{"id":2620,"date":"2010-09-26T12:58:31","date_gmt":"2010-09-26T16:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2010\/09\/how-about-some-real-clean-energy-jobs-and-a-renewable-energy-strategy-for-georgia.html"},"modified":"2010-09-26T12:58:31","modified_gmt":"2010-09-26T16:58:31","slug":"how-about-some-real-clean-energy-jobs-and-a-renewable-energy-strategy-for-georgia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2010\/09\/how-about-some-real-clean-energy-jobs-and-a-renewable-energy-strategy-for-georgia.html","title":{"rendered":"How about some real clean energy jobs, and a renewable energy strategy for Georgia?"},"content":{"rendered":"This is a response from me to\nBrad Lofton’s letter of 22 September 2010<\/a>.\nI also refer to Leigh Touchton’s response of the same date.<\/a>\n
\n\n<\/a>\nFrom: “John S. Quarterman” \n
\nTo: blofton@industrialauthority.com, Leigh Touchton \n
\nCc: [VDT, elected officials, and other people]\n
\nSubject: Re: Brad Lofton, Executive Director Industrial Authority\n
\nDate: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 11:23:39 -0400\n

\nBrad,\n

\nI also appreciate you taking the time to meet with people,\nbut I am disappointed in the information provided by VLCIA.\n

\nFor example, you say:\n

\nYou are absolutely correct in stating that we provided you peer reviewed\nscientific literature proving that biomass plants are indeed carbon neutral\n<\/blockquote>\nExcuse me? What journal accepts a stack of powerpoint slides for\npeer review?\n

\nMaybe you mean it’s based on some journal article. Citation, please:\njournal, date, and page.\n

\nThe only thing I can find in it that was peer-reviewed was a quote\nfrom an IPCC 2007 report, which asks for “a sustainable forest\nmanagement strategy”. That’s what we don’t have; that stack of\nslides certainly isn’t it.\n

\nYou mention:\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

\n
\nDr. Carl Manning, an environmental professor at VSU who has done\nsignificant research in biomass, agrees and completely supports our project.\n<\/blockquote>\nSearching in valdosta.edu finds no Carl Manning at VSU.\n
\nIt is also important to note that we will be using inert landfill material\nthat would otherwise produce methane if left to rot in a landfill. As you\nknow, methane is considered a greenhouse gas. This is another very positive\nenvironmental benefit of our project (one of many). Carbon is absolutely\nnot an issue with our plant.\n<\/blockquote>\nHow much methane? Compared to how much CO2? Waving off the CO2 issue\ndoesn’t make it go away.\n

\nYou write:\n

\nRest assured that no trees will be harvested for this plant.\n<\/blockquote>\nYet Oglethorpe Power brags about planning to use whole trees in its\nplanned biomass incinerators.\n

\nYou assert:\n

\nAny deviation will result in plant closure by the EPD.\n<\/blockquote>\nOr an application by the plant to change the permit to allow\nburning of whole trees, as is happening in North Carolina:\n

\nhttp:\/\/bit.ly\/9jtbiJ<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2010\/06\/whole-trees-as-biomass.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/www.indyweek.com\/indyweek\/burning-trees-stretches-the-meaning-of-renewable\/Content?oid=1593871<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/ncuc.commerce.state.nc.us\/cgi-bin\/webview\/senddoc.pgm?dispfmt=&itype=Q&authorization=&parm2=HAAAAA37101B&parm3=000132343<\/a>\n

\nYou continue:\n

\nA couple of other areas of misinformation that we would like to correct:\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nIt appears Leigh Touchton has since ably provided copious documentation of\nwhat she asserted, so I don’t need to do that.\n

\nMeanwhile, you ignore all my other points, including that there is\neven venture capital money available for solar, which would permit\nWiregrass Power LLC to build out its tiny solar plant into a much\nlarger facility that would require no fuel and produce no emissions.\n

\nDublin, Georgia, has gone even further and attracted a solar\nmanufacturing plant, which will produce 350 jobs:\n

\nhttp:\/\/bit.ly\/aWdznO<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/wireupdate.com\/local\/mage-solar-to-locate-us-headquarters-in-dublin-ga\/<\/a>\n

\nThat’s not temporary construction jobs like the biomass plant; that’s\nongoing jobs. Why isn’t the VLCIA attracting that kind of industry?\n

\nAnd we still don’t have a renewable energy policy for the local area,\nfor south Georgia, or for the state.\n

\nYet the Highland Council in Scotland, with less people and more\nland area than south Georgia, produced a 58 page Highland Renewable\nEnergy Strategy and planning guidelines, considering numerous types\nof renewable energy, pros and cons of each (solar, wind, tide, hydro,\nbiomass), power distribution, effects on environment, protected areas,\netc., illustrated copiously with detailed maps, and supported by a\n75 page Renewable Energy Resource Assessment (RERA) with maps, graphs,\nand analysis of major renewable energy types:\n

\nhttp:\/\/bit.ly\/cGdXmI<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2010\/06\/previously-writing-about-biomass-and-carbon-dioxide-i-said-id-supply-an-example-of-the-sort-of-thing-im-looking-for-as.html<\/a>\n

\nThe contractor that did the Highland work is located in Stromness,\na town smaller than Hahira and much more isolated. Why can the\nHighland Council and tiny Stromness do what the great state of\nGeorgia and the VLCIA have not?\n

\nMaybe the VLCIA should spend some of its 1.5 mil in tax money\nto find and hire a contractor to produce a renewable energy\nstrategy for our area. A strategy that includes renewable\nforestry and the health and welfare of our people.\n

\n-jsq\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is a response from me to Brad Lofton’s letter of 22 September 2010. I also refer to Leigh Touchton’s response of the same date. From: “John S. Quarterman” To: blofton@industrialauthority.com, Leigh Touchton Cc: [VDT, elected officials, and other people] Subject: Re: Brad Lofton, Executive Director Industrial Authority Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 11:23:39 -0400 […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[97,120,141,216,48,14,16,740,11,21,32,23,73,289,24,178,36,1521],"tags":[193,8738,1747,4129,2043,8745,8753,8704,2061,4566,188,8701,5343,1790,8791,5377,5381,5378,4131,5342,847,154,4020,7,1809,5220,8863,5380,4530,5221,5382,8715,8713,5383,5384,4605,5314,8714,5379,6,2900,180,8742,8749,294,4123],"class_list":["post-2620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-biomass","category-co2","category-coal","category-code-enforcement","category-economy","category-environment","category-forestry","category-lake","category-planning","category-pollution","category-renewable-energy","category-safety","category-science","category-solar","category-vlcia","category-wind","category-wiregrass-solar","tag-allan-ricketts","tag-biomass","tag-brad-lofton","tag-carbon-dioxide","tag-clean","tag-co2","tag-coal","tag-economy","tag-electricity","tag-environmental-racism","tag-executive-director","tag-georgia","tag-global-climate-change","tag-green","tag-hahira","tag-highland-council","tag-highland-renewable-energy-strategy","tag-highlands","tag-incinerator","tag-jill-stuckey","tag-jobs","tag-landfill","tag-leigh-touchton","tag-lowndes-county","tag-mercury","tag-mud-creek-wastewater-treatment-plant","tag-naacp","tag-orkney","tag-particulates","tag-perimeter-road","tag-planning-guidelines","tag-pollution","tag-renewable-energy","tag-renewable-energy-resource-assessment","tag-rera","tag-scotland","tag-sewage-sludge","tag-solar","tag-stromness","tag-valdosta","tag-valdosta-daily-times","tag-valdosta-lowndes-county-industrial-authority","tag-vdt","tag-vlcia","tag-wastewater","tag-wiregrass-power-llc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-Gg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2620\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}