{"id":9699,"date":"2014-07-27T12:22:34","date_gmt":"2014-07-27T16:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=9699"},"modified":"2014-07-27T12:24:36","modified_gmt":"2014-07-27T16:24:36","slug":"epa-hearings-in-ajc-wheres-the-second-step-about-natural-gas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2014\/07\/epa-hearings-in-ajc-wheres-the-second-step-about-natural-gas.html","title":{"rendered":"EPA hearings in AJC: where’s the second step about natural gas?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nAJC on the\r\n\r\nEPA hearings this week<\/a>:\r\nthey didn’t print my proposed second step for natural gas,\r\nbut they did quote Sierra Club on efficiency.\r\n

\r\nKristina Torres wrote for the AJC today,\r\n\r\nEPA brings \u2018clean power\u2019 plan to Atlanta. Will it hurt Georgia?<\/a>\r\n

\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nAtlanta this week will host one of just four national public\r\nhearings on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “clean\r\npower” plan to reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions\r\nnationwide. The outcome will interest anyone in Georgia who flips a\r\nlight switch and pays an electric bill.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“Our overarching concern is, is this going to cause electrical\r\nrates to rise dramatically?” said Keith Bentley, the state’s\r\nleading air quality regulator. “Whatever rule is eventually\r\npassed, what does it cost?”\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nWell, my question is what will it cost if it doesn’t go far enough?\r\n

\r\nKristina Torres called me:\r\n

\r\n

\r\nIn Atlanta, both environmentalists and corporate energy executives\r\nare among those who have signed up to testify Tuesday and\r\nWednesday. All available speaking slots are full, but that hasn’t\r\nstopped anyone from trying to weigh in about what the proposal\r\nmeans for Georgia.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“I think it’s good as far as it goes,” said John\r\nQuarterman,\r\n\r\na farmer<\/a> who has already had to thin the canopy of pine\r\ntrees surrounding his South Georgia homestead after pine beetles\r\ninfested some that had been weakened by drought two years ago.\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nHe\r\nnow avidly tracks the ups and downs of climate warming near where\r\nhe lives in Valdosta, noting weather extremes that also saw\r\n\r\nhistoric flooding both last year and in 2009<\/a>.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“It’s good it’s going to do something about coal\r\nemissions,” he said. “Maybe this is just a first step.\r\nGood. But we need a second step, too.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nThe AJC didn’t say my proposed second step is a rule\r\nabout “natural” fracked methane gas emissions,\r\nbecause just limiting coal emissions drives utilities to\r\ngas, which leads to Spectra’s attempt to take south Georgia\r\nland for its Sabal Trail Pipeline;\r\nsee\r\n\r\nSabal Trail admits environmental destruction to Valdosta newspaper<\/a>.\r\n

\r\nHere’s some more from the AJC story:\r\n

\r\n

\r\nThe rules, Georgia Power’s Brian Green said, “assume\r\nunprecedented expansion of renewable energy at customers’ expense\r\n(and) require reducing the amount of electricity customers use to\r\nachieve ambitious energy efficiency standards.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nYet, “energy efficiency is our most untapped resource,”\r\nsaid Colleen Kiernan, the director of the Sierra Club’s Georgia Chapter, using an\r\nexample of a homeowner getting help to replace an old clunker of a \r\nrefrigerator with a sleek new one that uses less energy to keep food\r\ncold. Power companies, she added, “hate to be asked to do\r\nmore, but every time they do more things get better.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nA 2010 Georgia Tech study showed that with efficiency improvements\r\nGeorgia wouldn’t need any new power for 20 years<\/a>.\r\nAdd\r\n\r\nsolar power<\/a>, which is already cheaper than any other power source,\r\nfaster to install, on budget, needs no fuel or cooling water,\r\nand brings jobs and lower electric bills right where it’s needed,\r\nand we can shut down a lot more coal plants without adding any\r\nnew nukes or natural gas.\r\n

\r\nIt’s good the EPA is doing something.\r\nBut it needs to do a lot more.\r\nAnd we don’t need to wait for the EPA.\r\nLet’s get on with with the solar power sunrise in Georgia, the\r\nsoutheast, and the whole country!\r\n

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