[Iowa-dx] Global Warming Policy Forum at Phillips Hall, University of Iowa‏

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[IowaGreenDiscussion] Global Warming Policy Forum at Phillips Hall,=20
University of Iowa‏
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Sent: Sun 11/04/07 8:24 PM=20
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I attended and brought my Hydrogen sign to the Global
Warming Policy Forum in Phillips Hall (Room 100) at the
University of Iowa at 1:30 PM, and to the demonstration
rally across the street at The Pentacrest lawn at 3:38 PM
on Saturday, November 3rd.

It was billed as a forum on the effects of envriornmental
and energy initiatives to counter global warming. As we
all know, our pseudo-US President, George Warcrimes Bush,
has blocked every attempt by our nation to support
treaties and has backed away from -- actually he has
vetoed -- our nation participating in international
cooperation that would curtail global warming.

However, as for this forum, I feel it fell far short of
effective promotion of viable permanent energy sources,
such as any specific mention of the properties of
hydrogen, although it was a very interesting forum. But
by far, my biggest disappointment was not in the
superficial nature of the forum program, but more in the
lack of participation by the public to find out what is
going on! I did not count the attendence in that large
university forum-style of classroom, but I estimate no
more than three dozen people showed. And three elected
representatives who were invited did not even send
representatives to speak, as none of the US
Presidential candidates came personally.

Mike Carberry of the Iowa Global Warming Campaign and
Chair of the Iowa City Area Group of the Iowa Chapter
of Sierra Club, presented and moderated this forum,
which included both speakers' orations and questions
asked by the public and answered by each speaker. I did
not write notes on much of the speaking presentations
because a lot of it is the typical message that we
receive by electronic messages and on their websites,
as well as some of it I very strongly disagree with
because of the propagandistic form of public
information that is being regurgitated. But I included
what I thought were the pertinent statements of
interest to all of us. And again, my notes are not
absolutely verbatum, so I may misquote in some cases.

1) Jim Baker, Conservation Chair of Iowa Chapter of
Sierra Club spoke first, and he said there are three
primary issues to Sierra Club members: global warming,
global warming, and global warming. On the national
level, there is the COOL CITIES PROGRAM by Sierra Club.
On the local level, there is the COOL COUNTIES PROGRAM,
which is focused on laying the foundation for
leadership in promoting actions to stop global warming.
Currently joining the program in Iowa are Iowa City,
North Liberty, and Johnson County -- and hoping soon
for Coralville--, all are members of the local program.
There are 750 communities across our USA that have
joined so far.
_____________________________________________

2) Michelle Brown, Executive Director of Iowa
Renewable Energy Association.

But first, two important notes here: FIRST, note that
I-Renew is not an acronym, it stands as an abbreviated
form of I.R.E.A. exactly as I show it, even though
there are those who show it as I-RENEW, as if it is an
acronym.

SECOND, it is documented that I.R.E.A. (I-Renew) is a
pure lobbying organization, unlike Green Party and
Sierra Club, and it has almost all of its facts wrong
because it supports the wrong kind of commercial energy
production totally over the needs of citizens and our
nation. Also, Mike Carberry is on the I.R.E.A. Board of
Directors, which should not be viewed as a derogatory
statement by me since I know of Carberry's populist
record, but it does raise a few questions.

And THIRD, as a lobbying organization, it is
unbelievable that I.R.E.A. even has a University of
Iowa "student organization" formed on campus, which is
totally improper for a public educational institution,
but there is one. UofI seems to do a lot of very
questionable things!

The message I note here is that Brown stated we have to
have renewable energy but she gave no substantiation to
that myth. She advocates Grid Renewable Energy, which
like cell phones, supports the existing commercial
entities in the way they want to control the public,
and she also endorses a valid form of utility
management that was inaugurated in California (my
original home state for most of my life), but she
neglected to say that it was caused by hotels using
Hydrogen, and later, was endorsed by the additional
support from the wind-power industry: it is what she
calls reverse energy readings. She did not mention how
that works.

However, let me explain it to you. In the 1990s, after
a long fight with the utilities, legislation (or
possibly a voter referrendum, I forget which) in
Sacramento (the Capitol of California) was passed that
said if any business or home which has verified
alternative energy electricity-producing equipment,
such as solar, wind or hydrogen powered electrical
generating equipment, that any excess energy that they
create for their own use can be put into the power grid,
which reverses the electric meter reading, and thus,
the law requires that the electric utility MUST REFUND
(pay back to) the customer for the reverse reading on
the electrical meter for electricity the customer puts
into the power grid AT THE SAME RATE THE UTILITY
CHARGES CUSTOMERS who consume utility-produced
electricity. I do not know if Brown knew that or not,
or if she left this point out, because it was the
hotels in San Diego that had converted to hydrogen to
produce their own internal electricty who caused this
law to be passed.

I would also like to note that I-Renew completely
leaves out hydrogen as a primary fuel, because, just
like my sign says, hydrogen would completely eliminate
the I.R.E.A.'s entire lobbying position on renewable
resources!
_____________________________________________

Several prominent members of the UofI Environmental
Coalition endeared my appreciation by not only
attending the Forum, but making a brief statement
explaining their organization and programs they are
currently dedicated to.
_____________________________________________

I neglected to copy down who said this, it may have
come from the audience but I did not note it, but
someone said that the Oakdale Campus of UofI is 100%
bio-energy. This did not impress me the least, for it
promotes ignorance.

Someone else mentioned that Iowa City Mayor Ross
Wilburn approved Iowa City joining the Cool Citys
Program and that he signed the U.S. Mayors' Climate
Protection Agreement.  Just as a note, now if we can
get Wilburn to stop pandering to our city's
developer-mentality and start promoting eye-appealing
and culture-enhancing development of our city! When I
spoke to him at one city council meeting, he said he is
opposed to the idea of limiting developers to create a
city populist atmosphere.
_____________________________________________

3) Regenia Bailey, Councilwoman of Iowa City, who uses
our weird city term of "City of Iowa City" a lot, gave
a very interesting presentation of how Iowa City is
saving money in avoiding traditional energy-consuming
infrastructure.

She mentioned that saving approximately $100,000 per
year may not seem a lot, however, she continually
showed savings here of $100,000 and there of $100,000,
and if you add up the entire savings she presented, it
appears to me to be around one million dollars per year
in savings, if not at least close to that, but I would
guess more than that!

Her presentation included examples such as the landfill
converting methane to fuel generators that run
periodically every month (converting CH4 to CO2+H20...
(sorry I cannot use subscript on this medium), and our
water plant that really looks ugly has used
technologies to cut energy consumption.

Regenia said that public buildings are a huge energy
drain because they are used 24-hours seven days per
week, so no "down-time" in energy consumption occurs.
However, such as at the recreation center, pre-cooling
for air conditioning saves a lot of money - which is
cooling at night during the summer months when the
electric rates are lower and less utility demand exists,
and then storing this cool air by cooling the building
way down below optimal temperature at night, and
allowing the building to gradually warm up during the
day until air conditioning must be used.

Iowa City is replacing its traffic control lights. The
old incandescent lights are 160 watts as opposed to the
new Liqht Emitting Diode (L.E.D.) lights that are 15
watts, except that since the yellow lights are only
illuminated 20% of the time, the city will replace those
with LED lights as they burn out.

Iowa City is analyzing the possibility of light rail
transit to Cedar Rapids, at least to North Liberty on
a fifteen minute basis. It would be a costly but
desireable addition to bus service, which also would be
expanded and improved.

Iowa City zone codes require developers to provide at
least one bicycle rack in addition to parking
requirements.

Now here is one I take great issue with: Combined
commercial and residential zones are being implemented
so people do not have to go to town for everything,
they can walk to a local store for their incidental
purchases. But I must say, that is not how it works!
We're not talking about the little neighborhood grocery
from the 1940s here!

QUESTIONS: A gentleman asked if Iowa City has a plan
for sustainable energy and green vehicles? Iowa City
has green vehicles to the extent that vehicle warranty
allows, but IC does not have a plan for sustainable
energy.

My question was that I greatly support the idea of a
light rail commuter train operation, but I continually
hear the light rail proposal as if it is taking over
the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railroad line, and I
asked if CR&IC agrees with this proposal? CRANDIC
(CR&IC) is very much in favor of this proposal because
CRANDIC will be able to utilize a line they
infrequently use and it will enable them to upgrade
their track.

Having been a locomotive engineer for twenty years in
my past life, however, I question that statement very
much.
______________________________________________

4) Johnson County Board of Supervisors member Terrence
Neuzil addressed climate change and the need to BETTER
our climate through:
a. Best Practices
b. Tools needed
c. Resources to help county government assist in
bettering our climate.

This I thought was really important in Neuzil's
statements: Energy Efficiency is economically as well
as environmentally beneficial. AMEN! In 2001, Johnson
County created its first strategic plan, which
identified among other things that infrastructure space
needs primary concern. The new Health and Human
Services building just being constructed between South
Dubuque Street and South Clinton Street in Iowa City,
just across from the Johnson County Building on East
Benton Street, will house all of the county
departments in one building, so people will not need to
drive all over Iowa City to take care of related
business.

Johnson County is also vigorously pursuing the
Secondary Roads Program to distribute more traffic
around congested areas, saving gasoline.

Back in 2007, there were not any Johnson County
policies on Green Issues, but the county already has in
place and is now developing more policies with Green
Initiatives. And Johnson County is the first county in
Iowa to be recognized by Sierra Club as a Cool County!

Neuzil wants to create a County Green Team to help form:
a. a Comprehensive Green Action Plan
b. create events for public and county employees to
learn about and promote understanding and solutions to
global warming and ecology
c. identify existing stakeholders to promote more
action

He said it is about time to address what pollution is
going into our Iowa River, the second most polluted
river in America (meaning our USA). It is not enough
just to sit and watch this pollution floating down our
scenic river, and if we cannot get other counties to
help, then we may have to seek solutions on our own.

He wants to form a "trails" advisory committee. One
note:
I testified back in the 1990s to the U.S. Department of
Forestry in Los Angeles as a member of Orange County
Group Trail Maintenance in Los Angeles Chapter of
Sierra Club that the definition of "trail" is being
bastardized: a trail is NOT improved beyond simple
maintenance for erosion and overgrowth. A trail is
created by animals or vehicles (such as the wagontrains
creating the Oregon Trail, a very legitimate trail)
treading on a natural landscape and leaving a worn
pathway behind; a trail is never paved, graded beyond
simple levelling of the tread, or covered with crushed
rock or decomposed limestone. The bicycle and
pedestrian ROADWAYS that are currently proliferating
all across our nation are not trails!

He wants to encourage development of alternative forms
of transportation to include light rail.

The County Farm in southern Iowa City should be
preserved (how??) and not developed, and create a West
Side Park in Iowa City which needs such a facility due
to growth.

He also supports tax incentives for citizens in
Johnson County to do environmental projects to their
homes, such as when they rehab or rebuild their
existing homes.
_________________________________________

5) Joe Bolkcom, Iowa State Senator spoke next, and I
must say that although Joe did not help me in the least
in my past problem of trying to form an Iowa
corporation, he did impress me in this forum. He
mentioned that this is his ninth year in committees
such as Natural Resources and Environment, Human
Resources (a term I detest ! ! We are citizens, not
human resources ! ! !), Appropriations, and he is the
Chairman of Ways and Means. He talks fast, so I had to
look this up on the web!

Bolkcom said that 1991 was the last time that Iowa
passed any laws on energy efficiency and renewable
energy, but that was the year we had a Democratic Party
legislature.

He proposes a Greenhouse Gas Registry to analyze where
we are falling short of compliance with reducing those
emissions, identify who is failing to meet those
criteria, and to tax polluters rather than allowing
them to trade off credits. The Iowa Power Fund was
funded $100-million over four years to reduce
Greenhouse Gas. He mentioned another fund but I could
not keep up with his fast-talk.

He mentioned something about the Iowa State Office of
Consumer Advocates that I could not follow, but in my
check on the web, it is a division of the Iowa Attorney
General's Office, established in 1983.

He specified that we need a Community Grant Program
for renewable projects to be encouraged. These could be
by a variety of methods, includng tax-exempt grants or
loans and possibly tax incentives.

He said we especially need ENERGY CODE ENFORCEMENT,
which is the inspection of newly constructed buildings
before they are completed, at the local level. We
already have foundation inspections, framing
inspections, plumbing inspections, electrical
inspections, but no inspection of insulation before the
dry-wall goes up. Once the dry-wall or sheetrock is up,
it is impossible to inspect fo the proper insulation
value, materials and installation method that is used.

Tighten up on coal fired power plant approvals. There
is too much consideration for the corporations using
dirty fuels than for the effect it has on citizens when
the only apparent benefit is a few more jobs in the
area.
_____________________________________________

The Senator Christopher Dodd, Governor Richardson, and
Senator Barak Obama campaigns were the only ones who
bothered to send representatives to the forum. Some of
the others did not even respond to the invitation.

6) Mary Woods spoke for the Governor Richardson
campaign. She took a lot of time stepping beyond the
subject with "related" information about New Mexico
Governor Richardson, and she admitted she was not
prepared, but I was never-the-less quite impressed
with her ability to "wing it" and to give a good
oration. She said that Governor Richardson is a member
of Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters,
and that his lead as governor is recognized as being
bold that went back to his first writing of
legislation back in 1984, when Governor Richardson
wanted to incrase the use of alternative fuels.

He fathered an appropriation in New Mexico for
$330-million for solar research and to also investigate
converting all of New Mexico's government building to
energy efficient means;

In 1992 he voted for domestic energy development and
alternative energy; (Now, I'm having to leave out a
lot of the references she made, I just could not keep
up in my note-taking)...

In 1998 he was the Secretary of Energy under President
William Clinton, in which his policies earned the
common nickname of him being "The Secretary of the
Environment";

In 2006 he created the Innovation Fund in New Mexico
whereby a public and private partnership was created
for which there has to be one public partner with one
private partner that will do the funding to achieve
clean energy projects and goals, and that any project
requires a reasonable return to New Mexico within four
years.

His current plan for achieving a reduction in Global
Warming is to put a cap on trade-emissions of 20% by
year 2020. He also wants to WORK WITH OTHER NATIONS on
countering Global Warming!
___________________________________________________


7) Hans Detweiler, Deputy director of the Bureau of
Energy and Recycling for the State of Illinois and a
member of Illinois Department of Commerce, a member of
Sierra Club, represented the Barak Obama campaign.

I must say that in light of the fact that Obama has
really pissed off genuine liberals with his propaganda,
I think that Detweiler's admission that he is a
lobbiest working in government speaks for the content
of his promotion of Obama. Let that be a legitimate
warning!

He gave some really propagandistic attributes of Obama
that fly in the face of news articles covering Obama's
campaign the past year, which mostly, I found
Detweiler's attributes to be boring and inaccurate,
especially where he represents Obama as not being part
of The Establishment!

He said that Obama made speeches in New Hampshire about
the success of corn oil into ethanol. And there was the
Harken (Iowa)/Obama bill for natural gas fired plants
being better than coal-fired plants to produce ethanol.
(Hmmm... most ethanol plants are OIL fired and mix
ethanol WITH PETROLEUM).

He continued with his campaigning speel by saying that
Obama supports energy efficiency programs and a new
form of energy construction standards for buildings
that require a 40% to 50% greater efficiency than
current building standards within four years. And of
course... he says that "everybody in Illinois is
behind Obama" (Yeah, everyone except the genuine
liberal groups!)

Detweiler was continually side-stepping the issues like
the true lobbiest he is, so I quit taking notes.
_________________________________________________

8) Ruth Cox spoke for her favorite candidate,
Connecticut U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd. Let me just
say very honestly that I really do admire Christopher
Dodd except on one thing that Ruth knows me for:
Christopher Dodd has not stood up in Congress and
specifically proclaimed our illegal conduct of
starting a war! For this reason, Ruth does not give me
much credibility because I always confront her on this.

Ruth said that Senator Dodd sponsored the Vehicle Clean
Air Act, and he voted against the final presentation of
the 2005 Energy Bill.

She said that Dodd wants a corporate carbon tax without
"weasel room", meaning that the more corporations
pollute then the greater must be their fines, without
trading-off for credits. You've got to directly tax
polluters until we move away from fossil fuels or they
will not do it.

She said that Dodd calls for an 80% reduction of
Greenhouse Gas emissions FROM 2005 LEVELS by 2050. And
she said that Dodd wants to increase energy efficiency
for all consumer products and make them affordable to
the general public.
_______________________________________________

We were five minutes late already, so she took a
couple questions very quickly and we adjourned with a
brief statement by Mike Carberry.

I took my Hydrogen sign across Clinton Street to The
Pentacrest for the rally, where I displayed it and
represented its facts to the mere 18 or so people who
showed up in additon to the news media. And I explained
that my sign was using old information from 1999, and
that more recent information was that the inventor of
the semiconductor had discovered that aluminum pellets
will attract oxygen from water to produce pure
hydrogen, and that this can be used in automobiles to
produce only as much fuel onboard the automobile as is
necessary, then the withholding of more water shuts
down the hydrogen process until the driver needs it
again. If you would like information of what my sign
says, and the update information, send me an electronic
message at:

GreenPartyRon@usa.com


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