West Virginia Blue
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Don't get me wrong. Senator Byrd's statement has the ring of truth, and I do believe that he truly cares about West Virginia. But the real truth behind his above statement that "Major coal-fired power plants and coal operators operating in West Virginia have wisely already embraced this reality" is at the link he provided:
The Mountaineer plant emits about 9 million tons of CO2 a year. The project will capture more than 100,000 tons of CO2 a year, or about 1.5 percent of the plant's total.
I had to read it twice to make sure I that got it. They're only capturing a lousy 1.5 percent. At that rate I'd have been too embarrassed to even mentioned it, because the same article also reveals
The company has applied for more than $300 million in federal stimulus funds to install a commercial-scale carbon dioxide capture and storage system. The total cost is estimated at more than $600 million.
In other words, they got Senator Byrd to brag about their little shill operation. Notice that in the same article AEP President Morris salivates over landing future juicy rate increases. Has the last six months with coal-financed "Democrats" really got Senator Byrd taking the bait? Because the rest of us have long been bleeding from the hook and gagging on the line. Don't be surprised when more and more real Democrats start spitting the sinker right back at those coal fired cadre of "Democrats".
What I'm getting at here is that spending stimulus money for coal-fired projects does absolutely nothing to mitigate the pollution right here where coal is being mined, puts only a few West Virginians to work during a brief construction phase, and gobbles up stimulus money which could be better spent at other far more productive "green" projects.
So the question at this point would be, why is a cadre of "coal state Democrats" spending so much of my favorite Senator's precious time helping coal operators become even more of a corporate welfare dynasty than it already is?
"Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Indiana and, at No. 50, West Virginia. All suffer from a mix of toxic waste, lots of pollution and consumption and no clear plans to do anything about it. Expect them to remain that way."
Hmm. That was back in '07. What have our coalfield Democrats done to change that problem? Or perhaps they don't see it as a problem. many of us do..
Just today President Obama hosted a national jobs forum. Vice President Biden recently said "Recovery Through Retrofit is a blueprint that will create good green jobs - jobs that can't be outsourced, and jobs that will be the cornerstones of a 21st-Century economy."
Senator Byrd obviously understands that coal operators and coal-fired power plants will never voluntarily help West Virginia move towards energy independence. Simply because it is against their corporate interest to do so. Instead, they're compelled by their nature to see to it that nothing will replace coal. So they will always lobby to gobble up all of the state and federal subsidies, while playing like they're earnest in helping to develop a replacement.
It goes without saying that large corporations will always make as much money as possible, and they'll always try to do it as efficiently as they can. Since their biggest obstacle lies in leveraging political leaders to mitigate environmental regulations, and judicial leaders to ignore laws, no sense of civic duty ever completely halts the corporate machine's never ending grind towards capital. But it is up to our justice system, our regulators, and our political leaders to keep them from killing people. Which is exactly what they're doing, make no mistake.
So I applaud Senator Byrd's effort to give public notice that we should all demand truth and justice from our system.
He's lived here long enough to have witnessed West Virginia slide from a rich, diversified economy with a broad manufacturing base towards what essentially looks more and more like a mono-economy. During that same period, West Virginia's political system has devolved from what was basically a plutocracy into a well-greased dystopian coalocracy.
For example, prior to the last election, the coal industry spent $35 million in a campaign outreach effort in primary and caucus states to rally public support for coal-fired electricity. On top of that, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity lobbyists spent a whoppin' $10,465,276. source.
Now, suddenly, my Senator informs me that he just spent six months listening to coal state Democrats tell him that the only way to "progress" is to go backwards. So forgive me if I'm skeptical about anything any member of either party tries to sell when it comes to justifying the giveaway of millions to help the coal industry continue to poison my water, screw up my roads, and underfund my kid's education.
Senator Byrd didn't have to be a "treehugger" to have noticed the dire cost of coal pollution here. But he stopped shot of mentioning that cleaning up the hundreds of toxic coal slurry impoundments strewn across WV offers great potential for shovel-ready jobs. Yett it's pretty obvious what's going on when none of the coal-fired "Democrats" ever publicly mentions how "green" it is to retrofit the infrastructures of each of their communities by using stimulus funds for remediation.
Now I don't mind that stimulus funds are now being used to supply water to coalfield communities whose aquifer has been poisoned by coal industry, although it is sort of suspicious when the Governor's website hides it. No, my tax dollars are fine helping those folks out, even though it was Manchin's DEP that let Massey get by with killing their aquifer in the first place. But it gets pretty hard to swallow that Federal Coal, one of three companies responsible for screwing up Boone County's well water, is now blocking the right-of-way for that water project. Could that be an attempt to stall whilst forcing a settlement in the ongoing lawsuit. Yet apparently one coal-state Democrat in particular (Governor Joe Manhin) in particular isn't willing to persuade the coal slurry impoundment operator that what Federal Coal operates qualifies as a fullout toxic dump site.
Speaking of infrastructure, according to the WV Department of Commerce, WV exports more (coal fired) electricity than any other state. Why isn't the state rolling in cash? Why have we cut back on state highway workers? Why are our coalpatch public school districts always those seized by the state -due to lack of funding? Before you ask what does education have to do with the coal industry being unwilling to embrace the future, you need to understand that far too many of our political leaders mistakenly believe that coal is our most precious natural resource otherwise West Virginia wouldn't be ranked dead last in educational services for our students.
ATLANTA, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Georgia will stop posting signs along highway construction projects funded by economic stimulus funds, because the signs cost too much money, officials said.
The signs were first considered a nice indication that stimulus funds were putting Georgians to work but they became a target for ridicule and criticism once it was determined that they cost $1,200 apiece, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
I stand by my prediction from June, 2009 ("What could 1,000 West Virginians accomplish in 1,000 Days?") that before the "2010 mid-terms elections, the Democratic Congress and the Obama administration will pass a second stimulus bill focused on job creation."
Job Losses & State Fiscal Crises: Time for More Federal Stimulus Spending
The numbers from this month's job report were brutal: 263,000 payroll jobs lost in a month and the unemployment rate hit 9.8 percent. Since the pre-recession peak, the economy has lost 7.2 million jobs and overall hours worked have now declined by 8.6 percent. A record share of the unemployed (35.6 percent) are “long-term unemployed” and have been out of work for at least six months. (See graph courtesy of Center for American Progress)
Public Layoffs Threatening to Make Things Worse: One of the most disturbing parts of this trend is that the government sector lost 53,000 jobs in September, compared with a loss of 19,000 jobs in August. This is tied to the fiscal crisis hitting the states.
The initial federal recovery funds from the Spring have held off far worse cuts than were originally projected; in fact, before last month, state and local government layoffs had amounted to just 110,000 jobs lost over two years. However, projections are that fewer recovery funds will be available for fiscal year 2011, so government job losses will inevitably mount as states seek to balance their budgets going into next year.
Avoiding Fifty Herbert Hoovers with a New Stimulus: History tells us that government should be hiring when the private sector is laying people off to act to act as a counter-cyclical economic lever on the economy. A wide range of economists, including Nobel Laureates Paul Krugman, Robert Solow, and Paul Samuelson, are now calling for an additional federal stimulus to counter these jobs losses.
Back in February, as we noted at the time, the U.S. House had originally proposed tens of billions of dollars more in help for the states in the recovery plan, but those funds were cut during U.S. Senate negotiations to overcome a filibuster. But this reflects the fact that even then, many understood that more help to the states was needed to deal with the severity of the recession we face.
Already the Obama administration is talking about a broader transportation bill, extensions of a homebuyer tax credit and extended unemployment benefits as part of additional spending to deal with the economic crisis. All of these are necessary, but priority should be to extend further aid to the states to stem the layoffs of teachers, nurses, and public safety officers which is needed not just to avoid further unemployment but is critical to provide the services to a public in even greater need of help during this economic crisis. And other funds should go directly towards additional forward-looking job creation programs tied to green jobs, broadband deployment and rebuilding our overall infrastructure to both employ people in the short-term while improving the global economic competitiveness of our communities over the longer-term.
A jobless recovery is not a recovery. It is a temporary sop for the already wealthy. The only path for long-term financial stability is full employment. It's both the right thing to focus on economically and morally.
Most kids go through a few years when they are really selfish. For example, you can easily excuse a first grader if they say you should raise their allowance by getting rid of all allowance for their siblings.
The thing is, most people outgrow that by the time they are an adult.
Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito is showing new levels of hypocrisy and double-talking. She's taking credit for the very projects she voted against.
This is the kind of politician that gives even politicians a bad name. She's not only jumping in front of a parade, but doing it at the very last moment before it reaches the viewing stand.
ROCKEFELLER, BYRD, RAHALL AND MOLLOHAN ANNOUNCE $13.1 MILLION FOR IMPROVED ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN STATE BUILDINGS
Washington, D.C. - Senators Jay Rockefeller and Robert C. Byrd, together with Congressmen Nick J. Rahall and Alan B. Mollohan, today announced that West Virginia is being awarded an initial $13.1 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("Recovery Act") - which all four voted in support of earlier this year - to improve energy efficiency for state buildings.
These funds will be used under the Department of Energy's State Energy Program for various improvements aimed at supporting job growth and investing in clean energy and conservation - to state administrative office buildings, laboratories, schools, colleges and universities, and armories - in areas such as lighting systems, windows, HVAC systems, boilers, and control systems.
"These Recovery Act dollars are greatly needed and I am glad to see the funds released to the state," Rockefeller said. "Investing in energy efficiency is a strong way to sustain our environment, build up our infrastructure, and create innovative jobs right here in West Virginia."
"Making our buildings and homes more energy efficient is crucial, and I am happy to see this funding directed towards improving the energy efficiency of State buildings in West Virginia," Byrd said.
"West Virginia plays a critical role in fulfilling America's energy needs and we are taking a lead in our Nation's march toward energy independence," said Rahall. "This funding invests in our local economies, helping save jobs and creating new opportunities for our citizens. At the same time, these dollars help our state adopt new, innovative energy efficient technologies that can save West Virginians money, and move our state into a new phase of leading America's energy economy."
"This funding is an investment that will create jobs in West Virginia today and bring energy savings throughout the state in the years to come," said Congressman Mollohan.
The funds announced today also will go toward assisting the state in creating the Energy Efficiency for Business Revolving Loan Program to provide financial assistance to businesses to support investments in energy efficiency; and toward creating a Green Collar Jobs Training program to provide West Virginians with the education, training and skills they need for jobs in the fields of energy efficiency and renewable energy.
After demonstrating successful implementation of its plan, West Virginia is set to receive more than $16 million in additional funding.
###
There are some great quotes in this press release about the dividends of energy efficiency investments for job creation and sustaining the environment.
There's a major disconnect, though, between the talk about these millions of dollars and the far more aggressive work the same Congressman are doing to secure billions of dollars to perpetuate a long-term demand for burning coal.
Can you imagine what it would like if the sums were reversed?
Gazing into the crystal ball of economic prognostications, there are strong indications we are headed for a jobless recovery. Even in the best case scenario, we are looking at many months (if not years) of persistently high unemployment rates.
The premise of this diary is thus: I predict between now and the 2010 mid-terms elections, the Democratic Congress and the Obama administration will pass a second stimulus bill focused on job creation. It will include a program similar to the depression era Works Progress Administration.
1,000 West Virginians in 1,000 Days
One of the lessons learned from the last stimulus package is "shovel-ready" projects have the best chance of getting funded. With that in mind, now is a good time to start thinking about project proposals to prepared in advance of the next stimulus bill. (Does your favorite organization have any old grant proposals it can dust off and update?)
Most important, what kinds of projects can we do here in West Virginia with a nearly unlimited local labor pool? Let your imagination run wild.
I could see major projects hiring up to 1,000 West Virginians each for an average of 1,000 days (about 3 years). If you devote the first 10% of the time to job-specific training, that's 3-months of intensive training followed by 30 months of work in a local community.
Here are a just a few ideas that spring to mind:
* Make home and community visits for basic screening for major preventable and manageable mental and physical health problems.
* Test water sources for all streams, rivers, and a sample of wells all across the state to develop a baseline of water quality.
* Perform energy audits on homes and provide energy efficiency and green energy installation services.
* Provide more intensive out-patient and community-based services for veterans, disabled, recovering, and other marginalized populations current at risk for "falling through the cracks" of public and private services.
* Assist schools in developing new programs to involve parents, assist under-served populations, and at-risk students (e.g., before, after school programs, etc.).
I'm sure there are all sorts of great ideas people have for how an otherwise idle labor pool can be gainfully employed for the public good. What would you like to see 1,000 West Virginians do for 1,000 days?
"There's so many points here that it's hard to pick them all apart. There's the point that it's wrong. There's the point that it's ineffective. There's the point that it's illegal. There's the point that in order to get there they had to disrupt and wreck a lot of American democratic process in order to get there"
mcjoan does a great job of summarizing the high points.
* Does Mountaintop Removal cause flooding? The best science says: it's complicated. (My take... like the relationship between global climate change and hurricanes, mountaintop removal and strip mining almost certainly make the severity of floods worse, even if they don't change the frequency of high rainfall events.)
But, here in West Virginia the WV DEP either doesn't care or doesn't have the resources to find out. That hasn't stopped Gov. Manchin from declaring W.Va. floods "an act of God". Read the entire Coal Tattoo post (and comments) for further insights into Gov. Manchin's unabashed support for Mountaintop Removal.
* What is the inevitable consequence of an underpowered stimulus bill? Layoffs. In It's Time to Pay the Piper BarbinMD points out the House GOP is perversely celebrating this. Why does Rep. Shelley Moore Capito hate workers?
More than $1.6 billion of [stimulus bill] money will come to West Virginia, according to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. That includes $351 million in job investments, $551 million for education and technical training and $664 million in health care for low-income families.
[snip]
Rockefeller said the infrastructure funding alone should save or create as many as 20,000 jobs in West Virginia. The Obama administration estimated the package would create or save 3.5 million jobs across the nation during the next two years and lift more than 2 million people out of poverty.
[snip]
Included in the stimulus package for West Virginia is a temporary $450 million increase in Medicaid funding, $163 million in additional food stamp support, more than $20 million for community block grants to help the unemployed make rental and utility payments, $585,000 for the school lunch program and $289,000 for Meals on Wheels.
Also in the bill is more than $19 billion in bonus Medicaid and Medicare payments nationwide for physicians and doctors who adopt electronic health care technologies in their offices. West Virginia lawmakers hope to use the state's share of the money to implement an electronic health care system, which was one of the major recommendations of a task force that spent last year exploring health care reforms.
[snip]
Education is the next largest recipient after health care. Public schools, colleges and universities will receive $219 million to help stabilize budget shortfalls. The state will receive another $156 million in school construction bonds over two years to build and renovate schools in such a way that they will be energy efficient and promote technology.
The state will get $210 million for road, bridge and highway construction and repair, $62 million to provide clean drinking water to communities and nearly $20 million for water and sewer infrastructure.
Other details of the plan include:
• a "making work pay" tax cut of up to $400 for individuals earning below $75,000 per year and up to $800 for couples earning below $150,000;
• expanding the earned-income tax credit to families with three or more children, helping an estimated 50,000 West Virginia families;
• giving tax relief to 86,000 West Virginians by preventing them from paying the Alternative Minimum Tax;
• $3.4 billion for clean coal research and development nationwide;
• $70 million to make West Virginia buildings more energy efficient;
• lowering COBRA health care premiums by 65 percent for unemployed West Virginians for up to nine months; COBRA recipients will be responsible for only 35 percent of COBRA premium costs;
• $3.2 million in State Employment Service Grants to match unemployed individuals to job openings through state employment service agencies and provide customized reemployment services;
• $3.6 million in Dislocated Workers State Grants to meet the needs of skilled workers;
• raising the weekly unemployment compensation benefit by $25 and temporarily suspending federal income taxes on the first $2,400 of unemployment assistance.
Who knows, one of those 20,000 jobs saved or created may just be yours!
So only 3 Republicans voted for the Stimulus in Congress. That doesn't mean they don't want money from it sent to their states.
Here is Specter on the passage of the Stimulus Bill:
"When I came back to the cloak room after coming to the agreement a week ago today, one of my colleagues said, 'Arlen, I'm proud of you.' My Republican colleague said, 'Arlen, I'm proud of you.' I said, 'Are you going to vote with me?' And he said, 'No, I might have a primary.' And I said, 'Well, you know very well I'm going to have a primary.'
...
"I think there are a lot of people in the Republican caucus who are glad to see this action taken without their fingerprints, without their participation.
...
(When asked how many of his Republican colleagues really supported the bill:) "I think a sizable number. I think a good part of the caucus agrees with the person I quoted, but I wouldn't want to begin to speculate on numbers."
Hmmmm.
Sooner or later they'll either get bipartisan or be gone altogether.
I've been watching these debates in the Senate for three days and I'm very disappointed by the way the Stimulus Bill is turning out. As it stands now they have put 42% of the Bill as TAX CUTS.... and tax cuts don't stimulate a thing!
Because of the 60 vote minimum needed to pass this thing in the Senate, Democrats have let Republicans re-insert the very things that caused the economy to dive into the pits over the last eight years... TAX CUTS!
This is a STIMULUS BILL! That means we have to SPEND MONEY that will go into the economy and be re-spent two or three times. It has to be money spent to make people BUY THINGS!
I've been watching Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R - Texas) debating John Kerry (D - Massachusetts) debating the economic stimulus bill and it's related problems with bipartisanship on MEET THE PRESS. Needless to say, Kerry is pushing for jobs, education and infrastructure employment. Hutchinson is pushing for tax cuts, of course, and is threatening another 100% Republican pullout. What stuck in my mind, however, was her statement that the Infrastructure has been well-funded so far and is not a problem.
A very small percentage of Obama's $825 Billion Economic Stimulus Plan is supposed to be spent on the arts, primarily through the administration of the NEA and the NEH. Already there has been protest from the political right against such expenditures - primarily coming from places like the American Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute.
The argument is that this is really "pork" money and does not stimulate the economy. Yet it has been pointed out by the NEA that the very small amount of money ($50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts) when compared to the overall $825 Billion is actually placed more efficiently into the economy and establishes over 6,000 jobs. While the arts organizations that are financed by NEA grants may have only 2 or 10 or 25 employees, there are hundreds of organizations and they add up to the same kind of impact as a large corporation like an airline or a bank.
(Any Shelley sightings lately? - promoted by Carnacki)
I think it is worth noting that, according to the Moorefield Examiner, Rep. Capito thinks that discussions of economic stimuli via large and small scale infrastructure programs "are very premature" according to press secretary Coffin. "We share some concerns that it is moving too quickly."
Mustn't have programs designed to start correcting our cratering economy implemented too quickly.
This week the US Senate is working on its version of an economic stimulus package. Senator Rockefeller has played a key role in pushing for improvements over the House version. By way of background, here's an op-ed of mine on what's needed from this Sunday's Gazette Mail.
It's good news that the Bush administration and congressional leaders are trying to head off a downturn in the economy with some kind of stimulus package. However, the way we go about doing it can make all the difference.
It's good news that the Bush administration and congressional leaders are trying to head off a downturn in the economy with some kind of stimulus package. However, the way we go about doing it can make all the difference.
The package that House leaders and the Bush administration just negotiated has some good features. It has been amended to provide some kind of tax rebate for low-income families who were left out of the president's original proposal. However, it leaves out some important ingredients.
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