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An idea whose time has come
For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they didn't pay into Social Security, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform that is being considered...in all of its forms. Somehow, that doesn't seem logical. We do not have an elite that is above the law. I truly don't care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. The self-serving must stop. This is a good way to do that. It is an idea whose time has come.
Proposed 28th Amendment to the
"Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the
The Pennsylvania legislature may vote this week to allow Governor Rendell to force the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) to lease yet another huge chunk of Pennsylvania state forests. At a Temple University teach-in attended by over 200 people last Thursday, DCNR Secretary John Quigley stated that Pennsylvania’s forests are "significantly threatened by this uncontrolled gold rush to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale."
The forest land already leased is one third of all Pennsylvania’s state forest land. All the state forest land left is sensitive and deserves special protection, according to the Pennsylvania Forest Coalition, PennFuture, Trout Unlimited, and other members of a wide-ranging coalition springing up to defend Pennsylvania’s forests and rivers.
Pennsylvania Representative Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) has introduced a resolution, HB 2235, which would require a five-year moratorium on any further leasing of forest lands. Supporters have become more vocal and active this week, expecting the vote any day. In a March 22nd editorial, "Stop, Look, Assess Drilling’s Full Effects," the Pocono Record advocated for HB 2235: "Pennsylvania should not risk the integrity of the beautiful forests that gave the state its name… Pennsylvania has already leased…a whopping 700,000 acres. Let’s see how that goes before opening the remainder of this valuable public land to energy companies." Over 145 people attended a Poconos forum on Marcellus Shale drilling last month, sponsored by the League of Women Voters out of growing concern about forest fragmentation, water quality and other impacts.
Vitali’s bill would also authorize DCNR, rather than the governor, to decide whether to authorize further drilling after the five-year moratorium.
Legislators not particularly known for environmental advocacy may favor the moratorium for economic reasons: tourism is Pennsylvania’s second most lucrative industry, and that’s not all about people standing in line to see the Liberty Bell. According to the Appalachian Mountain Club, Pennsylvania has more maintained hiking trails than any other state.
The Pocono Record commented, "Responsible legislators also must weigh [shale gas drilling’s] substantial risks, which include chemical spills, water pollution, the incursion of new roads in pristine remote land and heavier traffic in rural areas. Our legislators have a sworn duty to protect Pennsylvania’s natural resources." The Record concluded, "Don’t let our historic forests become a cash cow for drillers."
In related news, environmentalists found a temporary solution to protect West Virginia forests also vulnerable to shale gas drilling. Conservation groups succeeded last Friday in stopping the federal Bureau of Land Management from auctioning publicly owned oil and gas reserves under the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. The Center for Biological Diversity, Wilderness Society and Friends of Blackwater were among the groups warning that oil and gas development would threaten endangered bats, a native brook trout fishery, clean water and scenic resources inside the forest.
In Philadelphia, packed auditoriums marked two watershed events last week: the Schuylkill Watershed Congress, sponsored by Delaware Riverkeeper Network on March 13th, and the March 18th teach-in on the environmental impacts of Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania, sponsored by Temple University. The Temple teach-in included highly technical and scientific information as well as lively debate and confrontations between environmentalists, regulators, and industry lobbyists. "The timing was good… listening to the speakers, I renewed my commitment to work hard to keep shale gas drillers out of our watershed," commented Francine Cohen, a graduate student at Temple.
The Delaware River Basin Commission public comment period remains open until April 12th regarding the first shale gas drilling permit, and the first water withdrawal permit, in the Delaware River watershed. Both permits could be decided as early as May 5th.
A Burlington County company wants to buy Hamilton Township's old landfill and turn it into a major New Jersey solar energy site.
Officials with Land Resource Solutions, hired by the township a few years ago to help environmentally secure and redevelop the landfill, say state and federal programs that promote clean and renewable energy could make it financially feasible for them to proceed with the $50 million project.
"That's our goal," said Trevan Houser, a principal in Land Resource Solutions. "We think it's a good site. We think it's a good fit."
Along with gaining revenue from the sale of the land, Houser said the township could buy discounted energy from the site.
Houser and township officials say the proposal also means the municipality wouldn't have to pay millions of dollars to environmentally secure the landfill. That process traditionally means capping a landfill with clay to prevent water from seeping through the site and carrying pollutants into the ground, installing monitoring systems and performing 30 years worth of state-required environmental monitoring.
"No out-of-pocket expenses to the township," Houser said.
The landfill is located near the township's industrial park in Mays Landing. The site is also near many Atlantic County government buildings, such as the jail, criminal court complex and schools.
Mayor Roger Silva said the township, Land Resource and Atlantic County might consider a partnership that would also provide reduced-cost energy to those county facilities. Another possibility would be to use reduced energy costs as another way to attract more businesses to the industrial park, he said.
"The problem that I have is that you can't get it done fast enough," Silva said.
Houser estimated it could take about three years before the solar energy field is operational.
As for the county, Atlantic County Administrator Gerald DelRosso said it's already considering proposals for two solar panel arrays - one for the jail, and another to be built over the criminal court complex parking lot.
However, DelRosso said the county would be willing to at least discuss some kind of arrangement with the township.
The 16-acre landfill has been closed for about 20 years.
For years, township officials discussed what to do with the site. One major obstacle involved finding the millions of dollars necessary to environmental secure and then redevelop the land.
Land Resource is using $379,000 in state grant money to study what is buried beneath the landfill and whether it's causing any underground water and soil pollution.
Township and Land Resource officials estimate the site could hold enough solar panels to generate about 6 megawatts of power. That's enough to power about 5,000 homes for a year, Houser said.
Houser contends that one way to reduce closing costs is to convince the state Department of Environmental Protection and state Pinelands Commission that a different kind of cover for the landfill than clay could be safely used.
Houser said his company is studying alternative cap materials that would allow water to filter through the township landfill site. Water has filtered through the landfill for the past 20 years, he said, and tests indicate no potentially dangerous problems with soil and ground water.
"It has stabilized," he said.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 11:22 p.m.
/ Kyocera
Steve Hill, who heads Kyocera’s North American solar subsidiary, held one of the company’s solar modules. Kyocera has announced that it will begin manufacturing panels in San Diego.
Partly to take advantage of made-in-America provisions in the federal stimulus law, Kyocera announced plans Wednesday to open a solar-panel-assembly line at its U.S. headquarters in Kearny Mesa.
When it starts up in June, the assembly line will employ 65 to 75 people, company officials said. Some will be new hires; others will be existing Kyocera workers who had worked on a gold-plating line that the company recently moved to Mexico.
The announcement comes amid criticism that the stimulus bill — particularly in the renewable-energy arena — has sent money to overseas manufacturers. Washington lawmakers have become increasingly sensitive to those concerns amid persistently high unemployment.
Sen. Charles Schumer of New York and three other Democratic senators Wednesday introduced a bill that would require clean-energy projects receiving federal funds to use only domestic materials.
“It is a no-brainer that stimulus funds should only go to projects that create jobs in the United States rather than overseas,” Schumer said in a statement.
Existing law already requires some projects — those in certain public-works facilities — to use U.S.-made solar panels.
Kyocera’s decision to locate in San Diego was based only in part on stimulus considerations, said Rodney Lanthorne, president of the company’s U.S. subsidiary. The line will also take advantage of existing suppliers and infrastructure, as well as its proximity to a much larger solar-panel-assembly line in Tijuana.
“It just made sense to put it in San Diego,” Lanthorne said.
While workers are paid more in the United States than in Mexico, other costs are similar, and there will be savings because some components won’t have to cross the border, he said.
Whether employment here grows depends on how business fares, Lanthorne said, adding, “We don’t have a crystal ball.”
Kyocera’s solar operations have worldwide reach.
Silicon from the United States is sent to Japan, where it is forged into chips that are sent to plants in Japan, China, Mexico and the Czech Republic for assembly into solar panels, said Steve Hill, who heads the company’s North American solar subsidiary.
Hill said the company will manufacture 400 megawatts of solar panels worldwide in the fiscal year ending this month. By 2013, it plans to more than double that output to 1,000 megawatts.
“We’re expanding in Mexico as well,” he said.
The company’s five-year-old Tijuana plant, which will make 250 megawatts of solar panels this fiscal year, supplies customers in North and South America.
Hill said Kyocera’s business is split among rooftop arrays on homes, larger arrays on warehouses and stores, and much larger desert solar farms for utilities.
As production has increased, prices have come down, he said.
And California is a leading market. The state has subsidized solar installations for businesses and homeowners through surcharges on electric bills.
The state is two years ahead of expectations in its plan to outfit a million roofs with solar panels and generate 3 gigawatts of power from the sun, said Irene Stillings, head of the California Center for Sustainable Energy.
Her group oversees solar rebate programs in San Diego County and hosted Wednesday’s Kyocera announcement.
“Demand is increasing exponentially,” Stillings said.
State lawmakers recently approved a plan through which the owners of solar panels would be reimbursed for excess electricity they produce. The California Public Utilities Commission is deciding how much they should be paid.
Wednesday’s announcement earned praise from San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, both of whom touted the benefits of adding “green collar” jobs to the region.
In 1971, Kyocera became the first Japanese company to begin manufacturing in California. The diversified industrial company now employs about 1,100 people in San Diego and about 800 in Tijuana.
“We’ve been here a long time,” Hill said.
