Huron County Pushes Stop Button on Wind Development http://t.co/otLeG0tP6Z
— MichCapCon (@MichCapCon) April 14, 2015
Hey, former Sen. Howard Walker? Screw you.
For that matter, this guy who bankrolled a bulk of this guy’s second term – screw them too!
(13)Nuh Uh.
(0)Feds Step In, Things Get Much Worse
Part II
Things may have quieted down in Michigan after Proposal 3’s demise in 2012, but President Obama’s EPA were furiously developing their ‘War on Coal’ to dramatically increase the cost reduce pollution of electricity generation. The Mercury and Air Toxics (MATs, also known as MACT) rule requires scrubbers on all coal-fired power plants nationally, costing something north of $ 1 million per steam boiler. The Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) requires Michigan coal-fired power plants to reduce their thermal efficiency during peak summertime generating periods to reduce oxides of nitrogen at a yet to be determined cost.
In 2014, EPA’s ‘Cooling Water Intake Structures’ rule finally went into effect after a decade of legal wrangling, requiring that Michigan’s electrical utilities take some very expensive steps over 8 years to protect the Great Lakes’ beloved zebra mussel and round goby populations.
At the end of 2014, EPA imposed newly restrictive rules on the disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCRs), commonly known as coal ash, from coal-fired power plants. Almost unique in the history of Federal regulation, EPA admitted in their final CCR rule that it had a negative cost-benefit ratio. Fly ash, the most abundant CCR, is actually a remedy for the alkali-silica reaction (ASR) which causes premature failure of many MDoT concrete structures. So EPA managed to simultaneously increase Michigan’s cost of electricity generation and reduce the lifespan of our roads and bridges. An Obama ‘two fer’.
EPA expects to finalize its ‘Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Steam Electric Power Generating Point Source Category’ in September 2015. Known by the acronyms SEEG or ELG, these rules will change the way all electrical power stations handle cooling, process, and steam condensate water. These rules cover all steam powered turbine operations, but will most severely affect coal-fired power stations whose MATs required scrubbers and CCR required ash handling systems will generate a lot of waste water.
(17)Nuh Uh.(0)Michigan traffic deaths fall 8% in ’14
Even the helmet-less motorcyclists strawman numbers are down. So much for the alleged ‘untouchable’ $18,000,000,000.00 *fund* that Lansing politicians are protecting for their insurance industry lobbyist friends, huh? It’s on the table for discussion now, governor Snyder.
You also have noticed that Snyder’s Martin Waymire, and McLellen is now pushing the repair cost meme, right?
Dave Waymire, a spokesman for the Safe Roads Yes ballot committee campaigning for the measure’s passage, said most residents do not claim itemized deductions on federal returns. Crummy roads cost drivers an extra $539 a year in vehicle operating costs [Snyder’s people really cannot keep their figures straight, can they?] due to repairs, tire wear and increased fuel consumption, according to the proposal’s proponents who cite a report from the transportation research group TRIP [another quasi-governmental organization like PASER – that’s a Fact].
“Many Michigan residents today pay a hidden tax for our poor roads by virtue of [incompetency bordering criminal intent] the high cost of repairs that are incurred due to potholes, extra wear and tear on their vehicles,” Waymire said. “If you consider the hidden tax [or the BIGGER hidden tax on top of the 16.7% hike that is Proposal 1], which our opponents refuse to acknowledge, this is a substantial [Zero] savings for Michigan.”
Another “unadvertised feature” of the plan is that taxes on fuel sold for boats, off-road vehicles and lawnmowers would rise significantly because the fuel would not be exempt from the sales tax, Anderson said. The new 7 percent sales tax [hike of 16.7%] would only be removed from fuel used to operate motor vehicles on public roads, raising compliance issues [see Here and Here] since the vast majority of fuel is sold by gas stations without regard to whether someone is filling up a car, boat or gas can, according to the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council of Michigan.
“Some promise it will be fixed. It’s not fixed now, so we included it,” said Anderson. He said he is not a “fan” of Proposal 1 but when his research company crunches numbers, “we do them straight.”
You do realize that you are being lied to by Snyder’s cabal of *safe roads yes* pushers, right?
(24)Nuh Uh.(0)After Proposal 1, After Plan B, Electricity Front and Center
Part I: Background
Later this year, Michigan’s electrical utilities are expected to satisfy the 10% Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requirements of PA 295 of 2008. Partial reregulation of electricity in Michigan under the same PA 295 of 2008 denied choice of supplier on 90% of electricity consumption, while exempting large, politically potent, electricity consumers. At the same time, the U.S. EPA is progressively tightening their noose around the neck of the coal industry with an array of ever more restrictive regulations upon coal-fired power plants. A political clash of titans is looming in Michigan.
Taken together, these circumstances will trigger a wild four-way donnybrook pitting electrical utilities, electricity consumers, and environmental wackos against one another later this year. But this is only three parties, so why do you say four-way? Large industrial consumers have substantially escaped the consequences of PA 295, while smaller Michigan consumers – including residential consumers – have experienced the fifth highest rate of electricity cost increases in the nation. These two electricity consuming groups’ interests do not coincide.
(14)Nuh Uh.(0)Nope. Not a crook, move along pedestrians. Thanks for volunteering us all for your cause, Lt. “conservative voice” inside the Snyder administration™. Lord knows how Brian and his family love to promote the spirit of collectivism.
Not to mention Medicaid expansion and fuel tax hikes.
OABTW, 75 days and counting, Lt. “conservative voice” inside the Snyder administration™.
Lots more to that than is being allowed to meet the public eye.
(12)Nuh Uh.(0)Busy weekend so, short and sweet.
Natural Gas to Wind Energy: You’re Nothing Without Me
Been saying it for years, “so, when you going to cut off its gas supply?” All should go brush up on this stuff before we all get stuck with more of it. A good starting point can be found here, and here.
“Alternative energy, let us never forget, is just that: an alternative to energy.” — James Delingpole #epa #gop #tcot
— forever banned (@forever_banned) June 3, 2012
Yep. Now, add this monolith of government control in the pipeline, which has already spawned it’s new Tsaritsa, and if this outrageously schemed package of theft and redistribution embedded with fraud passes on May 5, I am relatively sure that I will be putting my place on the market before others figure out that they cannot give away a house in this state due to the exorbitant cost of living expenses from higher taxation reinvented by a Republican governor with every lever of power in Lansing, dominated by the same Party.
I certainly don’t relish the idea, however, I’m tired of being fleeced by those sent to Lansing.
(19)Nuh Uh.(0)Proposal 15-1 continues to invite negative response from Republicans in Northern Michigan.
Tom Backers offers reasons to say no, while Snyder Shill David Waymire talks about “Fairy dust and Unicorns.”
(15)Nuh Uh.(0)Reining them in simply because you cannot outspend them, anymore.
And then, there’s… this thing.
Know what else? Madonna was absolutely correct about her recent “provincial” remark.
(12)Nuh Uh.(0)Uh-oh. A major red flag for consumers should be indifference to us facing what could be the second highest sales tax in the nation on May 6.
As part of Proposal 1, the May 5 ballot issue that would raise the state’s sales tax [16.7%] from 6 percent to 7 percent, commercial truck registration fees would rise between $100 and $1,000 per vehicle, depending on gross weight. The plan also would end a gradual reduction in registration fees — averaging $40 a year — granted on new passenger vehicles during the first three years of ownership [and loss of federal itemized tax deduction].
The higher fees for commercial trucks would immediately raise $50 million a year, while the fee change for new passenger vehicles eventually would raise an additional $125 million a year.
The extra fees on commercial carriers would be on top of a stiff diesel fuel tax hike also connected to the plan. Despite that, Michigan’s leading trucking association supports the governor’s roads proposal.
“We’re comfortable with the package, but we’re not out there waving the flag,” said Walter Heniritzi, executive director of the Michigan Trucking Association, which has represented motor carriers in the state since 1934.
Truth be told, Mr. Heniritzi is a small lobby player in this matter so, his go with the flow mentality should be no surprise. He knows whatever is levied onto the trucking industry is passed along to the consumer. The big players will survive, and the smaller operations will go away or, be consumed by the big corporations as they have historically.
Think not? Well, let’s talk for a moment about Prop 1’s “stiff diesel fuel tax hike” for a moment, shall we?
(16)Nuh Uh.(0)
