Comments by commonsense
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Posted on September 10 at 8:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Not mentioned in Henry's article is any concern about the CO2 from burning coal. The proposed gasification/liquids from coal technology is supposed to capture and sequester the CO2 output from the process. Using the experimental coal plant in Healy however won't do that.
Susitna, as originally proposed, so overreached on what was needed, the discussion was to subsidize Kaiser Aluminum to build a smelting plant at the north end of Cook Inlet. Scale down to what we need and there is less risk. Had we been focusing on serious conservation like we are now starting to do, even less power would be required.
A bullet line should have been built years ago, using natural gas as a bridging fuel source toward sustainable alternative energies.
Short term solutions vs. long term solutions - it's a mixed bag. But, no, we don't need to be pursuing EVERY option, just the ones that are sustainable. A few billion here, a few billion there, pretty soon we are talking real money.
Posted on September 8 at 4:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Some clarifications of comments made above might be in order if anyone wants to listen.
I was intrigued that some of the comments missed the mark wildly. I see no reference in the letter as supporting either Obama OR McCain. I see no suggestion that Palin should NOT run for higher office. The suggestion was simply that our governor might want to touch base with the Alaskans she swore an oath to serve as she takes a couple months off to pursue higher office.
My personal perspective is that she works for Alaskans, not the other way around. I thought all political views in a representative democracy generally acknowledged that.
The Newsminer selects the heading, not the letter writer. The same is true with Community Perspectives and typically with staff written articles as well. This is probably the editorial team, who probably also vet the letters to publish.
The posting date used by the Newsminer on line has no bearing on when the letter was submitted, typically several days to a week before publication. Since "Student" alleges the letter was submitted on company time and also indicates she knows who he is, she might have checked with the letter-writer before asserting it. I did check with the letter writer and "Student" is completely misinformed in this regard.
I've had some letters not published that just got lost in the email deluge. When brought to the attention of the editor, they followed through. I don't work for the Newsminer, so can't confirm one way or the other what they publish or not. I'd think it is somewhere about the same restrictions as we are asked to observe when signing up to post to comments.
Just some observations.
Posted on June 5 at 11:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Lots of opinions it seems like with some perception of ivy and ivory towers. I don't know of any ivy at UAF.
To the point, this particular smart classroom is one of several that the School of Fisheries (SFOS) maintains as they have units in Kodiak, Juneau, and Seward where SFOS students take classes. Being able to teach classes to students in remote locations means they can get their coursework done in a reasonable amount of time, saving travel costs of both students, professors, and without having to have to teach the same class in every location, when one can meet the students needs remotely.
The particular focus of the Rasmuson grant was to develop a strong undergrad fisheries program. For those of you who may think oil is our only resource, fisheries are a major industry and subsistence activity. We also have some need to do research on the oceans that surround Alaska and that what OS stands for "ocean sciences".
Hope this helps clarify.
Posted on May 16 at 10:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'd doubt anyone will be buying $1.80 heating oil from coal gasification plus the gas-liquids (Fischer-Tropsch) plant. It will take a proven concept design, which the $1 mm the FNSB is putting up is only the first step, engineering and construction. Even the mayor says one is looking at 5-7 years. And the plant would cost $1-2 billion, per Mayor Whittaker. That's not pocket change nor immediate relief.
Cutting energy consumption now can pay back short and long term. Property tax seems to be about the same annual cost to us as energy and they both come out of our pocket. Any reduction would be welcome.
I think the suggestion for reducing FNSB energy use with more efficient lighting ($10,000 est. annual savings) was an example that $1 mm could be put to provide immediate relief, as opposed to a longer term speculative project which we can't fund ourselves anyway.
The previous commenters are looking for immediate help. I read Newman's letter as suggesting just that with payback to residents in the form of reduced property tax from reducing the cost of operating the FNSB government.
Posted on May 16 at 10:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
For "Bugger"s comment on Energy Raters ripping off the system, far from it. For the time they put in to a full blown energy audit, which includes a blower door analysis, plus the follow-up visit, plus dealing with AHFC paperwork, it's a reasonable charge, IMHO.
Posted on May 13 at 9:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I would not care to judge someone harshly for not wanting to kill people.
I also realize we live in a society with a fair share of cowboys ready to "clean up the town" as well as those with a sincere belief in the righteousness of the Iraq war cause, misguided as most appear to realize it was from the start.
In the days of the draft, a conscientious objector could serve in a civilian 1O capacity or a non-combatant 1AO. Seems like there is more to do in our military than kill people. Perhaps they should just let him serve his time commitment in a role that will be helpful and not deadly to himself or others.
Posted on May 9 at 9:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The weatherization/energy rebate money is NOT borough money. I hope folks realize this. It is money the legislature appropriated.
However, the $1 million that was given essentially to Fairbanks Economic Development Corporation for design work on an experimental coal-liquids IS from borough general funds. I don't see this addressing the short term "emergency" that was declared. If the Assembly instead appropriated that money toward reducing the borough buildings' energy costs, that could produce a more immediate benefit. For example, they are still using the old inefficient lights in the Borough Administration building. There are hundreds of fixtures that could be retrofitted to reduce their electric use by 30%. Or stick some solar collectors on top of borough owned buildings to reduce electric use. All these savings could go back into property tax savings for our residents.
Posted on May 4 at 6:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I recall standing in line for hours for Crosby Still and Nash as well as Stevie Ray Vaughan at the Carlson Center. Glad I saw them both.
At UCLA, I regularly stood in line for student tickets to a variety of music artists from Artur Rubenstein front row keyboard, Joan Baez, Simon and Garfunkel, Ravi Shankar, etc. The campus ticket office would reserve seats from the very front to the very back of the venue. First in line literally would get the best seats in the house. And we had a great party all night waiting outside.
With Ticketmaster on line, it takes all the social fun out of it. For those who go, I surmise that the best seats will be on the floor, as there is too much reverberation in the bleachers. Challenges of doing concerts in a hockey rink. I did see the Beatles in Dodger Stadium, but I can't really say I heard them. I read that they couldn't hear themselves either.
On Hundreds of Interior music fans queue overnight to net Elton John tickets
Posted on March 13 at 10:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
More to the point is that the nomination process for District 2 was given their charge from the minimal direction in the bylaws and by board members who generally didn't support many of the positions that Mr. DeLong espouses while on the board. The nomination process should be insulated from political manipulation and the election be as open as possible.
Generally, nominating committees are stretched to get members on the committee (witness an original 6 members on the recent District 2 committee that became only 4) and then also stretched to find competing candidates to run against incumbents. In almost every case, districts have voted back in the incumbents. Mr. DeLong getting ON the board was an exception.
And while there is no mandate to have only two candidates to prevent a possible runoff (such as last year's Delta area district, which had 3 candidates), the combination of Mr. DeLong's active efforts to change the good-ole-boy policies (my words, not his) and open up more to the members, and at least two other good candidates, one of which has recently retired from GVEA as an upper level manager, the exclusion of Mr. DeLong has a bit of a taint to it, intended or not. By meeting the short deadline for nomination by initiative with 2-3 times the number of required signatures, Mr. DeLong's inclusion should allow for a competitive race that offers a good discussion about GVEA goals.
Continuing efforts to reform the nomination process, need for more members to become involved, need for more engagement on the Membership Advisory Committee to actually perhaps advise the board instead of the other way around, there are lots of opportunities for GVEA members to get involved. Come to GVEA board meetings mostly every 4th Mon. of ea. month, read the albeit sparse minutes on line. http://www.gvea.com/about/board/
If nothing else, this recent issue has gotten more members involved and interested in GVEA. I hope the interest is sustained past this next election.
Finally, I do sympathize with Ms. Buchanan, as she has been no doubt bombarded with calls to her GVEa published cell phone. GVEA should reimburse her any minutes that exceed what her plan allows.
On Bottom line
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Posted on September 13 at 7:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Actually, I may have found out we are better served with Palin out of state. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/pol... She's got the bases covered with her hires.
People will find what they want to see in people and issues to a large degree.
On Wandering off