File this under “You’ve GOT to be Kidding!”

Chalk another one up for the government in California. I just ran across this little missive this morning on the Orange Country Register:

Astonishingly, tone-deaf state Senate Democrats in Sacramento last week revived a $200-billion, government-run, universal health care scheme to outlaw private insurance and subsidize coverage for millions of Californians.

The bill doesn’t yet specify how government would pay for this magical cure. But Senate Bill 810 is modeled after previous legislative efforts that would have imposed payroll taxes of up to 16 percent. The bill literally was resurrected from the Senate’s “dead file” of unsuccessful prior legislation, and shows how Capitol Democrats are utterly oblivious to growing public opposition to such intrusive, costly mandates.

Amazing!!!!! And to think we pay these bozos to “represent” us! Didn’t I just recently write about how California was going to go bankrupt if we didn’t start making some common-sense choices?

California Heading for a ‘Green’ Train Wreck

California reported a 12.4% unemployment rate for December 2009, matching the previous month’s rate and maintaining its place as the state with the 5th highest unemployment in the US. The housing bubble hit the state hard, though certainly not as hard as it hit Nevada and Arizona, yet home prices continue to be among the highest in the US (a story for another post).

Northrup-Grumman announced it would relocate the company’s corporate offices to Washington DC area, ostensibly to be closer to its main client, the US Government. Toyota will close their NUMMI auto manufacturing plant in Fremont in March (the last auto manufacturing plant in the state!) and move production to its plants in Texas and elsewhere because of high labor costs and high energy costs. Nissan Motor Co. completed moving its headquarters, and 1,300 jobs, to Tennessee in 2008. Interstate Bakeries Corp (Wonder, Roman Meal, Hostess Cakes, Drakes) left in 2009, also taking 1,300 jobs with them. At a time when Hollywood is celebrating its 100th birthday, the number of production days for feature films in L.A. is at a record low.

There are a number of reasons these and other businesses are closing their doors or leaving the state, but the reasons all stem from one common source; California state government.

• State taxes, among the highest in the US
• State labor regulations, among the most stringent and costly in the US
• State environmental regulations, the most restrictive in the US

While all of the above issues are bad and getting worse, that last item is the one that will drive the state to bankruptcy. In 2006 the state government passed AB32, California’s very own version of “stop anthropogenic global warming” legislation. Scheduled to go into effect in 2012, this one law will be the last straw for many California businesses.

The state is putting rules in place for owners of diesel-powered vehicles manufactured prior to 1996, and expected to operate more that 100 hours per year in the state, that will require them to replace the engines in their vehicles. Replacement estimates are between $60,000 to $90,000 per vehicle. Further, the old engine will have no value as they cannot be used in the state after the law is put in place. Many trucking firms and construction equipment firms are closing their doors because such expenses are beyond their ability to finance given the current economy.

Cement manufacturers will be driven from the state as the major byproduct of making cement is CO2. The only option these firms have short of relocating is called carbon sequestration; capturing the CO2 and injecting it into geologic formations for permanent storage … here in California, most likely abandoned oil wells. Just capturing CO2 is a very expensive process, not to mention there are few abandoned oil fields located near the majority of the cement plants in Southern California (located primarily in the desert, east of the coastal mountains). Sequestration is a very expensive proposition even in optimal conditions. Having to install a hundred plus miles of piping puts such an alternative outside of any economic reach.

What all of this means to the state’s electric energy industry is that the capacity problems the state had beginning prior to 2000 (resulting in the energy black-outs across the state) are going to be going away. So you might say “thank goodness” right? Sorry … new problem being created right now, courtesy of AB32.

All three of the state’s investor-owned utilities, as are some of the larger municipal utilities such as LADWP, implementing very large “renewable” energy programs (read photovoltaic (PV) solar power). For instance, Southern California Edison (SCE) has California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) authorization to build and own 250 megawatts (MW) of utility-owned solar photovoltaic capacity and to execute contracts up to 250 MW for generation from similar facilities owned and maintained by Independent Power Producers (IPP) through a competitive solicitation process. Not just 500 MW of new generating capacity, while the total load on the state’s generation capacity is shrinking, 500 MW of the most expensive generating technology.

Determining the cost for solar power by searching the web will give you answers ranging from $0.035/kWh to over $0.40/kWh; more than a magnitude difference. However, many sources pin the cost down to a value between $0.30 to $0.38/kWh. This compared to about $0.04/kWh for coal fired plants and $0.06/kWh for natural gas fired generation. More importantly, the fossil-fulled plants generate power even when the sun doesn’t shine, and very often are used as backup for PV.

Looked at from another perspective, the cost to build a natural gas fired generating plant ranges between $1,000 to $1,400 per kilowatt. Efficiency will range around 85%.

A PV array will cost between $6,000 to $8,000 per kilowatt, depending primarily on construction issues. The efficiency of the array will vary greatly but never exceed about 30%, but can be lower depending on:

• the location (in the northern hemisphere, the further north, the lower the efficiency),
• the average air temperature at the location (the higher the temperature, (the lower the efficiency),
• whether the array is tilted at the optimum angle for the location,
• maintenance of the panels  (are the panels routinely cleaned in locations where there is little rainfall).

What all this means is that electric rates in California are going to rise yet again, even though the state already has some of the highest rates in the US. I wrote here about developing PV or wind generating resources as an alternative to fossil or nuclear fueled plants. I also encourage you to to read a blog called NoFreeWind that has several great posts supporting these same conclusions; current PV and wind technology  cannot be used as an alternative to thermal generating technology powered by fossil or nuclear fuel. Nevertheless, companies already stressed financially may be pushed to either move out of the state or close as a result of all this “free” energy.

All this to affect less than 0.05% of the world’s CO2 emissions (and I say effect because it will not eliminate CO2 emissions) in the backdrop of the Climategate revelations and new evidence that the “science” behind Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) may not be as “settled” as has been reported so breathlessly by the main stream media over the last 20 years.

Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay and current Republican candidate for governor of California, wrote an article Friday calling for a re-look at AB32.  AB32 has a trigger to postpone implementation of specific regulations when there is “a threat of significant economic harm.” I haven’t studied the bill enough to understand the implications of this trigger, but I’d lay odds that pulling this trigger would not provide the relief needed, in any economy. Further, I disagree with Whitman on moving forward with “clean”energy options for reasons stated above.

Destroying the state’s economy in the name of AGW, at a time when many renowned climate scientists are rightfully questioning the veracity of the AGW “science” is the equivalent of allowing the terrorists that planned and carried out the 9/11 attacks to have access to protection under our constitution … oh, wait … well, equivalent to the government taking over the auto companies … wait … oh, never mind! Find your own analogy!

A few groups have began to organize for the purpose of stopping or suspending AB32. The apparent leader among them, Citizens to Suspend AB 32, is an education and initiative project chaired by California Assemblyman Dan Logue.

Regardless of how, this train wreck needs to be stopped and soon if we want to avoid turning California into Michigan with a beach!

Thank the Lord … and Scott Brown!

As it is being referred to, the Scott Heard ‘Round the World!

Scott Brown, Republican candidate for the US Senate from Massachusetts has pulled off the upset of the last five or six decades and beat Martha Coakley today to take the former Senator Ted Kennedy’s long-held seat. As I write, the vote count stands at 52.6% to 46.5%, which is great because with that kind of spread, the Democrats have no opportunity to cheat as they did in Minnesota last year in the Coleman/Frankin Senate race. (I also have to add another out-n-out stealing of the 2004 Gubernatorial race in Washington State between Repub Dino Ross and ultimate victor, Dem Christine Gregoire.)

As I stated in a somewhat backhanded way in my last post, this is a message the Democrats in DC ignore at their own peril!

Would a Scott Brown near-miss send a message?

As with most every other political junkie in the US, I’ve followed the Scott Brown phenomenon underway in Massachusetts with fascination and (dare I say it?) hope! He has achieved something no one thought possible … even 30 days ago. Yet there is one phrase I hear and read with increasing frequency; even if Scott brown loses today, he will have sent a the Democrats a chilling message regarding Obamacare.

I heard a similar refrain last November regarding the special Congressional race in the 23rd district of New York when the local Republican party bosses ran a very liberal candidate, Dede Scozzafava. A rival candidate, Doug Hoffman, ran on the Conservative Party ticket and in the last couple of weeks came from single digit territory to a double digit lead over Scozzafava, causing her to drop out of the race just days before the election. The Democrat candidate, Bill Owens went on to win the race by about five points (Scozzafava picked up about 10% of the total vote even after dropping out).

So … did the Democratic party in Washington change their agenda in response to having just dodged a bullet? Absolutely not! They deemed Owens’ win as confirmation that their agenda was safe. Well the same thing will happen if Martha Coakley, the Dem candidate running against Scott Brown, wins today.

A win is just that, and a loss is a loss. It can’t be spun any other way. And regardless of the message a close win would provide for the conservatives and Republicans, the Democrats will feel that their agenda was vindicated.

For those of us on the right, the only win would be for Scott Brown to become the next US Senator representing Massachusetts. Messages only count if the recipient is listening to you.

National Security and Obama

Like most Americans I’ve followed the events of the terrorist attack on Christmas day with growing concern. By the way, it wasn’t an attempted attack … it failed to down the aircraft, but it was an attack and ostensibly successful if measured by the additional denigration the TSA will subject the average US air traveler to.

The initial response of government officials such as Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Incompetanio, Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan, and even Obama’s being MIA for three days did not inspire confidence. Incompetanio’s statement on the Dec 27th Sunday talk shows, “… the system worked …” was nothing more than an attempt to cover the administration’s back side. The following Sunday, Brennan’s’ round on the Sunday shows was not much more than a CYA tour. He didn’t address the problem … the administration blew it on connecting several glaring dots!

I know! What has been missing since 9/11 and is really needed is a department under the direct control of the National Security Adviser, called … uhmm … I don’t know …. maybe the DODC … sure, that’s it, the Department of Dot Connectors. That’s the ticket … another bureaucracy will solve the problem!

Instead, we are soon to be faced with the threat of full body scanners in order to board an airplane. The interesting thing about the current plan is that the TSA, in a pique of modesty, says that the face as well as the “genital” area will be digitally blurred. Gee, that’s encouraging; TSA will be unable to see any details in the exact area where the explosive material was “carried” by the panty bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Even if the TSA doesn’t blur everyone’s crotch, the images are not an xray and can’t detect a stick of dynamite stuffed up Mohammad’s rear-end (as opposed to being wrapped in his turban), which is how an attempt was made recently on Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the assistant interior minister who has been spearheading the country’s war on terror. The Prince escaped with minor injuries.

The video below briefly covers the attack as well as interviews and profiles of former residents of Club Git-mo who President Bush released to Saudi Arabia for rehabilitation in their “arts for jihadists” program. There is even a shot of one of Abdula’s better paintings!

One of the new imaging machines would not detect a device carried internally, so what will the TSA’s response be when someone attempts to light a fuse protruding from his behind? It can’t be to install xray machines next. For frequent fliers, that would result in flying becoming the most dangerous form of travel, rather than the safest!

However, Muslims will not stand for entering a machine that projects an image of them basically nude. What would the TSA do about that? Exempt anyone who professes to be Islamic?

The only way to make flying safer is to stop looking for things and start looking for people. Every other country in the world that is serious about air safety and terrorism trains their security agents on how to interview passengers prior to boarding. I’ve been interviewed on many occasions when returning from European airports. They only ask three or four relatively innocuous questions, but they are trained to recognize when people are being untruthful or evasive.

The Israelis have become masters of this approach. Did you know that to board an El AL airlines flight … you aren’t required to remove your shoes? How could that be? Well for your information, El AL is widely acknowledged as the world’s most secure airline, after foiling many attempted hijackings and terror attacks through its security protocols

Such tactics are referred to by our liberal friends as PROFILING! However, it is Terror profiling … not criminal … not racial … TERROR profiling. And using such obviously right-wing, anti-civil rights methods is not going to happen anytime soon in this country, because as I said here, the current administration nor most of the bureaucracies in Washington are serious about the war we are in with Radical Islamism. Most even refuse to us that name.

Sad!

Update: Ran across this very funny parody on airport security this evening. Be sure and check it out. Rings so true!!!!

Global Warming Protest in South Dakota

Hundreds of committed individuals gathered in Oglala, South Dakota to protest global warming. As seen in the press photo, these are individuals with a serious stake in the argument. Their spokesperson said “we hope to maintain this vigil for as many months as it takes to stop the warming, even though we know it is inevitable the warming will come.”

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Taking America back … from the brink

Ran across the video below and thought it would be a great way to kick off the New Year right. While I never believed Obama represented anything I wanted from a president, many (in fact the majority) did. The past year has shown how dangerous Obama has been to our liberties and freedom, and the video does an excellent job of describing the sentiments of many, including mine.

Please, get involved. For your sake … for your children’s sake … for your grandchildren’s sake … for your Country’s sake!!!