Cynthia Tompkins's Groups
Cynthia Tompkins's Page
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- Are you interested in becoming an organizer in your area?
- Maybe--But Not Sure What to Organize
- Tell us about your experience with alternative energy:
- I dream of putting wind and solar on our own property, and though I don't have any direct experience with energy producing alternatives I have many years experience in various community and ecological circles. As a conservative Republican, I co-founded the First U.S. Environmental Film Festival in 1990, and founded the Colorado Mountain Reclamation Foundation in 1991 to solve problems of mining and reclamation with the mining industry, local/state government agencies, environmentalists and business organizations statewide. My best friend, before he passed on, was also a master builder of energy efficient green buildings for over twenty-five years. Today I'm a webmaster and poet, first and last.
- What excites you about this campaign?
- Everything about this campaign excites me!
First because it comes from a wise and experienced individual like T. Boone Pickens. Secondly, because the plan not only has real vision behind it, the plan is based on good common sense and sound economics. Lastly, because someone like T. Boone Pickens has put his money where his mouth is, and will hopefully find the Leaders in this world who can help him. So what's not to like?!
- What do you want to do to help?
- I would like to do whatever I can with limited time and means because of an illness in our family. I'd like to wish Good Luck and God Speed to all those willing to help this campaign grow.
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It has been a while since we kept in touch last!
We are now over 1.2 million suporters. We will need many more if we are to beat back the damn lobbyists and special interests. Can you help with the pledges? Every American needs to sign on. With pledges we can fan out and reach so many. It is an easy ask- Boone has done the hard work. I was able to get 300 signed in the first 4 days - everyone wants to to get off of foreign oil. We may never have a golden opportunity like this again!
ARE YOU IN?
Best
Kim
ideas of pickens from a historical stand point. must see TV.
also picks on democrats and republicans with equal forse.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08152008/watch.html
I just wanted to take a second of your time to invite you to view, A Solar Solution!
www.powur.com/homeenergy1 - click View Our Mission and if interested click the back arrow to Become an Ecopreneur.
Also you can see what we offer home owners - www.glenburniesolar.com
Thank You For Your Time
(Please feel free to add me as a friend)
Need your help.
I know that we are friends, and you get email updates from me, however, I think this is so important, I am reaching out one at a time.
I AM CREATING A "100CLUB"... members that have faxed in 100 or more signed pledges. So many thousands of people signed onto this site and said they would do anything or everything to help. Here is your chance!
We have the mechanism to build our numbers, we need to use it. It is the easiest ask- Boone has done the hard work. All we need to do is hitch our wagon to his horse and plow to the finish. I have sent in 240 so far.
It comes down to.... DO WE HAVE THE FORTITUDE to really go the distance on this? . I hope so. We aren't asking folks to take up arms. But this IS OUR REVOLUTION. And we have a very small window to get it done. I would like your help.
Glad you are here. Are you able to help us fight for this? Are you in?
Best,
Kim
Just 10 a day for 10 days! For our energy future, isn't it worth it?
e-mail to your rep. You type in a few key strokes and
it auto adresses the e-mail to all your reps and the GOV.
of your state based on zip code. Has a sugested draft of a letter to send. NEVER EASYER. Spread the word to click on the ACTION CENTER at the main web site.
http://push.pickensplan.com/profile/AnthonyJRoberts
Maury Dobbie
mdobbie@ncedc.com.
Colorado can't be a great state without working collaboratively toward a sustainable economy. This will require investment in our work force and economic infrastructure.
Can the push for a greener energy sector be good for the state and Northern Colorado?
Many people think so, and they are calling job creation an important side effect of the move toward renewable power and increased energy efficiency.
In the United States, we lost 24 percent of our manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2008, or almost 3.5 million. It also took a huge toll on Northern Colorado in those years, shedding roughly 3,397 jobs.
As times are changing, we have to change. NCEDC is working hard with our partners to bring back those higher-paying manufacturing jobs in the clean-energy sector. However, while doing so, we have a dilemma. If we don't have the skilled labor force, those companies cannot be successful.
Let's focus for a moment on the wind industry. The wind-power industry estimates it employs some 40,000 people in the U.S., with 20,000 of those jobs created in 2007 or growing 45 percent.
Wind farms are increasing, but the labor supply is not.
In 2007, wind farms installed almost 3,200 turbines, providing 5,200 megawatts, or enough electricity to power 1.5 million homes for a year. Officials see a large obstacle coming in the form of its own work force.
A highly specialized group of technicians that combines working knowledge of mechanics, hydraulics, computers and meteorology with the willingness to climb 200 feet in the air in all kinds of weather is badly needed.
And that creates an opportunity.
The American Wind Energy Association estimates the industry employed more than 20,000 last year. This doesn't include jobs making turbines and other equipment. They say future need is harder to quantify, given the uncertainties of the industry's growth. They project the need for at least 800 technicians to serve the turbines expected to be installed in 2008 alone.
So what is proactively being done in this region? Front Range Community College is creating technician certifications and two-year degrees that will offer opportunities to those who would find the $15- to $25-hour jobs a step up in their career paths.
These careers might be the first time a family has health benefits. In addition, the Northern Colorado Workforce Initiative spurred by NCEDC is gaining momentum.
This collaborative effort between primary employers, the educational system (K-12 and higher education) and organizations including the Larimer County Workforce Center, Chambers of Commerce, United Way and government are coming together in a common-sense, practical way to create training.
There are many sectors of our work force that would welcome new opportunities to help families thrive financially.
We have data showing a large underemployed population exists. Many identified have chosen to stay here for various reasons but live on less.
We are hearing of companies shutting their doors, thus creating a chilling effect on our economy.
For the past year, you've been hearing about the rising poverty statistics in the region - caused by these and many factors.
There is no wringing of hands in Larimer County. We are looking for and working on sustainable solutions for re-skilling opportunities for our people. Progress in clean energy is being made.
While I agree with many of the implications of the article by Matthew Wald, I would like to make comment to some of his implications. Yes, large scale wind farms would require such an infrastructure. However if we study the German model, they cluster smaller scale wind farms throughout the country. By doing this, they did not have to build the high capacity distribution system throughout the country. Let me give you an illustration...... As you drive in Germany you might come up to a ridge with 6 to 10 wind turbines all situated in farm settings near a village or a town. This generation supplies that town and smaller villages near by. Most houses, businesses and farms have large scale solar panels installations that are grid-tied and supply the same distribution system. In the case of the wind turbines, citizens of that town/village/or city buy shares in the wind farm. They are also paid to generate power from their homes, making it a financially feasible investment. Next, the government supports low interest guaranteed loans so that people can spread payment over time. They double their investment within 10 years. The incentive structure makes it a viable way to get localized distribution, not just large scale wind farms with a huge grid system. Germany now has over 19,000 wind turbines distributed in small clusters in localized areas......not over long distance transmission lines.
There are so many different ways to tackle a problem and search for easier solutions. If you look at the photos again on my page, you will see these distribution patterns and also solar village taking care of its own needs. When you have an opportunity, go back to the website: www.thesolarvillage.com In the upper left hand corner, watch the video on The Solar Village that explains through interviews how Freiburg, Germany started this revolution in Germany 30 years ago. Articles like the one by Matthew L. Wald tend to scare people into thinking that it cannot be done. Again, we need to look at success stories of other places and see that it can be done effectively. We have this funny mindset in America where we feel that "big brother" has to do it all for us and with out him, it cannot be done. Mr. Wald needs to take a trip to Germany where he will see first hand how it can be done without his scary rhetoric with limited knowledge. It is not a question of - "What THEY can do for us". It is more of a question of - "What can WE do for ourselves".......In my opinion only.....>Lee .... "From the North Woods".
The Energy Challenge Wind Energy Bumps Into Power Grid's Limits
MATTHEW L. WALD - The New York Times
This is so pathetic. How clearly we can see in this story that the those in power, and seeking to continue, were completely uninterested in helping ordinary people, when they were making so much money. There was no plan B, no serious preparation really for a transition a child could see coming. This is just another Katrina in slow motion, and it is all going to be so much more painful and expensive than it needed to be.
Thanks to Judy Tart.
When the builders of the Maple Ridge Wind farm spent $320 million to put nearly 200 wind turbines in upstate New York, the idea was to get paid for producing electricity. But at times, regional electric lines have been so congested that Maple Ridge has been forced to shut down even with a brisk wind blowing.
That is a symptom of a broad national problem. Expansive dreams about renewable energy, like Al Gore’s hope of replacing all fossil fuels in a decade, are bumping up against the reality of a power grid that cannot handle the new demands.
The dirty secret of clean energy is that while generating it is getting easier, moving it to market is not.
The grid today, according to experts, is a system conceived 100 years ago to let utilities prop each other up, reducing blackouts and sharing power in small regions. It resembles a network of streets, avenues and country roads.
'We need an interstate transmission superhighway system,' said Suedeen G. Kelly, a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
While the United States today gets barely 1 percent of its electricity from wind turbines, many experts are starting to think that figure could hit 20 percent.
Achieving that would require moving large amounts of power over long distances, from the windy, lightly populated plains in the middle of the country to the coasts where many people live. Builders are also contemplating immense solar-power stations in the nation’s deserts that would pose the same transmission problems.
The grid’s limitations are putting a damper on such projects already. Gabriel Alonso, chief development officer of Horizon Wind Energy, the company that operates Maple Ridge, said that in parts of Wyoming, a turbine could make 50 percent more electricity than the identical model built in New York or Texas.
'The windiest sites have not been built, because there is no way to move that electricity from there to the load centers,' he said.
The basic problem is that many transmission lines, and the connections between them, are simply too small for the amount of power companies would like to squeeze through them. The difficulty is most acute for long-distance transmission, but shows up at times even over distances of a few hundred miles.
Transmission lines carrying power away from the Maple Ridge farm, near Lowville, N.Y., have sometimes become so congested that the company’s only choice is to shut down - or pay fees for the privilege of continuing to pump power into the lines.
Politicians in Washington have long known about the grid’s limitations but have made scant headway in solving them. They are reluctant to trample the prerogatives of state governments, which have traditionally exercised authority over the grid and have little incentive to push improvements that would benefit neighboring states.
In Texas, T. Boone Pickens, the oilman building the world’s largest wind farm, plans to tackle the grid problem by using a right of way he is developing for water pipelines for a 250-mile transmission line from the Panhandle to the Dallas market. He has testified in Congress that Texas policy is especially favorable for such a project and that other wind developers cannot be expected to match his efforts.
'If you want to do it on a national scale, where the transmission line distances will be much longer, and utility regulations are different, Congress must act,' he said on Capitol Hill.
Enthusiasm for wind energy is running at fever pitch these days, with bold plans on the drawing boards, like Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s notion of dotting New York City with turbines. Companies are even reviving ideas of storing wind-generated energy using compressed air or spinning flywheels.
Yet experts say that without a solution to the grid problem, effective use of wind power on a wide scale is likely to remain a dream.
The power grid is balkanized, with about 200,000 miles of power lines divided among 500 owners. Big transmission upgrades often involve multiple companies, many state governments and numerous permits. Every addition to the grid provokes fights with property owners.
These barriers mean that electrical generation is growing four times faster than transmission, according to federal figures.
In a 2005 energy law, Congress gave the Energy Department the authority to step in to approve transmission if states refused to act. The department designated two areas, one in the Middle Atlantic States and one in the Southwest, as national priorities where it might do so; 14 United States senators then signed a letter saying the department was being too aggressive.
Energy Department leaders say that, however understandable the local concerns, they are getting in the way. 'Modernizing the electric infrastructure is an urgent national problem, and one we all share,' said Kevin M. Kolevar, assistant secretary for electricity delivery and energy reliability, in a speech last year.
Unlike answers to many of the nation’s energy problems, improvements to the grid would require no new technology. An Energy Department plan to source 20 percent of the nation’s electricity from wind calls for a high-voltage backbone spanning the country that would be similar to 2,100 miles of lines already operated by a company called American Electric Power.
The cost would be high, $60 billion or more, but in theory could be spread across many years and tens of millions of electrical customers. However, in most states, rules used by public service commissions to evaluate transmission investments discourage multistate projects of this sort. In some states with low electric rates, elected officials fear that new lines will simply export their cheap power and drive rates up.
Without a clear way of recovering the costs and earning a profit, and with little leadership on the issue from the federal government, no company or organization has offered to fight the political battles necessary to get such a transmission backbone built.
Texas and California have recently made some progress in building transmission lines for wind power, but nationally, the problem seems likely to get worse. Today, New York State has about 1,500 megawatts of wind capacity. A megawatt is an instantaneous measure of power. A large Wal-Mart draws about one megawatt. The state is planning for an additional 8,000 megawatts of capacity.
But those turbines will need to go in remote, windy areas that are far off the beaten path, electrically speaking, and it is not clear enough transmission capacity will be developed. Save for two underwater connections to Long Island, New York State has not built a major new power line in 20 years.
A handful of states like California that have set aggressive goals for renewable energy are being forced to deal with the issue, since the goals cannot be met without additional power lines.
But Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico and a former energy secretary under President Bill Clinton, contends that these piecemeal efforts are not enough to tap the nation’s potential for renewable energy.
Wind advocates say that just two of the windiest states, North Dakota and South Dakota, could in principle generate half the nation’s electricity from turbines. But the way the national grid is configured, half the country would have to move to the Dakotas in order to use the power.
'We still have a third-world grid,' Mr. Richardson said, repeating a comment he has made several times. 'With the federal government not investing, not setting good regulatory mechanisms, and basically taking a back seat on everything except drilling and fossil fuels, the grid has not been modernized, especially for wind energy.'
not sure if he is an organizer type or just likes to collect
adress. Hard to have personal contact with 297 folks???
may be not??? Mine his site for CO. contacts and see if we can get a mass maling to congress going...
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