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

[hhart@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu]

Ron, thank you for the detailed report (and the one on the Toxic Talk =20
forum a few days ago).  \\Dang, I would have been there, but was a few =20
minutes late and the thing was over.... I ended up at another Toxic =20
Talk event.

Holly

Quoting librisfidelis@usa.com:

> [IowaGreenDiscussion] Global Warming Policy Forum at Phillips Hall,
> University of Iowa‏
> From: iowagreendiscussion@yahoogroups.com on behalf of iowagreenron
> (iowagreenron@hotmail.com)
> Sent: Sun 11/04/07 8:24 PM
> Reply-to: IowaGreenDiscussion@yahoogroups.com
> To: IowaGreenDiscussion@yahoogroups.com
>
> 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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