More "hell with states' rights" from Reid

[Manedwolf]

Senate leader offers plan for `green' power grid

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate's top Democrat is proposing special power lines to carry renewable energy—like solar and wind power—from remote places.

The Federal government would be able override states and direct where the lines would go and who would pay for them.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada unveiled his proposal Thursday. It is expected to become part of a broader energy bill the Senate plans to take up in the coming weeks.

The green power lines would boost development of solar, wind and geothermal energy projects otherwise cut off from the nation's electric grid. It's also a proposal that Reid acknowledged in a news release would give "an enormous boost" to his own state of Nevada SURPRISE! where companies are eyeing large solar projects.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96O3PCG4&show_article=1

Soooo....the federal government can put a massive powerline across your land, and you can't do anything about it at the state level. The state can't even intervene on your behalf?

Yeah, that's what the founding fathers had in mind. Pork, eminent domain at the federal level for pork...

[AZRedhawk44]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96O3PCG4&show_article=1

Soooo....the federal government can put a massive powerline across your land, and you can't do anything about it at the state level. The state can't even intervene on your behalf?

Yeah, that's what the founding fathers had in mind. Pork, eminent domain at the federal level for pork...

Well, there's that angle.  As well as, why aren't the existing power grids good enough to transmit both green and evil nukular and evil fishsquisher hydro and evil coal power all at once?

[Nitrogen]

Well, there's that angle.  As well as, why aren't the existing power grids good enough to transmit both green and evil nukular and evil fishsquisher hydro and evil coal power all at once?

No.  Existing powerlines are nearly at capacity now.  Also, I believe the federal govt has eminent domain powers, just like states do, so I don't see how this is a major abuse of power, other than the normal abuses that can come from eminent domain in the first place.

[AZRedhawk44]

No.  Existing powerlines are nearly at capacity now.  Also, I believe the federal govt has eminent domain powers, just like states do, so I don't see how this is a major abuse of power, other than the normal abuses that can come from eminent domain in the first place.

I'm rather annoyed that us "flyover" states can have eminent domain exercised against us, to benefit some treehumping @$$hats in California or elsewhere who don't want to allow any energy production within 500 miles of their home but demand enough juice to run their car/HDTV/household and everything else.

Eminent domain uses should not be for right-of-way due to the wretched policies of a neighboring state.

[Manedwolf]

No.  Existing powerlines are nearly at capacity now.  Also, I believe the federal govt has eminent domain powers, just like states do, so I don't see how this is a major abuse of power, other than the normal abuses that can come from eminent domain in the first place.

Energy colonialism.

The hypocrites in CA have no problem shutting down a 900MW reactor and replacing it with 4MW solar to be "green", then having to have more lines to buy power from a coalburning plant in another state to make up for the shortfall.

It's not THEIR air, it's someone in flyover country. So that's green, you see.

CA can't fall apart fast enough for my taste. Useless eaters, a drain on the entire country that needs to break hardcore before it can be fixed.

[Nitrogen]

Sounds to me like a great place for the free market to step in:  Charge them for power that they cant/won't develop and use for themselves, at a premium?

[Azrael256]

Charge them for power that they cant/won't develop and use for themselves, at a premium?

Yes, except for that "commerce clause" nonsense the fed spews.  If it had said "the states can't levy tarriffs against each other," it would have worked better.  Instead, the fed thinks it an invitation... no, a duty to mess around in interstate commerce.

And I do love threads that let me talk about "how it's done in Texas."  We're our own grid, and we like it that way.  The fed can go pound sand.

I still think nuclear is a bad idea, but I'll grudgingly accept it if it's the most cost effective solution.  The price difference between TXU (who runs the nuke plant around here) and Green Mountain (the wind/solar company) makes it obvious that "green" electricity doesn't cut it.

[RevDisk]

I still think nuclear is a bad idea

Why?

[Manedwolf]

Why?

I was wondering that, too. Seabrook here is surrounded by nature preserves you can tour, and the only sound is people casting their lines from bass boats drifting around on the marshes it overlooks.

A family of ospreys lives in a tree right next to the dome.

[Northwoods]

The only thing making nuclear power too expensive is the enormous cost of fed/state/local permits plus the litigation from the greenies. 

I was listening to either Mike Church or Andrew Wilkow this morning on the drive to work and one of the items mentioned by a caller was that the local utility shelved plans for a new nuclear reactor when the permit fees alone were going to cost some $50,000,000.  That's before the architectural design, engineering, environmental impact studies, grennie litigation, construction, staffing, fuel, etc. 

[wquay]

Energy colonialism.

The hypocrites in CA have no problem shutting down a 900MW reactor and replacing it with 4MW solar to be "green", then having to have more lines to buy power from a coalburning plant in another state to make up for the shortfall.

It's not THEIR air, it's someone in flyover country. So that's green, you see.

CA can't fall apart fast enough for my taste. Useless eaters, a drain on the entire country that needs to break hardcore before it can be fixed.

California's economy is bigger than most countries. The state pays more in federal taxes than they get back in expenditures. As for "energy colonialism," the construction and maintenance of new power plants in other states will create jobs in those states, and make CA dependent on those states for energy.

I wouldn't live there, but I'll give credit where it's due.

[Gewehr98]

Wquay has a point or three, there.

I've watched this thread for a while, and am putting this one to bed.

The frothing thread titles as seen in Politics Place over the last several weeks have the staff seriously considering either shutting the place down for a while, furloughing those who stir the pot most, or a combination thereof.

A little less running around throwing hissy fits with one's hair on fire could definitely prevent such actions. 

IOW, tone it down.

Y'all know who you are.  Think twice, post once.

[Ex-MA Hole]

Or you won't be posting at all.