Archive for August, 2011
These are my links for August 25th from 08:58 to 09:02:
- Texas Railroad Commission urges AG to challenge EPA cross-state pollution rule – The Texas Railroad Commission is asking Attorney General Greg Abbott to "bring a prompt legal action" to delay implementation of a new Environmental Protection Agency rule that state officials say would jeopardize electric reliability in the state.
Luminant, the Dallas-based power generator, maintains that the planned Jan. 1 implementation of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, designed to curb air pollution from power plants, would force it to mothball some operations and would significantly lower revenue as a result of reduced electricity generation and wholesale power sales.
The biggest impact is expected to be at Luminant plants in East Texas that burn lignite coal, which the company also mines in the region.
The Railroad Commission, in a letter to Abbott dated Tuesday, said the rule "will have serious adverse economic consequences for Texas without demonstrable environmental and health benefits."
The commission said the rule "threatens the viability of the Texas lignite mining industry, its jobs and associated economic activity" and "many coal-fired power plants may be forced to limit or shut down operations" as a result of the regulation.
The commission noted that it regulates the surface mining of lignite coal.
"About 45 percent of the electric power generated in Texas comes from coal, and almost 40 percent of that coal is Texas lignite, which provides Texans with jobs and a low-cost fuel," the commission said in the letter.
The "potential loss of lignite for power significantly threatens electric reliability in Texas" and is needed "to keep the lights on," the commission added. The chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission and officials who run the state's power grid have expressed similar concerns.
EPA officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
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But, the Feds don;t care. It is the environment and to hell with Texas and Texas business.
- EPA’s Looming Blackouts – Energy: It won't matter which light bulbs we use as the administration's implementation of cross-state pollution rules shuts down coal plants across the country. Where will the jobs be when the lights go out?
It's called the Cross-State Pollution Rule, announced last month, and its implementation over the next 18 months will likely result in the loss of a fifth of the nation's electricity-generating capacity.
The result will be likely power shortages, skyrocketing rates and inevitable brownouts and rolling blackouts.
Based on Bush-era EPA proposals that the federal courts threw out in 2008, this latest example of legislation is designed to usurp state powers to regulate their in-state emissions by making it a federal issue on the grounds pollution crosses state lines.
The rule requires coal companies in 27 states to slash emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide by 73% and 54%, respectively, from 2005 levels by 2014. "Just because wind and weather will carry air pollution away from its source at a local power plant doesn't mean that pollution is no longer that plant's responsibility," says Environmental Protection Agency Chief Lisa Jackson.
The targets are states such as Texas that not only resist federal encroachment on their powers but dare to try to balance environmental quality. The EPA claims huge health gains as its justification, but those claims are in doubt. Poverty and joblessness, which this and other EPA rules will create, carry their own health risks.
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Tags: EPA, Obama, Pinboard Links, Texas
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These are my links for August 24th through August 25th:
Tags: #catcot, #tcot, Boeing, Forbes, NLRB, Pinboard Links
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Posted by Flap in Day By Day
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Posted by Flap in Dentistry
Well, perhaps, some day.
Perhaps someday, the bi-annual trip to the dentist may become much less intimidating, thanks to researchers at Leeds University in the UK who have developed a completely pain-free way to fill cavities.
Taking inspiration from the principles of regenerative medicine, the process involves a special peptide-based fluid. Suspended in water, the peptide fluid, known as P 11-4 is clear and has a similar viscosity as water. Under certain conditions, namely when placed in contact with saliva that surrounds a tooth, the fluid forms a gel scaffold that fills the microscopic holes that are cavities. The scaffold, which mimics proteins that are found in growing teeth, attracts hydroxyapatite and other minerals to regenerate actual tooth enamel within weeks.
You can read more here.
Dentistry has been awaiting a “Magic Mouthwash” to treat caries and periodontal disease for decades.
Has the future arrived?
Tags: Dentistry
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In 2008 Texas Governor Rick Perry endorses Rudy Giuliani
I am pro-life but like and supported Rudy Giuliani in 2008. You don’t always agree with a POL on all issues.
Now, Jen Rubin points out a contradiction for the now front-running GOP Presidential candidate Texas Governor Rick Perry.
As other Republican contenders did before him, Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed the Susan B. Anthony List’s antiabortion pledge. That pledge includes this: “Select pro-life appointees for relevant Cabinet and Executive Branch positions, in particular the head of National Institutes of Health, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Health & Human Services.” This would exclude people such as Rudy Giuliani as attorney general. That might be fine for some Republicans, but Perry endorsed Giuliani for president in 2008. Good enough for the Oval Office but not the Justice Department? I asked the Perry campaign to explain but no answer was forthcoming.
What say you Governor?
Tags: President 2012, Rick Perry, Rudy Giuliani
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According to the latest Gallup Poll.
Shortly after announcing his official candidacy, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has emerged as rank-and-file Republicans’ current favorite for their party’s 2012 presidential nomination. Twenty-nine percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents nationwide say they are most likely to support Perry, with Mitt Romney next, at 17%.
These results are based on an Aug. 17-21 Gallup poll, the first conducted after several important events in the Republican nomination campaign, including the second candidate debate, the Iowa Straw Poll, and Perry’s official entry into the race after months of speculation.
Romney and Perry essentially tied for the lead in late July, based on re-computed preferences that include the current field of announced candidates. Gallup’s official July report, based on the announced field at the time and thus excluding Perry, showed Romney with a 27% to 18% lead over Michele Bachmann. Romney enjoyed an even wider, 17-point lead in June over Herman Cain among the field of announced candidates (Gallup did not include Perry among the nominee choices before July).
Perry’s official announcement may have overshadowed the Aug. 13 Iowa Straw Poll, which Bachmann won narrowly over Ron Paul. Neither candidate appears to have gotten a big boost from the straw poll results; Paul’s support was up slightly from July and Bachmann’s down slightly.
What about the GOP demographics?
Perry is a strong contender among key Republican subgroups. Older Republicans and those living in the South show especially strong support for him, at or near 40%. Conservative Republicans strongly favor Perry over Romney, but liberal and moderate Republicans support the two about equally. Perry’s support is also above average among religious Republicans.
The chart:
What is most interesting to me is the weakness of Perry and Romney in the East. Is there room in the field for an Eastern based candidate like former New York Governor George Pataki or former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani? And, who would that hurt the most?
While the eight announced candidates continue to campaign in key early primary and caucus states, Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani are two prominent Republican politicians who have indicated they are still contemplating getting into the race. Palin and Giuliani each receive about 10% of the vote when included in the nomination preference question, with Perry still holding a significant lead over Romney, 25% to 14%, on this measure.
With them in the race, Perry jumps to an 11 point lead over Romney. Also, remember that Rudy was endorsed by Perry in 2008 and that they are friends.
The chart:
So, what does this all mean?
Texas Governor Rick Perry has vaulted into being the front-runner for the GOP Presidential nomination.
Tags: Mitt Romney, Polling, President 2012, Rick Perry, Rudy Giuliani, Sarah Palin
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