Tag Archives: Senate

GA Senate unanimously approved solar financing bill

Friday’s vote started at least a year and a half ago. Organized years-long activism is paying off for everyone.

Summer before last, after statewide requests by Georgia Sierra Club, Greenlaw, and many others: Georgia PSC required Georgia Power to buy twice as much solar power. About a year later, Mary Landers, Savannahnow, 18 November 2014, Georgia is fastest growing solar market,

Last year the Georgia Public Service Commission approved a motion for Georgia Power, the state’s largest utility, to add 525 MW of solar power generation to its portfolio by 2016.

“That pushed out the growth of solar, especially projecting forward,” Continue reading →

Keystone XL pipeline rejected in U.S. Senate

We are all Indians to the fossil fuel cowboys, but this time the Indians won. The U.S. Senate yesterday rejected the Keystone XL pipeline. It won’t end there, but it should, because solar power is cheaper, faster, cleaner, and actually does bring jobs to the U.S.


Picture from US Uncut

Of course, TransCanada has a backup plan for getting its dirty Alberta tar sands oil to overseas market: a pipeline entirely through Canada to New Brunswick. Which means the past several years of TransCanada insistence that Keystone XL was necessary was just so much bs. Which indicates how much we should believe other Keystone XL claims, such as those about jobs the pipeline would supposedly create.


Source: Reuters

Angelo Young, International Business Times, 8 October 2014, No Keystone XL Pipeline? No Problem, Says Canadian Firm Planning To Send Crude East Instead Of South, Continue reading →

Musical chairs in local qualifying

Three out of five voting County Commissioners are not running again, and one has already vacated his seat, plus you have to have a playing card to keep track of who’s running for the state Senate and House.

We already knew State Senator Tim Golden was not running again, and now we know who’s running for that seat: Richard Raines (R), who had said two months ago he was not running again for County Commission District 2, Ellis Black (R) currently House 174, Bikram Mohanty (D) who ran last time and came close, and John Page (R), who thus vacated County Commission District 5.

Because Ellis Black is running for Senate, and even though he qualifed for his House District 174 seat Monday, when he qualified for Senate Wednesday, he left his House seat open. Running for District 174 are Crawford Powell (R), currently County Commissioner for District 3, Jessie Smith (D), and John L. Corbett (R).

The incumbents qualifed for the other House seats, each with no challenger.

As for the three (3) County Commission seats now open, here, read Gretchen’s explanation.

And remember, more changes can still happen, because qualifying has reopened for County Commission District 3, and will have to reopen for District 5.

-jsq

Senate Farm Bill adds Rural Gigabit Amendment

The U.S. Senate just adopted an amendment to invest in gigabit (1,000 megabit per second) rural broadband networks. Our local leaders need to lobby for the House to pass this, if they are serious about fast affordable Internet service for everyone here. Senator Leahy’s tiny Vermont, with the population of a single Congressional district, is already well along towards gigabit Internet. Our three House members can help get south Georgia on the road to better jobs, education, and health care through better Internet service.

Jennifer Reading wrote today for WCAX, Leahy’s high-speed internet amendment passes,

What I want to make sure is that a rural area can compete the same way an urban area can. It’s actually the argument, the debate that went on before I was even born about whether you had rural electricity, rural telephone or not and if we hadn’t done that much of this country would be a wasteland,” said Sen. Leahy.

Don’t we want that, too?

Continue reading →

Vote No on Amendment 1 —LAKE WALB Ad

John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange The WCTV news report didn’t mention something else LAKE has done about the Tim Golden use of a LAKE video without the required attribution: LAKE paid for a TV ad on the same WALB market as Golden’s ad. That LAKE ad is still playing today: watch the news and football on WALB in Valdosta and Hahira.

Bikram Mohanty is a man of integrity running for Georgia state Senate.

Creative Commons Attribution license The incumbent Tim Golden’s attack ad misuses a video I took of Bikram Mohanty, without the credit its YouTube license requires.

Tim Golden voted to put on the ballot an amendment that could siphon off your local tax dollars for charter schools, even if your school board doesn’t want them.

Vote for integrity; vote for Bikram Mohanty for Georgia state Senate, Vote No on Amendment 1 on Nov. 6th and vote No for Amendment 1.

This WALB ad, like the WCTV news interview, is another rare instance of the LAKE politburo deciding LAKE would go on record as an organization, so I was speaking for LAKE.

TL;DR: If you want to use LAKE materials, cite the source.

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Tim Golden campaign admits using LAKE video without attribution —WCTV

Greg Gullberg WCTV WCTV got Tim Golden’s campaign on record admitting it used a LAKE video without attribution. Golden’s spokesperson claimed (erroneously) that they didn’t need to cite the source. As you can see below, that’s not what the license says.

Greg Gullberg wrote for WCTV last night, Valdosta Man Takes Legal Action Against GA Senator Over Use Of Video,

John Quarterman, Lowndes Videographer A videographer in Valdosta is taking legal action against Georgia District 8 State Senator Tim Golden.

John Quarterman says video he shot was used in an “Attack Ad” against Senate candidate Bikram Mohanty without his permission.

“A video posted on Youtube that clearly says that attribution is required. And there’s no attribution, no sources sighted, and he didn’t ask permission. That’s mis-use of our material,” Quarterman said.

Continue reading →

The power of going solar —John S. Quarterman

Solar panels on farm workshop --John S. Quarterman My op-ed in the VDT today. Remember to vote today or Tuesday. -jsq

This spring, the University at Buffalo turned on 750 kilowatts of solar electricity. Rutgers U., in New Jersey, installed 1.4 megawatts in 2009 and started on 8 MW this summer. Down here with a lot more sun, how about solar panels on VSU parking lots?

There’s plenty of private solar financing available. Also in New Jersey, a company installed 6 MW of solar on high school land and leased the power to the school supplying most of its needs win-win. You can go see a solar farm already working fine here, 200 kilowatts at Mud Creek Wastewater Plant. Why not do the same


View Larger Map

at Lowndes High School, where all the world on I-75 could see, attracting business to our community?

Why not?

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South Georgia Statehouse Districts for 2012 Elections

Having trouble figuring out where the redistricted Georgia House and Senate districts are? If you just want to find out which districts you are in, My Voter Page by Georgia Secretary of State is the fastest way to find out. Here also are maps from GeorgiaInfo. Your Vote Counts Remember, you can vote today, tomorrow, Friday, Saturday, or on the great election day, November 6th 2012.

Georgia House

Georgia House districts in south Georgia, 2012 elections

Georgia Senate

Georgia Senate districts in south Georgia, 2012 elections

-jsq

Pass the Production Tax Credit for Georgia Jobs

At yesterday’s wind rally on Tybee Island, one spoke about passing the Production Tax Credit for wind jobs in Georgia.

More pictures and videos in the GA Sierra Club flickr set.

-jsq

PS: Owed to Seth Gunning.

Wind for jobs in Georgia —Senator Mark Udall

Senator Mark Udall spoke 19 July 2012 about extending the wind energy production tax credit to produce jobs in Georgia.

The wind industry in Georgia has quickly multipled over the past few years. Nearly 1,000 wind energy jobs have been created. And equally important there is real potential for significant continued growth. And I want to focus on ZF Wind, which invested nearly $100 million in a manufacturing plant in Gainesville, Georgia, which is located northeast of Atlanta. This new plant will manufacture gearboxes for wind turbines, and that will bring several hundred really good paying jobs to Georgia.

Hm, that sounds like the sort of renewable energy business the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority says it now is seeking.

Sen. Udall also acknowledged the City Council of Tybee Island for passing a resolution promoting wind energy. Maybe our Lowndes County Commission or one of our local city councils could do that about wind, or about solar power. Tybee City Council Paul Wolff could explain how that’s done.

Here’s the video:

Continue reading →