $Zero $Zero
Waste Management High $Zero $Zero $Zero $Zero

Solar Balloons – The Sky’s the Limit

Solar Balloons can power remote areas and quickly provide emergency power in disasters. Joseph Cory, of Geotectura.com, and Pini Gurfil, his research partner in the Haifa Technion, Haifa, Israel, are developing the balloons. Helium balloons floating above the trees or tethered to the roofs of buildings, can provide more power in less space and at lower cost than roof mounted or ground mounted systems. They can also be deployed very quickly in an emergency.

Where conventional PV Solar installations are two dimensional, these are three dimensional.

Initial research, using computer models and a prototype, shows that a 10 foot diameter PV Solar balloon provides the energy of a 269 square foot PV Solar surface. The cost of the balloon is targeted at $4000. The cost of a comparable surface mounted system is estimated to $10,000.

I read about this on Pinkus Javits’ SustainabiliTank blog,Gizmundo,and Israel 21C .

BMCC Student Channels Jack Abramoff

Curtis Brown, president of the Student Government at the Borough of Manhattan Community College is following in the footsteps of a young Jack Abramoff. As reported in the New York Daily News:

May 13, 2008, Brown is trying to evict the New York Public Interest Research Group, NYPIRG from BMCC.The PIRGs have always focused on things like responsible government, consumer protection, and an informed citizenry making intelligent decisions. As chairman of the College Republicans, in 1983, Abramoff and his right-wing storm troopers did not “seek peaceful coexistence with the left.” They felt that their “job is to remove them from power permanently.” Brown is doing what Abramoff tried to do 25 years ago.

Here’s what Thomas Frank wrote in the New York Times, August 29, 2006, “Defunders of Liberty:”

Abramoff and his clean-cut campus radicals pushed their own “defund the left” campaign with characteristic elan, declaring war on Ralph Nader’s Public Interest Research Groups, or PIRG, environmental and consumer activist outfits that were funded by student activity fees on some campuses. The young conservatives were always careful to cast the issue as a matter of “student rights” versus political coercion, but Abramoff clearly saw it as an avenue to ideological victory. “When we win this one,” he boasted in 1983, “we’ll have done more to neutralize Ralph Nader than anyone else, ever.”

The NY Times article is re-published in the blogosphere, click here, and here, and can be googled or yahooed.

Abramoff, currently serving 70 months for conspiracy and fraud, has also admitted to tax evasion, defrauding his clients and conspiring to bribe public officials.

Bioengineered E. Coli – Smells like Bananas

Bioengineers at MIT have modified e. coli bacteria in two ways: rather than smell like human fecal matter, their E. coli cultures smell like mint when they’re growing, and banana when they are mature.

If they can do that, can should be able to devise metabolic pathways that breaks down plastics into carbon dioxide, which then can be metabolized, which will render plastic biodegradable.  However, to mitigate the global warming effects of the carbon dioxide, they also need to figure out ways to sequester the carbon.

Bob Coffield – Health Care Law Blog

Bob Coffield, an attorney specializing in health care law, is the proprietor of the Health Care Law Blog.

(Those of you paying close attention will notice that between the URL and the name  — the words are reversed. It’s the right address).

This is an excellent blog – but of the posts I’ve read so far, Coffield is a big-picture/systems guy, and very thoughtful. He’s asking good questions about health care policy and risk – and I didn’t see a single post that presupposed any legal knowledge. Haven’t yet had time to go through old posts to see if he’s followed issues of mass casualty incidents/disaster treatment, but I’m subscribing to his feed, and will try to keep an eye out.

VA Lies About Suicides of Veteran

Another Agency of the Executive Branch –

Senator: VA lying about number of veteran suicides

WASHINGTON — The Veterans Administration has lied about the number of veterans who’ve attempted suicide, a senator charged Wednesday, citing internal e-mails that put the number at 12,000 a year when the department was publicly saying it was fewer than 800.“The suicide rate is a red-alarm bell to all of us,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. Murray also said that the VA’s mental health programs are being overwhelmed by Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, even as the department tries to downplay the situation.

“We are not your enemy, we are your support team, and unless we get accurate information we can’t be there to do our jobs,” Murray told Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gordon Mansfield during the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing. Continue reading →

Inhabitat: Transparent Solar Panels

Inhabitat reports on transparent solar panels developed at the University of Queensland. solarglass1.jpg

From Mike Chino

‘s article:

The Queensland University of Technology recently announced that it has been working with Dyesol to develop an innovative solar cell technology that re-envisions windows as clear, clean energy providers. Professor John Bell has said that these dye-infused solar cells would significantly reduce building energy costs, and could even generate surplus energy to be stored or sold. The development has been touted as the most promising advance in solar cell technology since the invention of the silicon cell.

Modern architecture has a love-hate relationship with windows: they contribute light and levity to interior spaces, yet they are the most frequently cited culprits for thermal energy loss. Traditional approaches to the problem have tended towards increasing insular ability, however this new development would imbue windows with power producing capabilities, actually providing energy instead of leaking it.

Dyesol’s solar cells use an innovative technology called “artificial photosynthesis”, wherein a dye analogous to chlorophyll absorbs light to generate electricity

. The panels are composed of “an electrolyte, a layer of titania (a pigment used in white paints and tooth paste), and ruthenium dye sandwiched between glass. Light striking the dye excites electrons which are absorbed by the titania to become an electric current.”

Dye solar cells are cheaper and require less energy to manufacture than silicon cells, since they don’t require expensive raw materials. They also produce electricity more efficiently, even in instances of “shadowing”, where overcast skies and shadows from trees and other buildings can cause a loss in collected power.

These solar windows will offer an enticing new option for skyscrapers and houses looking to break the zero-energy barrier – imagine the net power that a floor-to-ceiling glass-walled skyscraper could produce! Current cells have a rosy tint, although blue, grey and green cells are in the works. Dyesol says the panels will be commercially available over the next few years.

.

James Risen: G.I.’s Death Prompts 2 Inquiries of Iraq Electrocutions – New York Times

James Risen reported in the NY Times of March 20th:

On Jan. 2, Staff Sgt. Ryan D. Maseth, a 24-year-old Green Beret from Pennsylvania, stepped into a shower at his base in the Radwaniyah Palace Complex in Baghdad and was electrocuted. Now, two months later, his death has resulted in both a Congressional investigation and a Pentagon inspector general’s inquiry into similar cases.

Reports of at least 12 deaths; Sgt. Maseth’s family has filed suit against KBR/Halliburton in the Pennsylvania state courts.

Thanks to laviolet at Daily Kos for pointing me to the Risen article; laviolet’s post is here; the Houston Chronicle also covered this story (I will add links when I can) .  Laviolet’s post has a number of other resources for those in search of more details.

James Risen, “G.I.’s Death Prompts 2 Inquiries of Iraq Electrocutions” New York Times, March 20, 2008.

Johnny Appleseed Was Right

We might say “the key to the future is a sustainable agricultural and economic system in which each member’s net negative carbon footprint, or their net incremental carbon cost is zero.”

Johnny Appleseed, on the other hand, would simply say just “Plant more trees, especially apple, grow more grains, vegetables, and roots like the groundnut.”

“And,” he might add, “do you really need to drive to the mall in a military transport vehicle?”

The Economic Value of Solar Power

One of my friends recently complained that the electric bill for his business has doubled in the last 5 years – and runs to about $500,000 per year. I was stunned. Being a ‘numbers guy’, I ran the statistic backwards and realized that it’s a 15% annual growth rate. I also realized that it’s the same for me at home. My power and fuel bills, electricity, heat, and gasoline have also doubled, to about $6,000 a year, over the last few years.

I told him that just like I could install a photovoltaic solar power system on my roof that would generate all the electricity I need, he could use solar power to generate much of the electricity he needs. His response was ‘You’re may be right. But how?’ he asked.

‘Simple’, I said, ‘just put solar modules on the roof. Add an inverter to convert DC power to AC, a meter than can run backwards, and you’re in business. Just like we’re talking about for the school system.

On top of that, the Solar Renewable Energy Certificate, or SREC, value of the power, in New Jersey, add considerably to the value of that power. The SRECs work like this. The Board of Public Utilities tells the Electric Utilities that they have a choice. Generate power using solar, pay a fine, or buy SRECs. The SRECs today are worth MORE than the price of each kwh if generated by those old 19th and 20th Century technologies, coal, oil, and nuclear. Click here for the NJ Clean Energy Program, click here for SREC trading and historical values.

Bill Scott, of Akeena Solar , says “Solar will be competitive WITHOUT INCENTIVES when electricity is at $0.21 to $0.25 per kwh.” We at Popular Logististics think may be the summer of 2009. The incentives, however, make it much better, today.

According to the Asbury Park Press, “School District Sold on Solar” in addition to the money they don’t spend on electricity, and any revenues they hope realize from the sale of carbon offsets, the Toms River, NJ School District expects to realize $1.25 to $1.5 million from the sale of their SRECs next year.

Larry Furman for School Board

We endorse Lawrence Furman for Manalapan Englishtown School Board.

First, a disclaimer. There are hundreds of political blogs on the Internet. Popular Logistics is not

one of them. However, Larry is one of our writers and editors. We have made an exception and endorsed his candidacy.

Larry wants to put Solar Power on the schools in the Manalapan Englishtown district, and every district in the country. For his campaign web-site, click here. He is one of five candidates vying for three positions. We have not spoken with the others, yet. The election is Tuesday, April 15, 2008.

Manalapan English Budget – Click Here. Voting information – Click Here.

Southwest Airlines and The Federal Aviation Administration

From the Houston Chronicle, Inspector blasts FAA for Southwest relationship“Southwest Airlines exerted undue influence within the Federal Aviation Administration, creating an atmosphere that let the carrier fly aircraft after cracks had been discovered in a jet’s fuselage, inspectors told a House panel.”

And from the Washington Post, FAA Derailed Safety Alarms, “They also said the FAA had gone from aggressively regulating airlines to treating them like customers or clients. Lawmakers and outside safety experts have expressed similar worries about regulators’ coziness with the carriers.”

I won’t fly if in order to get on a plane and be confident that it will take off, fly, and land, I’ll have to go to the airport and inspect the plane. Forget the fact that I’m not qualified; it’s inefficient for every passenger, or even one out of 10,000, to go to the airport, review the maintenance records, and study the planes. But isn’t that’s why we have an FAA? Isn’t that why we have a government?

Isn’t it the role of government to provide police and defensive forces to protect law abiding citizens from thieves, scoundrels and external threats; from invaders and from thugs who would point a gun at me and say ‘your money or your life’? That doesn’t mean I don’t have the right to self-defense; it means that I have the right to expect that the police and the courts will protect my rights, including my right to self-defense.

Take that one step further. If I can count on the government to protect me against a thug who will steal my money at gunpoint, then I should be able to count on the government to protect me from someone who, in Woody Guthrie’s words, will ‘rob me with a fountain pen’ by pouring toxic wastes into the air we breathe and rivers we drink from and swim in, or perhaps by ignoring airplane maintenance regulations.

This doesn’t make me a liberal or a conservative, but it sure doesn’t make me a Bush Cheney McCain Republican. It might make me a John Warner Republican, but they pushed him out of the Party. I guess it makes me a liberal because it leads me to believe that the government has the obligation to inspect and regulate airplanes, taxis, roads, cars, and to make sure that we have clean air, clean water, and healthy food, and to educate our children and to do the kinds of things that Edwards was talking about on the stump.

When you believe, as Reagan put it, that “the scariest sentence is ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help’” you’re saying we don’t want foxes guarding the henhouse, we don’t want anyone guarding the henhouse, in fact we’re going to sell the wood, the chickens will stay put.