The world of power generation is a very scary place for Emily Gruenhagen, wife of state representative Glenn Gruenhagen, and the other members of the Sibley County Republican Party executive board.
Natural gas pipelines are scary. Stray voltage is scary. Wind turbines are scary. The world is a dangerous place.
In a letter to the editor of the New Ulm Journal, Wind turbine truths blow in the wind, Mrs. Gruenhagen and nine other Sibley County MNGOP board members write (among other things). Emphasis added:
Pipeline Damage: Did you know there are three natural gas pipelines near the proposed Cornish township construction site that these over weight loads will be going over? Did you know one of the pipelines is many, many years old? Did you know that these truck loads could cause leaks where the pipes are deteriorated? Did you know there is no mention of pipelines in the application and permitting process? No one told us either.
Groundwater Contamination: Did you know pipeline leaks elsewhere have created extensive ground water contamination? Did you know those families now cannot drink their well water and must bring in bottled water? Did you know that natural gas contaminated ground water may be unusable for years? No one told us either.
Wildlife Preservation: Did you know any contaminated run-off from the proposed Cornish tower sites will go directly into tributaries going into the Rush River, which goes through the Alfsborg Wildlife Area, right next to the golf course, which finally drains into the Minnesota River? Did you know any contaminated water along that stretch may be drunk by wildlife? . . .
Stray Voltage: . . . Did you know stray voltage striking a natural gas pipeline may have consequences of death, injury, and property damage, even for people miles away, which could include Winthrop residents? No one told us either. . . .
Those natural gas pipelines certainly are scary but we have to wonder if the committee then objects to electricity generated by the natural gas carried in pipelines. The alternative, wind, is scary. Stray voltage is scary--but it's also created by transmission lines, regardless of the energy source generating the electricity
The Republicans are also afraid of the price of wind energy.
The letter also claims that "that industrial wind is so ineffective that it leads to higher rates[.]" That might be news to Xcel Energy, which is not afraid of the price of wind energy.
In July, the utility stated in the release Xcel Energy proposes 33 percent increase in Midwest wind portfolio:
Citing the ability to lower customer costs while cutting carbon emissions, Xcel Energy today submitted to state regulators a proposal to add 600 megawatts of wind resources in its Upper Midwest service territory. Construction would begin in time to qualify for the extended federal Production Tax Credit.“These projects will lower our customers’ bills, offer protection from rising fuel costs, and provide significant environmental benefits,” said Dave Sparby, president and CEO of Northern States Power Co.-Minnesota, an Xcel Energy company.
The additional 600 megawatts of wind power – enough to serve 180,000 homes – would lower customer costs by $180 million over the lives of the projects. “Wind prices are extremely competitive right now, offering lower costs than other possible resources, like natural gas plants,” said Sparby. “These projects offer a great hedge against rising and often volatile fuel prices.”
Maybe Mrs. Gruenhagen and her friends are holding out for coal, hydro or solar, but since they fear stray voltage, we're not sure how they'll transmission electricity generated by any of the three.
And who's to blame for this awful ignorance? Liberals, Mrs. Gruenhagen and Company write:
Yet, there is good to come out of this episode . . . all of us are being reminded, again, of the inherent danger of accepting what government agencies and officials or politicians tell us as being fact or "good for us." We all know liberals never admit when they are wrong on the facts because if they did once they would be at the confessional early and often and on many issues. Conservatives concluded a long time ago that liberal bureaucrats, both GOP and DFL, never quite get it right when it comes to our economic well being and public health or the greater good.
This should come as a surprise to those liberals out protesting fracking and pipeline construction.
Bluestem also has to wonder if Mrs. Gruenhagen's husband agrees with all of this. He supports building the Keystone XL pipeline, the expanded use of natural gas for electrical power generation, and fracking. Representative Gruenhagen wrote in Fracking good for Minnesota, United States:
The United States is on the verge of the largest energy boom in our history with trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. We also have over 800 billion barrels of recoverable shale oil, three times the reserves of Saudi Arabia (Source: Rand Corporation). This means that all of America’s liquid fuels can come from secure North American sources within 15 years. . . . Accessing these natural resources will lower energy costs for families and businesses in Minnesota and create tens of thousands of high-paying jobs
Perhaps the Gruenhagens can have a talk about pipelines and natural gas.
However, to give Representative Gruenhagen his due, he did co-sponsor David Bly's "Buy the Farm" bill clarifying language in a law passed following protests over an earlier high voltage transmission line.
And we've got to give Mrs. Gruenhagen credit for not quoting material from UFODigest linking wind turbine vibrations to bee deaths, as opponents to this project did earlier.
Photo: A natural gas pipeline explosion near Hinton IA in 2012, causing by a trenching machine, via Des Moines Register (above); A corroded natural gas pipe in Pennsylvania via Natural Gas Watch. Are wind turbines the real problem here or the need to better regulate and maintain natural gas pipelines if they're that dangerous.
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