Author Archives: admin

Authority should listen to other sources –John S. Quarterman

This op-ed by me appeared in the VDT today, 24 Feb 2011. On 15 Feb 2011 I spoke directly to the VLCIA board about the main points and the next day I sent them the longer version, Why “jobs, jobs, jobs” isn’t good enough for the public good and the general welfare, which includes links to videos of the relevant speeches and to VLCIA’s charter. -jsq
Everyone wants jobs for those who need them and jobs for young people so they don’t have to go somewhere else to find one. But what good is that if those jobs suck up all the water those people need to drink?

At the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce annual dinner Brad Lofton gave a speech which I liked, and I told him so afterwards, because it was mostly about real industry with real jobs that that the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) has brought into the area.

But it had a problem:

Continue reading →

VDT on VLCIA biomass “Forum” expenses

David Rodock writes in the VDT, Report on funds spent by Industrial Authority during biomass conference:
An open records request led to the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) publicly releasing the detailed costs associated with hosting a panel discussion to answer questions about the Wiregrass biomass plant at the Rainwater Conference Center on Dec. 6, 2010.

The total cost for the event was $17,534.36.

LAKE posted the detailed expense documents Monday 20 Feb 2011.

The VDT article quotes Col. Allan Ricketts as saying:

“These costs included renting the center and providing refreshments. We view these costs as due diligence because they relate directly to our community. We need to make sure that a project is a good fit for our community and that it won’t do harm to our community,” said Ricketts.

“You would want to insure that you going provide the best information available – they are the most qualified professionals you can find. You’d expect to pay them and they expect to be paid for their services.”

If they were so qualified, why wasn’t the VLCIA willing to have local people who would have charged nothing sit on the panel and debate them? Perhaps it’s because so many of the paid experts’ points were so easy to refute, as we know because so many of them have since been amply refuted?

-jsq

Biomass no, solar yes –Kathryn Grant

Kathryn Grant at the groundbreaking for the Wiregrass Solar LLC plant:
We’re here to oppose the biomass plant…. We want people to know we support solar energy in hopes that that could be incorporated throughout the state.
Here’s the video:


Wiregrass Solar LLC groundbreaking, 21 Feb 2011,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

“Go solar! But no to biomass” –Dr. Michael Noll

Dr. Michael Noll at the groundbreaking for the Wiregrass Solar LLC plant:
We’re all for solar, go solar! But no to biomass.
Here’s the video:


Wiregrass Solar LLC groundbreaking, 21 Feb 2011,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

More Noll here.

-jsq

Georgia Power at Wiregrass Solar groundbreaking, 21 Feb 2011

It was good to see Georgia Power assisting at the groundbreaking of the Wiregrass Solar LLC plant, instead of just studying and demonstrating. The speaker equated solar, biomass, and nuclear. Hm, what’s that over their heads? Why, biomass doesn’t seem to be as popular as solar! I didn’t catch the speaker’s name, but he also recognized Robbie Hastings, detail manager in Valdosta. Here’s the video:


Wiregrass Solar LLC groundbreaking, 21 Feb 2011,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Georgia Power had several pages in the business section of the Valdosta Daily Times (VDT) the previous Sunday, written up on Monday as Harnessing the sun’s rays: Georgia Power kicks off 18-month solar power study, by Karah-Leigh Hancock, about what Gapower is doing instead of actually deploying solar: Continue reading →

The Quitman 10 at the Georgia capitol

George Rhynes writes about the Quitman Ten, On Georgia State Capital Steps, Standing Strong for Georgians Right to VOTE!
I traveled to the Georgia State Capital February 22, 2011; in support of the Quitman Ten. These brave, courageous freedom fightes stood and are standing strong on behalf of Georgia Voter’s right to vote. This is a short preview of what will be posted here as a reflection of what took place at this meeting and historical event. As a concerned citizens from the South Georgia, I commend the Georgia citizens that stood in support of the Quitman Ten as they received rewards for their courage and perhaps being forced to bring South Georgia into the 21st Century along with other cities.
He reminds us of the not-so-distant past: Continue reading →

“Olive branch or smokescreen?” –Patrick Davis

Patrick Davis wonders from Macon:
Is this Brad Lofton-led ‘solar’ groundbreaking event by the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority an olive branch or a smokescreen.for the community Or an example of ‘compassionate consevratism’?
The solar plant has been part of the plan from the beginning, which of course doesn’t quite answer Patrick Davis’ question. VLCIA knows it can increase the size of the solar plant, and they seem to think that could be a good idea. They could also choose to forget the biomass plant, but they refuse to do that. Much more about Wiregrass Solar Power LLC.

Also please note that this blog is On the LAKE Front, where LAKE is an acronym for the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, which is about citizen dialog for transparent process for all of Lowndes County and the general area, not just Valdosta.

-jsq

Hannah Solar at Wiregrass Solar groundbreaking, 21 Feb 2011

Actually installing the Wiregrass Solar LLC plant is Hannah Solar. Speaking here is Patrick T. O’Donnell, Managing Partner, who talks about two other Hannah Solar people standing there, Project Manager Dave Fisher, and CEO Pete Marte. Here’s the video.


Wiregrass Solar LLC groundbreaking, 21 Feb 2011,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
According to the VDT CEO Marte later said:
“Solar energy is definitely part of the solution for water issues in Georgia, and it’s not being talked about. When the president of Georgia Power is the chairman of the water commission and 52 percent of water is being used for power generation, you’ve got the fox in the henhouse,” said Pete Marte, chief executive officer of Hannah Solar.
According to VDT commenter Solar All The Way: Continue reading →

“In 20 years we’ll be meeting all of our energy needs with solar” –Ray Kurzweil

The man who knows more about doubling rates than anyone else in the world (he accurately predicted computers winning at chess and the Internet, including the correct dates), Ray Kurzweil, interviewed by Lauren Feeney on PBS:
One of my primary theses is that information technologies grow exponentially in capability and power and bandwidth and so on. If you buy an iPhone today, it’s twice as good as two years ago for half that cost. That is happening with solar energy — it is doubling every two years. And it didn’t start two years ago, it started 20 years ago. Every two years we have twice as much solar energy in the world.
Think about how fast the Internet has grown in the 21st century. That’s what he’s talking about: from unknown to TV news anchors to facilitating multiple revolutions in weeks. He continues: Continue reading →

Sonny Murphy talks at Solar Groundbreaking

The biggest dignitary among the bunch at the Wiregrass Solar groundbreaking was Therrell “Sonny” Murphy, Chairman of the Board, Sterling Planet, the parent company of Wiregrass Solar LLC. Nice fellow; I talked to him at length before most people showed up. To his credit, he didn’t shy away from directly talking about the proposed neighboring biomass plant (Sterling Planet owns Wiregrass Power LLC, too). He also mentioned geothermal and “efficiency itself”, which shows he has a broader grasp of the potential energy sources than some participants.


Wiregrass Solar LLC groundbreaking, 21 Feb 2011,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

I congratulate Chairman Murpny and Sterling Planet on the solar groundbreaking. I offered to introduce him to the biomass protesters. He said he didn’t want to get into a debate. Hm, that reminds me of something.

-jsq