Arizona is a regressive outlier in renewable energy production
May 2, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
For at least two decades now, we have heard it repeated often that Arizona could be the "solar capitol of the world." Not even close. Check out the map below. Arizona sticks out like a sore thumb among our western state neighbors in renewable energy production.
Brad Plumer posts today at Ezra Klein's Wonk Blog, Who uses renewable power, in one map:
We keep hearing that renewable energy is booming in the United States, but where is it? Here’s a handy map from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showing how much electricity each state gets from wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal (but not hydropower):
Maine was the clear winner in 2011, getting 27 percent of its electricity coming from renewable sources — a lot of it wind power and biomass. But Maine had a lot of renewable energy back in 2001, too. South Dakota and Iowa, at 21 percent and 17 percent, have seen far more impressive growth. Both of those states got almost none of their electricity from renewable sources a decade ago.
Why do some states do better than others? Policy helps. Some 30 states have laws that require utilities to get a certain portion of their power from renewable sources. (The Southeast is the big exception here.) The strictness of the laws varies from state to state, but by and large, states with stricter standards get more renewables. But simply having natural resources helps, too: Idaho, Wyoming, and South Dakota don’t have strict standards, but there’s so much wind up there that turbines are going up anyway.
What’s less clear is whether this rapid growth will continue. A good portion of the recent boom in wind and solar power has been thanks to the federal production tax credit and assorted grants in the stimulus bill. Those grants have now expired and the tax credit for wind will expire at the end of 2012. Clean-energy advocates are hoping it gets renewed when Congress tries to avert “Taxmageddon” and the end of this year, but that’s not a sure bet.
The EIA has data on total renewable generation, not including hydropower, here (Excel file).
Back in 2006, the Arizona Corporation Commission adopted Renewable Energy Standard & Tariff (REST). These rules require that regulated electric utilities must generate 15 percent of their energy from renewable resources by 2025. The Commission’s Renewable Energy Standards encourage utilities to use solar, wind, biomass, biogas, geothermal and other similar technologies to generate “clean” energy to power Arizona’s future.
The less-than-do-nothing Tea-Publican Congress (year two)
May 2, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
"To call this 112th Congress a do-nothing Congress would be an insult — to the real Do-Nothing Congress of 1947-48."
So writes Dana Milbank about our less-than-do-nothing Tea-Publican Congress, a sorrier cast of slackers this country has never produced. Our do-almost-nothing Congress:
If you were to stroll by the House chamber today — or tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that — you would arrive at the ideal time to see what the lawmakers do best: absolutely nothing.
It’s another recess week for our lazy leaders. Oh, sorry: “Constituent Work Week” is what they’re calling it these days, as if lawmakers were filling potholes and making calls to Social Security rather than raising campaign cash.
By the time the Republican-led House returns next week, members will have been working in Washington on just 41 of the first 127 days of 2012 — and that was the busy part of the year. They are planning to be on vacation — er, doing “constituent work” — 17 of the year’s remaining 34 weeks, and even when they are in town the typical workweek is three days.
Good work if you can get it —
Mitt’s Buddy On Inequality — Flawed Logic At Its Finest
May 2, 2012
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I can't write extensively on this one, but it's an eye-opening piece, becasue it sheds light on how some of the ultra-rich see themselves. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/magazine/romneys-former-bain-partner-makes-a-case-for-inequality.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 Enjoy.
St. Louis to charter schools: “Perform or close.”
May 2, 2012
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by David Safier Six charter schools in St. Louis run by Imagine Schools (which runs 14 schools in Arizona) are closing because of poor performance, thanks in good part to the St. Louis media which has been investigating the Imagine charters for years. It looks like EdisonLearning, another national company that runs charters in St. … Read more
The Farley Report – ‘May Day!’ issue
May 2, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Time once again for The Farley Report from Rep. Steve Farley (D-LD 28):
And now, as promised, the news…
–> Budget: It's all over. With no public hearings, and no public testimony, on largely partisan lines we have passed a budget worked out between the Republican majority and the Governor, without any input from Democrats, just like we saw in each of the past two years.
This is particularly sad since, as Farley Report readers know, this year we House Democrats had crafted a fiscally conservative budget that would also invest in jobs, education, and human services that our citizens need and deserve, and that would pay off dividends many times over down the line in the form of a healthy, stable economy, and fewer citizens in need of government services.
Republicans actually liked our budget, and acknowledged that — although we invested more on core public services like schools, pothole filling, and job creation — we still ended up with a much smaller deficit in 2015 than they did. We were in serious negotiations, until they finally decided to fall back on the old ways of spurning Democrats and doing a deal with the governor of their own party.
This is such a missed opportunity. Our state's problems are too big for one party to solve, and this could have been a historic example of putting partisan bickering aside to move our state forward. Together. Especially given that we have a surplus for the first time since 2008. Instead, we fell back — too easily — into the old patterns of: A Republican budget filled with tax cuts, education cuts, and private prisons, Democratic amendments that make things better (but fail on party lines), and a final package that goes to the Governor only 24 hours after it was introduced, without public input.
Here are some of the key points of the budget that is now on the Governor's desk, after tonight's final vote:
Is Rich Crandall a liar or an ignoramus?
May 2, 2012
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by David Safier Rich Crandall is a very active member of ALEC, and he tried to pass a bill that would allow schools to say No to the Fed's free and reduced lunches. But I don't think people who I disagree with are necessarily idiots, and that would include Rich Crandall. Crandall is not an … Read more
Legal challenge to fund sweep of mortgage fraud settlement fund in the works
May 2, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Governor Jan Brewer has not even signed the budget passed on Tuesday and already there is a legal challenge in the works to the fund sweep of the mortgage fraud settlement fund. As I briefly mentioned yesterday, Lawmakers' budget proposal would raid mortgage fraud settlement – East Valley Tribune:
State lawmakers are planning to raid a mortgage fraud settlement fund to balance the budget.
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Senate President Steve Pierce said the current intended uses of the funds are a low priority. He said the funds are currently set to be used for things like “advertising on how to keep your own personal finances in shape.”
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But Valerie Iverson of the Arizona Housing Alliance said that “someplace” should be elsewhere. She said there were more than 10,000 foreclosure filings in Arizona last month alone.
“We still have the highest foreclosure rate in the country,” she said. “We figure that the money they’re proposing to sweep could provide 75,000 troubled homeowners with housing counseling and 10,000 homeowners with legal assistance.”
But the issue is more than one of fiscal philosophy and priorities.
Iverson pointed out that the settlement signed on Arizona’s behalf by Attorney General Tom Horne with the lenders has strings on the $97.7 million going directly to the state. It says the money is supposed to go to things like avoiding preventable foreclosures, minimizing the effects of the foreclosure crisis and prosecuting financial fraud.
More to the point, Iverson said, the document uses the word “shall” to describe the uses.
“I’m going by what’s in the consent decree,” Iverson said. And Iverson said her organization, which represents agencies that would get these funds for counseling and legal help, already is consulting with attorneys about filing suit if the provision remains in the budget.
Romney [didn’t say] “Of course I would have defended my gay staffer”
May 2, 2012
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by David Safier Of course Romney would have issued the risky order to attack Bin Laden. Because even though the mission could have gone horribly wrong and damaged his credibility and popularity, Romney is the kind of man who is willing to make the tough decisions. I know that's true, because Romney said so himself. … Read more
