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Global Waming seminar Thursday at Evansdale
by Jonathan Rosenbaum 07 Nov '07

07 Nov '07

Thursday there will be an Energy Expert speaking about Global Warming at the NRCEE at 11:00, see http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/news/page/6300/ . Robert G. Watts, the Cornelia and Arthur Jung Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at Tulane University, will speak on “Global Warming and the Future of Planet Earth” in Room 101A of the National Research Center for Coal and Energy on the Evansdale Campus. Watts has written several books about he subject: http://tinyurl.com/37s8nk -Jonathan

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PA challenge to NIETC
by Duane330＠aol.com 06 Nov '07

06 Nov '07

Multi-state power corridor already being challenged The Associated Press _http://www.dailymail.com/display_story.php?sid=200711063&format=prn_ (http://www.dailymail.com/display_story.php?sid=200711063&format=prn) Tuesday November 06, 2007 HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Gov. Ed Rendell and state utility regulators challenged the federal government's inclusion of 52 Pennsylvania counties in a regional corridor where states could lose the ability to stop high-voltage power lines from being built. The corridor's boundaries are far broader than intended by Congress, going so far as to include parts of the state that have no electric transmission problems, the Pennsylvania officials said. Lines that cross Pennsylvania may not deliver any benefit to electricity users in the state, and the U.S. Department of Energy, which drew the corridors, did not consider alternatives to meeting growing power demand, Rendell said. "They will be delivering dirtier, fossil-fuel-derived power from states to the south and west of Pennsylvania at a time when we're trying to protect the environment and meet our energy needs through clean and renewable technologies,'' he said in a statement. The Rendell administration on Friday asked the Department of Energy to reconsider the corridor's boundaries. The state Public Utility Commission also asked the department to reconsider, and sued last week in federal court in Harrisburg to stop the federal government from acting on the designation. Megan Barnett, an Energy Department spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., said the federal agency was reviewing the reconsideration request. The Energy Department, Barnett said, "benefited from full public participation on its decision to issue national interest corridors, which included months of public review.'' She said the decision followed more than 60 hours of public meetings across the country and came after the agency received and evaluated more than 2,000 public comments. The mid-Atlantic corridor was one of two mapped out by the Energy Department last month. It would encompass all or parts of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The other corridor is in the southwestern United States. Four massive power line projects spanning a combined 900 miles across mid-Atlantic states have already received approval from PJM, the region's electric grid operator. The lines could provide the first tests of a 2005 law that allows federal regulators to override states that do not approve certain transmission lines. The lines, which would cost several billion dollars to build, are designed to relieve the strain on existing lines that officials say could overload as early as 2012 and to bring cheaper, surplus electricity from Appalachia and the Midwest to big East Coast cities. ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

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Daily Mail Poll On Mountain Top Removal from Julian Martin
by Paula Hunt 05 Nov '07

05 Nov '07

Subject: Daily Mail Poll On Mountain Top Removal Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 12:08:02 EDT From: Martinjul(a)aol.com The Charleston Daily Mail's online poll is, "Should Mountain Top Mining be banned?" 164yes and 29no at 11:46am, Nov. 1. Vote now at http://www.dailymail.com/section/Front+Page scroll down to near bottom on left. Julian Martin "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, things aren't going to get better, they're not!" From The Lorax by Dr. Suess ..................................................... "Mountaintop removal is the biggest environmental battle of our hemisphere. You know, you can restore the Hudson River in perhaps a hundred years. But you will never, never, get these mountains back. This is truly a crime against every human being in the world." - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. "Strip mining is rampant right now, and it's raping, it's raping the countryside," she said. "What if you knew that every time you flip on your light switch a mountaintop in West Virginia just blows up? It's crazy." Kathy Mattea quoted by Ken Ward, Charleston Gazette, June 28, 2007 "If we destroy the mountain, do you know how much electricity we get out of that mountain for the coal? An entire mountain provides an hour's worth of electricity for the U.S." Mike McKinney, University of Tennessee Geology Professor, as quoted in the June 2007 Highlands Voice. For The Mountains Julian Martin Vice-President for State Affairs West Virginia Highlands Conservancy www.wvhighlands.org 1525 Hampton Road, Charleston, WV 25314 Contact me(martinjul(a)aol.com) for a trip to Kayford Mountain to see active and so-called reclaimed mountain top removal. Go to www.wvhighlands.org <http://www.wvhighlands.org/> for I Love Mountains t-shirts, hats, I Heart Mountains and Friends Of The Mountains bumper stickers and for speakers, information and exhibits on environmental issues in West Virginia. NOTICE: Due to Presidential Executive Orders, the National Security Agency may have read this email without warning, warrant or notice and also without any judicial or legislative oversight. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ . . .

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Lecture Time changed to 8 pm Tue Nov 6
by Paula Hunt 02 Nov '07

02 Nov '07

WVU announced a change in the time of the lecture: ............................... CORRECTION: time of Benedum Lecture Stephen W. Pacala, Frederick D. Petrie Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and director of the Princeton Environmental Institute at Princeton University, will deliver the 2007 Benedum Lecture at 8 p.m. Tuesday (Nov. 6) in Room 202 of Brooks Hall. The title of his talk is *Equitable Solutions to Greenhouse Warming: On the Distribution of Wealth, Emissions and Responsibility Within and Between Nations.* A reception will follow outside Room 202. The event is open to the public; admission is free. The lecture is co-sponsored by the Claude Worthington Benedum Endowment and the Office of the Provost and is coordinated by the distinguished and chaired professors of WVU.

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Add Sustainable Growth to WV-EOP
by Duane330＠aol.com 25 Oct '07

25 Oct '07

ENERGY POLICY: National Academies Make Case for Sustainable Growth Eli Kintisch A report released this week by dozens of the world's national science academies recommends using energy more efficiently, putting a price on carbon emissions, and developing green energy sources. See the journal Science, October 26, 2007, Volume 318, Issue 5850. Let me suggest that you visit the following web site, and submit your support for incorporating the above referenced studies into the WV Energy Opportunities Plan [EOP]. Comments can be submitted electronically until the end of October, i.e. Wednesday of next week. If you do it now, you won't forget. I have requested that WV develop a plan that reduces carbon dioxide emissions state-wide by 2% per year, which would be reasonably easy to achieve and to sustain, if a plan and commitment were made to do so. Web Site for WV-EOP: _www.energywv.org_ (http://www.energywv.org) ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

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Power Line Hearings are Tomorrow!
by Paula Hunt 22 Oct '07

22 Oct '07

Hi Everyone, Please remember to attend one of the public hearings on the proposed high-power transmission line (TrAIL). Morgantown Hearings (Tomorrow!!!) * Date: Tuesday October 23, 2007 * Location: Erickson Alumni Center Patteson Drive-705 (WVU Evansdale Campus) Morgantown * Time: Afternoon Session begins at 1:30 pm Evening Session begins at 6:30 pm Grafton Hearings * Date: Wednesday October 24, 2007 * Location Taylor County Senior Citizens Center Intersection of Route 119 and 250 ========================================== Be heard or at least be seen! - paula

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Public Input Hearings, Tomorrow.
by Duane330＠aol.com 22 Oct '07

22 Oct '07

RE: Proposed TrAIL Transmission Line. PUBLIC INPUT HEARING: Erickson Alumni Center, Morgantown, WV. Date and Time: Tuesday, October 23rd, 1:30 pm and 6:30 pm. Background information: Pennsylvania: _www.stopthetowers.org_ (http://www.stopthetowers.org/) West Virginia _www.notowersinwv.org_ (http://www.notowersinwv.org/) Virginia _www.stopdominion.org_ (http://www.stopdominion.org/) ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

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Mid-Atlantic concerned citizens
by Duane330＠aol.com 15 Oct '07

15 Oct '07

The Mid-Atlantic Concerned Citizens Energy Coalition (MACCEC) is an established but expanding network of individuals and organizations within our eight-state region. Our mission is to educate citizens about electricity issues and to motivate them to take actions that will create policies and support solutions appropriate for the 21st century. Please visit the MACCEC website (still a work in progress) at _www.maccec.org_ (http://www.maccec.org/) Email your comments and suggestions, e.g., links you would like to see posted in Electric Energy Information for your state or More NIET Corridor News for your state. Forward this email to others who may be interested in providing input. This Mid-Atlantic area coalition supports 21st century energy solutions and opposes the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) recently designated Mid-Atlantic Area National Corridor. It is our belief that networking on a regional basis will offer concerned citizens ongoing opportunities to make a difference together. Barbara Kessinger Organizer, MACCEC _www.maccec.org_ (http://www.maccec.org/) ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

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"Opposition To TrAIL Power Line...."
by Duane330＠aol.com 12 Oct '07

12 Oct '07

Press release: Opposition To TrAIL Power Line Strengthens In West Virginia The diverse opponents of the proposed new TrAIL electric power transmission line are dedicated to bringing a halt to the project. This 240 miles line includes 114 miles in West Virginia and will consume an estimated 7500 acres of land here. The cooperating organizations that oppose the line include the WV Environmental Council, the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, the Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition, the Ft. Martin Community Association, the West Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, Halleck - Triune Community Association, Laurel Run Watershed Association, WV Highlands Conservancy, WV Inter-faith Global Climate Change Campaign, Capon Valley Coalition, Laurel Mountain Preservation Association and others. Don Corwin Jr, President of the Halleck Community Association says that "West Virginians are being forced into a position where we are giving up our property rights for a power line that passes through the heart of our communities, does not benefit us, and we have to pay for it. This is the ultimate example of bad business in West Virginia." Allegheny Energy submitted an application for the transmission line in March. The 240-mile line consists of 140-foot tall support towers and overhead wires carrying up to 500,000 volts. It would transport electricity from local power plants to the east coast states. Two proposed transmission line routes through West Virginia have been submitted to the WV Public Service Commission by Allegheny Energy. In either case, the line would come south from Washington and Greene counties in Pennsylvania then pass through the counties of Monongalia, Marion, possibly Taylor, Preston, Tucker, Grant, and Hampshire in West Virginia, and then pass through northern Virginia. Opposition to the line is extremely strong in both Pennsylvania and Virginia. Allegheny Energy avoided Maryland all together, apparently to avoid opposition in that state, despite the fact that the shortest distance for this line would have been through Maryland and not northern West Virginia. Lew McDaniel of the Laurel Run Watershed Association believes that “This really is a battle between rural and urban America. We are a nation that fights wars over equal values, which means a green space covered with trees deserves the same consideration as a city lot covered with asphalt. Yet here we are trying to preserve over 7000 acres of our property in the face of unbridled demand for electricity in other states. Primary concerns of the groups are that: (1) current eminent domain rules and practices are not fair to property owners and other residents since the right-of-way will be seized without just compensation for reduced property values for all those near the line, (2) land disturbances will be extensive, surface and ground water flows will be affected, the natural beauty of the region will be substantially degraded, and these disturbance will prevail for many decades to come, essentially forever, (3) a new line will give added life to old power plants that generate extremely large volumes of carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas affecting climate change, as well as other pollutants, (4) and, of equal significance, the line will not serve the electric customers of West Virginia in spite of the fact that local electric bills are being increased already to pay for the planning, permitting, engineering, construction and operation of this line. "I am not aware of any previous application for a transmission line that has ever been turned down by the WV PSC," said Jim Kotcon, President of the West Virginia Environmental Council. "But there has never been such strong opposition from so many diverse groups to such a transmission line. This one is truly a bad idea for West Virginia, and Allegheny is proposing it simply because it is an easy way to make money by gouging the ratepayers." According to Bill Golemon of the Capon Valley Coalition, “Allegheny Power has not adequately considered other alternatives to the power line or made a convincing case that it is really necessary.” Concern is also being expressed over the recent designation of 42 counties in West Virginia as part of a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC), under the US Energy Policy Act of 2005. The designated counties include Kanawha and essentially all the State north of Kanawha. Federal eminent domain authority now applies which supercedes State authority for high voltage electric transmission lines, should the US Department of Energy decided to use the authority. These regulations have not yet been tested in the federal courts, as the designation attempts to overrule the rights of the States that may have constitutional superiority. The WV Public Service Commission will hold extensive public hearings at 1:30 and 6:30 pm on October 23rd in Morgantown, October 24th in Grafton, October 29th in Davis (Tucker County), and October 30th in Moorefield; hearings will start at 9:00 am on November 28th and 29th in Charleston. Anyone interested in the proposed power line may appear at any of these public comment hearings and make statements if relevant to the line, and/or send written comments to the Public Service Commission, ATTN: Sandra Squire, 201 Brooks Street, Charleston, WV 25323. Correspondence should designate the TrAIL Case Number: 07-0508-E-CN. See also the following web site: _www.notowersinwv.org_ (http://www.notowersinwv.org/) For further information, contact: Duane Nichols, _duane330(a)aol.com_ (mailto:duane330@aol.com) , 304-599-8040. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Contact information for participating groups: WV Environmental Council Don Garvin 2206 Washington Street, East _www.wvecouncil.org_ (http://www.wvecouncil.org/) Charleston, WV 25311 304-414-0143 .............................................................................. .......................................................... Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Dianne Bady PO Box 6753 304-522-0246 Huntington, WV 25773-6753. _ohvec(a)ezwv.com_ (mailto:ohvec@ezwv.com) .............................................................................. ........................................................... Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition Duane G. Nichols P. O. Box 4679 _Duane330@aolcom_ (mailto:Duane330@aolcom) Morgantown, WV 26504 304-216-5535 .............................................................................. ............................................................ Sierra Club, WV Chapter Barbara Fallon P. O. Box 4142 _brbr_fallon(a)yahoo.com_ (mailto:brbr_fallon@yahoo.com) Morgantown, WV 26504 304-292-3345 .............................................................................. ........................................................... Ft. Martin Community Association Rosemary Eavenson 1634 Ft Martin Road 304-599-6916 Maidsville, WV 26541 _FortMartin1769(a)aol.com_ (mailto:FortMartin1769@aol.com) .............................................................................. ........................................................... WV Interfaith Global Climate Change Campaign Wil Reilly 115 Lakeside Drive _Wjreilly99(a)yahoo.com_ (mailto:Wjreilly99@yahoo.com) Morgantown, WV 26508 304-292-0001 .............................................................................. ............................................................ WV Highlands Conservancy Frank Young Route 1, Box 108 304-372-3945 Ripley, WV 25271 _fyoung(a)mountain.net_ (mailto:fyoung@mountain.net) .............................................................................. ..................................................................... Halleck - Triune Community Association Don Corwin, Jr. Monongalia County, WV _Decorwin(a)aol.com_ (mailto:Decorwin@aol.com) _www.notowersinwv.org_ (http://www.notowersinwv.org/) 304-291-0886 .............................................................................. ..................................................................... Laurel Run Watershed Association Lew McDaniel Route 1 Box 252 _lewmcdan(a)hrea.coop_ (mailto:lewmcdan@hrea.coop) Independence, WV 26374 304-288-4078 .............................................................................. ................................................................... Laurel Mountain Preservation Association Art Dodds, Montrose, WV _www.laurelmountainpreservationassociation.org_ (http://www.laurelmountainpreservationassociation.org/) _pamart(a)meer.net_ (mailto:pamart@meer.net) P. O. Box 217, Montrose, WV 26283 304-823-1095 .............................................................................. ...................................................................... Capon Valley Coalition Bill & Lynn Golemon P. O. Box 127 _billgolemon(a)frontiernet.net_ (mailto:billgolemon@frontiernet.net) Yellow Springs, WV 26865 304-856-1188 .............................................................................. ..................................................................... Date: October 12, 2007 ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

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Transmission Line Hearings Tues Oct 23rd
by Paula Hunt 10 Oct '07

10 Oct '07

Hey Everyone! Please attend one of the public meetings for the proposed HUGE transmission line (cleverly dubbed "TrAIL") Allegheny Energy is trying to foist on our region. Please see the links, etc. at the end of this message for more information about TrAIL. The West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) will hold two public hearings in Morgantown on Tuesday October 23. One is at 1:30 pm and the second is at 6:30 pm at the WVU Erickson Alumni Center located on the West Virginia University campus (off of 705/Patteson Drive). Even if you do not choose to speak, please attend one of these VERY important meetings. The Erickson Alumni Center is located off of Patteson Drive (Rt 705) on WVU's Evansdale Campus. Here is a link to map: http://www.wvu.edu/CampusMap/Images/evansdale_campus_vlrg.gif . Parking may be tight, but remember, you can usually find a space near Patteson Drive at the Printing Services Building (a low white brick building). It also makes for a quick exit! Also, please send comments to the PSC: Public Service Commission of West Virginia c/o Ms. Sandra Squire, Executive Secretary PO Box 812 Charleston WV 25323 1-800-344-5113 (in WV) FAX: (304) 340-0325 Please refer to Case Number: 07-0508-E-CN (TrAIL ) in your letter. Reasons to oppose the TrAIL: * Property values for all those near the line will plummet. * The right-of-way can be taken by eminent domain. * The line will not serve the residents of West Virginia, yet our electricity bills would be increased to pay for this transmission line. * The natural beauty of the region will be destroyed, permanently! * The proposed transmission line will give added life to old polluting power plants that need to be retired. * Many of the people and livestock along the transmission corridor rely on wells and springs for drinking water. herbicides used along the transmission line would degrade water quality. Thanks in advance, paula ................................ Here is an overall map of the proposed line in WV: http://aptrailinfo.com/index.php?page=wv-proposed-route-map . Note how the route curves *around* Maryland to stay in West Virginia!! For more information please check out http://www.notowers.info/ . The site http://www.notowersinwv.org/ looked really good two days ago, but was blank when I just checked it. Still... try it out. Lasly, http://stopthetowers.org/ is run by a southwestern PA group opposong the same transmission line. It is a good source of information.

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