Rural Nevadans now know what it feels like to be Indian

Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, wrote that the most successful acts of conquest require no military action whatsoever. I guess it's like getting something for nothing.

The Nevada State Engineer has just awarded Southern Nevada a huge chunk of Rural Nevada's water. It was all legal. It was all according to State Law – even though it defies rationality. Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) now has access to billions of dollars worth of other people's water. How could it possibly be moral for one community to take the water out from under the feet of another community, when there are alternatives? But it was all “legal,” therefore, they must be “right.”

Sure, they're adhering to the law. But, what law. They'll pay their taxes... but wait, SNWA's operations in White Pine County are tax exempt. They'll pay for what they take... but wait, Nevada law says SNWA can have the water for free. They'll adhere to the rulings of the Federal Agencies... but wait, the Department of Interior has ordered all the Federal Agencies to stand down at the Nevada water hearings. As I said... what law?

Why do I feel like we here in Rural Nevada have been conquered, and our homeland is about to be pillaged. Why do I feel like this is just more of the same for Native Americans. Just consider our history. Like the Spanish Empire before them, Americans first sent in the military to subdue us. Then they took the gold... and then the jewels and the precious metals. After that, they took the land and the natural resources. Now, there is another wave of exploitation brewing. They want to take our most valuable life-giving resource and send us their waste, their toxic waste, and their nuclear waste.

I can put up with the mining of our minerals, but when they plan to take our water and pollute everything here, that's way beyond immoral. Sooner or later, at this rate, life here in Rural Nevada will become unlivable for the Western Shoshone and the other Nevadans who have joined us here in this remote and beautiful land. This will effectively be an indirect form of ethnic cleansing. And why? Because they can. I guess because they aren't willing to take a chance on any other ideas. And probably because there is a huge profit potential in oppressing your neighbors.

The rest of the nation may not be willing to admit this to themselves yet, but they are all looking for a place to send their waste. And they're all secretly wishing that they could ship it off to the most remote place they can find. That's right. If someone can just get us all to leave Rural Nevada, it will be theirs for the taking, to exploit as the dumpsite for the nation. I don't believe there is a conspiracy – just a trend. A trend we had better do everything we can to stop. Or else Rural Nevada, within our lifetime; will only be the home to power plant employees, toxic waste train operators, and dumpsite workers.

I suppose we should be happy that SNWA only got 40,000 acre feet per year, when they were “asking” for 90,000. But, the hydrologists I've talked to didn't believe there was more than 70,000 acre feet, maximum, in the Spring Valley. Do the math... Why does it feel like SNWA “asked” for twice as much as they wanted? So that we could feel triumphant when the Nevada State Engineer would only give them half... oh, and another 20,000 acre feet if nobody can stop them later? That adds up to 60,000 acre feet, the realistic amount of water that feeds into the Spring Valley. That adds up to NO water for the plants and animals that live there now. This is what localized extinction looks like. Say goodbye to the forests and the shrubs in Spring Valley. Say goodbye to the antelope. And say goodbye to some of the life up on the west face of Great Basin National Park, because the water draw down will effect the water table there too.

They've lied to us. Every time we've met these representatives from Southern Nevada (who are here to help themselves to our natural resources), they've just told us what we've wanted to hear. They intend to protect the environment. With what? A magic wand. They will only be taking water from deep water aquifers. With wells that reach only a couple hundred feet down? They will help our economy, by building coal fired power plants... that nobody else on the planet wants. And most disgusting of all, that they are doing this in the name of sustainability. They don't even know the meaning of the term “sustainability,” or maybe their hoping you don't.

I love Las Vegas. I was born there and lived there for most of my life. I used to be a volunteer for the Nevada Commission on Tourism. I even used to volunteer my time to promote tourism in Las Vegas. But I can no longer do that. It just doesn't feel right. In fact, someday, someone may call a boycott of Las Vegas. There's no need for that now, because there is no pipeline, and no coal fired power plants... yet. However, eventually, we may realize that the only way to influence Las Vegas, is to cut the powerful peoples' incomes. A boycott of a tourism destination could be very effective. All we would have to do is tell the story of the plight of the Western Shoshone. And I wouldn't be surprised that the Indian Casinos around the nation would be quite helpful in promoting this boycott.

Nevada casino owners and developers were there to influence the Nevada State Engineer during the water hearings. Now they have to live with that fact. They also have to live with the fact that they were lied to (by omission). There is an alternative to essentially stealing the rest of the state's water – a practical, cost effective, and responsible alternative. SNWA just didn't want you to know about it. Why? Maybe they just didn't check into it as well as they should. Then again, maybe they were ordered not to. Let's face it, there's big money in charging to deliver Rural Nevada's water. This could be a sign that all is not what it seems at SNWA.

SNWA defines it's business structure as a “quasi-municipality.” In over a year, I have yet to get a clear explanation of what that means. I'm starting to believe that the term “quasi” means more than the term “municipality.” If SNWA were still a municipality, they would be required to respond more to our communities. SNWA certainly hasn't responded to the community of White Pine County. If I were placing a bet, I'd say this looks like a back-door privatization effort. With the water grab, they could make billions in the delivery of water they obtained for free. Of course, the pipeline will cost somewhere between 2 billion and 20 billion dollars – but so what. Rate payers will pay for that. SNWA has already penned a deal with Coyote Springs for the delivery of Coyote Springs own water (from Central/Eastern Nevada), at the cost of $5000 an acre foot. If SNWA were to get all the water they were “asking” for, and were able to get at least what Coyote Springs has already agreed to, that would amount to a Billion dollars a year. If somehow, SNWA were to become privatized, that would likely mean multi-million dollar paychecks for future SNWA executives... of course, at Las Vegans' expense.

SNWA could desalinate sea water and trade that for a bigger allotment of the Colorado River. Hold on. Before you assume that there isn't any water in the Colorado left, consider this; Las Vegas' allotment of the Colorado River is 300,000 acre feet per year. In a year, 15,000,000 acre feet flow by. Even if Lake Mead were totally empty, Las Vegas would have no trouble getting another 60,000 acre feet, if they had the legal right to. 60,000 acre feet is only 0.4 % of the total flow of the Colorado River – but it is likely to be the total flow into Spring Valley. Why take the risk?

That is the big question, isn't it? Why take the risk that there isn't nearly the water they hope for in Spring Valley (and all those other desert valleys), when we all know that there is plenty of water in the ocean? With desalination, SNWA doesn't even have to build a pipeline – to anywhere. The desalinated water can go directly to the coastline communities, and SNWA can just pump more water out of the Colorado River.

SNWA might just be looking at the situation this way: Why do the right thing, and make fresh water to trade with California, when they can sell the delivery of water from Rural Nevada, and make billions? Las Vegas stands to suffer almost as much as Rural Nevada. Don't expect the pipeline water to be cheap – especially if some private company were to control the flow. Expect tourists to notice the destruction of Rural Nevada – and inevitably, some of them will decide to go to Indian casinos instead. The polluted dust bowls of Rural Nevada will not be much of a tourism draw. Some of that dust is bound to blow towards Las Vegas. And just in case you didn't remember, some of that dust is radioactive fallout from the Nevada Test Site. One more thing, how many people are going to want to visit or move to a state that is fast becoming the nation's toxic dump site.

If SNWA were to build a fleet of barges with reverse osmosis desalination units on board, there wouldn't be a need to take water from the desert. The barges would be offshore, which would eliminate the argument against coastal desalination plants. The desalination units could be powered by wave power generators. Wave power generation is already being successfully implemented elsewhere on the planet. Most importantly, wave power will not be dependent upon the rising price of fossil fuels. And the price of reverse osmosis just keeps getting cheaper. This is a good idea. But, if you can get them to tell you, I'll bet SNWA hasn't spent anywhere near a reasonable amount of time or money on studying off shore desalination. As far as I know, they haven't spent anything.

I don't blame Southern Nevada for trying to lock up a long term supply of water... just in case. If SNWA's intentions are to have the water there in Rural Nevada, waiting underground, for a not so rainy day; I really don't have a problem with that. If people in Las Vegas were really going thirsty, and didn't have any alternative, I wouldn't be trying to stop the pipeline. But, that isn't the case. At least not yet. We do have better alternatives. This is where you come in, casino owners. You can pressure SNWA.

The casino owners and the developers have been duped into thinking that the pipeline is the only option. The truth is that, for now, it is the worst option.

If we can convince SNWA to invest in just one prototype desalination barge, we would be well on the way to proving the obvious; that in a world of less and less fresh water, it is now time to start making our fresh water – instead of fighting over the last few drops in the desert.

What About Hydrogen Power?

OK Las Vegas; worst case scenario – or in your case, what will eventually happen. Sooner or later, for one reason or another, Las Vegas may have to face the fact that even with all the water they may take from Rural Nevada and Utah, there won't be enough. What will you do then? And, very importantly, what will you do if this happens sooner than we expect?

We all know that no matter how big Las Vegas gets; there will always be people who will want to keep it growing. Inevitably, they will be powerful people. They'll want answers... And we won't want to disappoint them, now will we. What are you going to do? What will you do when you start thinking about all that water being used for coal fired power plants – just being wasted? You're going to think of another way. Yeah, that's right. Sooner or later, Las Vegas is going to be considering shutting down the coal fired power plants for the water. All that would have to happen is that Las Vegas run out of water again in the next 50 years. Gee... how likely is that?

Consequently, whatever they're telling you the coal fired power plants will cost, they will likely cost more – simply because it isn't very likely that the utilities will be able to keep them running for their full operational life. There are multiple reasons the utility companies may not be able to profitably operate coal fired power plants for 50 years. Potential carbon taxes, the rising price of coal, regulatory changes, and the decreasing costs of alternative generation are all working against coal fired power. If the coal fired power plants are actually more expensive than we think, alternatives may be a better idea after all.

Let's consider hydrogen power:

As you probably already know, burning hydrogen doesn't produce even a fraction of the pollution of burning coal. So, it is a potential environmentally responsible alternative – if we can make it work at a reasonable price.

Hydrogen has the highest energy content per unit of weight of any known fuel; 52,000 Btu/lb. Anthracite coal only has 12,000 Btu/lb. This means that, by weight, only 23% of hydrogen is necessary as coal to get the same energy.

The coal fired power plant planned by Sierra Pacific, near Ely, Nevada, is expected to generate 1.5 GigaWatts of power by burning 10,000 tons of coal a day. If we assume similar efficiencies, hydrogen power would only require 2,300 tons of hydrogen a day.

If we were to talk volume, however, the situation is more like comparing apples and oranges. 10,000 tons of coal a day is more than a trainload of coal every day. But, hydrogen wouldn't be delivered by fleets of smoky old trains. To be cost effective, hydrogen would have to be delivered by pipeline.

In other applications, hydrogen has had to be pressurized to fit in the pipe. This would add significantly to the cost of the pipeline. However, my calculations (rough estimates, actually) show that pressurizing hydrogen to lower it's volume is not absolutely necessary (the calculations are at the end of the article):

By running at atmospheric pressure, we could eliminate the need for most all of the pumps – and the associated power use.

Hydrogen is about 1/14 as dense as air, which means hydrogen will flow uphill in a pipeline. Unlike water, pumping costs from the coast inland could be insignificant. Better yet, a pipeline full of hydrogen will flow over hills and back down the other sides, as long as the exit is at a higher elevation than the entry (utilizing a siphoning effect).

But there's more. When hydrogen “burns” to generate power, the byproducts are heat and water... that's right, fresh water. By piping in hydrogen from the sea, one can effectively get water to flow uphill! And the heat released can be used to cogenerate electricity.

Yes, there's even more. Hydrogen's atomic weight is 1. Oxygen's atomic weight is 16. In the chemical reaction that makes water from hydrogen and oxygen:

2H + O → H2O

the atomic weights are:

1 + 1 + 16 = 18

Therefore: for every ton of hydrogen burnt, 9 tons of water is produced. So, burning 2,300 tons of hydrogen a day would result in 20,000 tons of water a day.

20,000 tons/day X 2000 pounds/ton

8.328 pounds/gallon

X 3.06888 X 10-6 acre feet/gallon

= 15 acre feet/day

15 acre feet/day X 365 days/year = 5,000 acre feet/year

5,000 acre feet/year X 5,000 dollars/acre feet

= $25,000,000 per year

The expected lifetime of a coal fired power plant is about 50 years. If hydrogen were burnt instead, the water sold could amount to:

50 years X $50,000,000 = $1,250,000,000

Which, of course, means that a utility company could spend $1.25 billion more on hydrogen power generation and a hydrogen pipeline to Las Vegas, and still come out even. Well, even... if you ignore all of the external costs and collateral damage that coal fired power plants would cause.

As mentioned earlier, what if this $5 billion coal fired power plant only gets to operate for 25 years? That means that the utility companies construction costs were twice what they expected. Which makes hydrogen look even better.

Unfortunately, our utility companies tell us that we don't have the option for hydrogen power now. It's just too expensive. (Too bad they don't say that about their executives' paychecks.) The truth, however, is that it just may be too expensive. The electrolysis of 800 million cubic feet of hydrogen a day, admittedly, will be very expensive (if we make hydrogen from fossil fuels, we'd still have a CO2 problem).

Making 2,300 tons of hydrogen a day may seem like a monumental task, but remember that digging up 400,000,000 tons of coal (literally a mountain of coal) is no easy task either. The manpower and heavy equipment costs will be huge. The loss of ranch land to mines will also be a substantial cost to our economy. Over the course of 50 years, there will be over 20,000 train loads of coal that will have to be delivered for round trips of over 1000 miles each. Just the fuel costs for the trains will make these Nevada coal fired power plant units among the least profitable in the West. There's the expense for water – enough water to support 100,000 people (or in this case, whole ecosystems). Then there's the cost of the power line from Central Nevada. Moreover, there is the expense of dealing with all the pollution from burning all that coal. The coal fired power plants will leave behind a toxic sludge pile that will cover 1500 acres – for future generations to deal with. And hundreds of tons of toxic chemicals will blanket the earth for hundreds to thousands of miles downwind. Just the health care costs will be astronomical. Of course, costs to society and the environment aren't calculated into Sierra Pacific's bottom line. But, these “external” costs had better be a concern for us.

Not to mention, there is one very important point that we have to remember. Eventually you're going to have to pay for both coal fired power and some form of alternative power generation. Hey wait a minute, both are always more expensive than either.

It may be a stretch to start construction of hydrogen power generators now. But, it may be a stretch that will be worth it in the long run.

We could construct a fleet of hydrogen generators operating offshore, powered by wave energy. The technology to make hydrogen from seawater already exists. If the hydrogen generators are built small enough, their processes shouldn't effect localized ocean salinity. Being small means that each hydrogen generator will not be extremely expensive. And starting small means that we can start right away – and not have to finance the effort (which would add to the cost).

Building a pipeline to Las Vegas might not be such a good idea until the hydrogen generators and power generators are fully functional. However, prototypes could (temporarily) use one of the natural gas pipelines that stretch from LA to LV.

Fuel cells would be the ultimate goal for any type of hydrogen generating power in Las Vegas. But until then, we may be able to retrofit an idle natural gas power generator – and utilize the water byproduct in the steam turbines.

The truth is, sooner or later, we will have to build alternative power generators anyway. So, why not consider starting now. It might actually be cheaper in the long run. It definitely will be far cleaner and less destructive.

Below are the calculations for a hydrogen pipeline operating at atmospheric pressure:

Hydrogen's density is 0.09 g/l.

.........................lbs/cu ft

0.09g/l X 0.062 g/l

= 0.0056 lbs/cu ft

so, 2,300 tons of hydrogen would be:

2,300 tons X 2000 lbs/ton

0.0056 lbs/cu ft

= 800,000,000 cu ft

If the hydrogen were not pressurized, this 800,000,000 cu ft would have to travel in the pipeline per day.

800,000,000 cu ft/day

24 hours/day X 3600 sec/hour

= 9,500 cu ft/sec

A 8 foot diameter pipe has the area (πR²) or 50 ft²

The velocity of the hydrogen would then be:

9,500 ft³/sec

50 ft²

= 190 ft/sec

190 ft/sec X 0.682 miles/hour

..............................ft/sec

= 130 miles per hour

...which might be an acceptable velocity, since this is a gas. Of course, pressurization might be more cost effective. Further study is necessary.

Humpty Lumpty's sad fate in a coal fired power plant

Humpty Lumpty came from a mine.

Humpty Lumpty rode on a line.

Humpty Lumpty was burnt to an ash,

so far away strangers could end up with cash.

Humpty Lumpty boiled some steam,

from water taken from every stream.

Humpty Lumpty should have stayed put,

and left everything downwind not covered with soot.

Humpty Lumpty left us with a mess,

when there are better options – and that's not a guess.

Just remember:

All the kings whores, and all the king's men

can't put Humpty's chemicals back together again.

Exemption from Taxation Without Representation

Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) has bought a couple more ranches in Spring Valley. That's a couple more businesses that won't be paying taxes in White Pine County. That's a little more desperate our White Pine County officials will be for funds. But that's not all. Senate Bill 405 has been introduced. SB 405 is essentially the next step in a systematic effort to oppress Rural Nevada. Just how far can this go?

PLAN, the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, has published this:

Even as the Nevada Legislature is struggling to correct a two-year-old law that bans conservation groups from commenting on environmental actions by the state government, a new law could essentially ban both citizen groups and local governments from participating in the critical decision-making process over water rights applications.

The Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada is asking organizations and individuals to oppose Senate Bill 405, a sweeping overhaul of state water law that also attacks existing Nevada water law by telling the State Engineer, now the chief regulatory officer for the resource in the state, exactly how to do his job and what factors he can consider when deciding what is and isn’t “beneficial use.”

The bill is being pushed by Sen. Mark Amodei, a former partner of the lawyer for Vidler Water Co., a water marketing company that serves as the paid water agency for the Lincoln County government. Vidler is represented in the Legislature by the Las Vegas law firm of Kummer, Kaempfer, Bonner and Renshaw, of which Amodei is a partner.

Vidler and the Southern Nevada Water Authority are working to pump billions of gallons annually from rural Nevada and Utah to urban Clark County, a move that would destroy the environment and lifestyles in a huge area of the Great Basin.

Bob Fulkerson, PLAN executive director, noted that a hearing on Amodei’s bill Wednesday attracted lobbyists from Vidler, the SNWA and the growth and development lobby, which is banking on the Water Grab as fuel for continued out-of-control development in Southern Nevada.

“We’re asking everyone who’s concerned about our environment and quality of life anywhere in Nevada to oppose this really terrible piece of legislation,” Fulkerson said. “If this passes, the public will be excluded from the decision-making process on some of our most critical environmental issues.

“Last week, SWNA testified in favor of Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie's bill to motivate public participation in water decisions by extending the protest period on water applications,” he said. “This week, an army of SNWA lobbyists silently acquiesced to provisions in Amodei's bill to totally gut public participation. They can't have it both ways..."

A hearing on this bill has been scheduled for Wednesday, April 4, at 3:30 p.m. in the Senate Natural Resources Committee. So far, it does not appear to be scheduled for a video link to Las Vegas.

What You Can Do:

Call your Nevada Senator or Assembly member and indicate your concern about this bill. The hotline to contact your representatives in Carson City is (775) 684-3300 or email at nvhotline@clan.lib.nv.us.

To express opposition or support for any bill, go to https://www.leg.state.nv.us/74th/opinions/Poll/

For more information, contact Launce Rake at PLAN at (702) 791-1965.

Here's Why

LS Power/Dynegy are not here to help us. They will pay the taxes that they have to – and they will hire a handful of locals, IF they have a need. But they are here for only one reason; to turn our natural wealth into money for themselves. They are here because we have the cleanest air that they can pollute.

During its 50 years of planned operations, this White Pine Energy “Associates” coal fired power plant will burn approximately 350 million tons of coal. That is literally a mountain of coal. None of the chemical byproducts from burning this mountain of coal will just disappear. That which does not end up discarded in a 1500 acre toxic sludge landfill is still far more than our community and our environment can handle.

Some of the chemicals that the LS Power coal fired power plant will emit into our air during its 50 years of operation are:

Carbon Monoxide – 35 parts per million can cause headaches and dizziness within 8 hours

400 parts per million can be fatal

LS Power intends to release 500,000 tons of Carbon Monoxide into our air.

Sulfuric Acid – One of the primary components of acid rain. Acid rain has been shown to have adverse impacts on forests, freshwaters, and soils. In some cases, whole areas of forest have died from acid rain. Acid rain kills off insect and aquatic lifeforms (including fish). Acid rain depletes minerals from the soil. Acid rain causes damage to buildings. And although the coal industry has been able to cast doubt on the obvious fact that pumping acid into our environment is bad for our health, chemicals related to acid rain have been shown to cause illness and premature deaths in humans.

LS Power intends to release 11,000 tons of Sulfuric Acid into our air.

They also intend to release 300,000 tons of Sulfur Oxides

and 240,000 tons of Nitrogen Oxides

Particulates – These are those chemicals associated with acid rain that cause illness and premature deaths.

LS Power intends to release 135,000 tons of particulates into our air.

Mercury – Many of the ocean's fish are laced with unsafe levels of mercury. We all know where that mercury is coming from. Just one drop of mercury in a large lake can make all of the fish there unsafe to eat. Infinitesimal amounts of mercury can cause learning, language, and motor skills damage. Mercury can also permanently damage the nervous, cardiovascular, immune, and reproductive systems.

LS Power intends to release 7.5 tons of mercury into our air.

Lead – Lead is a known poison. Lead has been known to cause mental retardation, schizophrenia, reproductive problems, physical illness, and death. Consumption of lead is dangerous in the milligrams.

LS Power intends to release 40 tons of lead into our air.

Arsenic – Arsenic is a notorious poison that leads to death from multi-system organ failure. Arsenic is a category 1 carcinogen. The World Health Organization considers water unsafe at anything over 10 parts per billion.

LS Power intends to release 95 tons of arsenic into our air.

Benzene – Breathing benzene can cause drowsiness, dizziness, rapid heart rate, headaches, tremors, confusion, and unconsciousness. Eating or drinking foods containing high levels of benzene can cause vomiting, irritation of the stomach, dizziness, sleepiness, convulsions, rapid heart rate, and death. Benzene is a human carcinogen. The EPA has set the maximum level of benzene in drinking water at 5 micro grams per liter.

LS Power intends to release 300 tons of benzene into our air.

Benzyl Chloride – This dangerous gas has been use as a weapon in war.

LS Power intends to release 165 tons of benzyl chloride into our air.

Hydrogen Fluoride – Hydrogen Fluoride is toxic even in small amounts when ingested or absorbed through the skin. Exposure to hydrogen fluoride can lead to extreme throbbing pain, metabolic changes, and even death.

LS Power intends to release 2,300 tons of hydrogen fluoride into our air.

Acetaldehyde – Acetaldehyde is toxic, an irritant, and a probable carcinogen.

LS Power intends to release 135 tons of acetaldehyde into our air.

Methyl Chloride – Chronic exposure to methyl chloride has been linked to birth defects in mice. In humans, exposure to methyl chloride during pregnancy may cause the fetus' lower spinal column, pelvis, and legs to form incorrectly.

LS Power intends to release 125 tons of methyl chloride into our air.

Acrolein – Acrolein is such a severe pulmonary irritant that it has been used as a chemical weapon during World War I. Acrolein is a suspected human carcinogen. Acrolein concentrations of 2 parts per million are immediately dangerous to life.

LS Power intends to release 70 tons of acrolein into our air.

Carbon Dioxide – Although carbon dioxide is not toxic, it is very dangerous to the balance of our environment. The massive amounts of carbon dioxide that humanity has been pumping into our atmosphere is resulting in:

• The intensity and duration of hurricanes doubling since the 1970's.

• 400,000 square miles of Arctic sea ice has melted in the last 30 years.

• There isn't a glacier on the planet that isn't significantly smaller than it was a hundred years ago. And the meltwater from some of these glaciers feed rivers that millions depend on.

• The National Center for Atmospheric Research has found that the density of the outer atmosphere is predicted to reduce by 3% by 2017 due to carbon dioxide emissions.

• The Center for Health and the Global Environment has reported that mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria, have spread to once cooler climates.

• The National Center for Atmospheric Research has found that the percentage of the Earth's land area stricken by serious drought more than doubled from the 1970's to the early 2000's.

• The El Nino has caused a drought for two years in the Amazon rain forest. Rivers have dried up, and wildfires have burned large areas. If this continues this year, an unstoppable cycle of deforestation may begin.

• In 2002 and 2006, the Western US experienced some of the worst wildfires in the last 50 years. The National Academy of Sciences have published data that show that Western wildfires have been linked to North Atlantic temperatures. Nature magazine has published evidence that this is happening on other locations on the planet also.

• The National Oceanography Centre found a 30% reduction in the currents that carry water from the Gulf Stream, which raises fears that Western Europe might plunge into a mini ice age.

• Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have found clear evidence that the top half-mile of the ocean has warmed dramatically in the past forty years. Nature magazine has published an article that points out that the Oceans' phytoplankton are in decline, and that the productivity of the Global oceans is tightly linked to climate change. Phytoplankton absorb carbon dioxide.

• The National Academy of Sciences published a report that Global warming was responsible for permanently killing off of 90% of the coral in a part of the Indian Ocean. The World Conservation Union warns that 20% of the Earth's coral reefs have already effectively been destroyed and that half of the world's coral reefs may die within the next 40 years.

• The Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory has found that the world's oceans are 30% more acidic from more carbonic acid (due to the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere). This acid is accumulating 100 times faster than at any time in a million years. At this rate, within the next 50 to 100 years seawater will dissolve sea shells.

• Divers from the University of California, Santa Barbara have already observed methane blowouts from the sea floor. They warn that if Global warming continues, we may reach a tipping point wherein frozen hydrocarbons will release tremendous amounts of greenhouse gases that could accelerate Global warming out of control.

• The Institute of Arctic Biology has found that frozen bubbles in Siberian lakes are releasing methane at rates five times higher than previously estimated. As permafrost continues to thaw, tens of thousands of teragrams of methane could be released into the atmosphere, accelerating Global warming.

• The Association of British Insurers has estimated that global warming will lead to $27 billion worth of storm damage annually by 2080.

• Nature magazine and National Geographic have published articles that predict that by 2050 a million species may go extinct due to human emitted greenhouse gases.

• An internal Pentagon report has warned that Global climate change will soon lead to drought, famine, and widespread warfare as countries begin to fight over scarce water, food, and energy resources. The report argues that climate change, “should be elevated beyond a scientific debate to US national security concern.”

LS Power intends to emit over 500 million tons of carbon dioxide into our air.

That's right. This is about more than poisoning a few miners, Mormons, and Indians out here in the middle of nowhere. This is about the future of America, our civilization, and even humanity. We can do the right thing, and generate electricity using safe and sustainable technology – or we can allow these modern day carpetbaggers to ruin our lives.

That Went Over Like a Lead Balloon!

Sierra Pacific held a public meeting today in Ely and invited everyone. There was a big ad in the local paper, the Ely Times. The attendance was impressive, but not overwhelming.

NOTICE: We really need to get out to the next one. This will be the most important Public Hearing held this year. This next meeting is the final regulatory hoop LS Power/Dynegy has to jump through. Speak up now for our fresh air, or live with smog for the next 50 years.

Thursday, March 8, 6:00 pm, the Bristlecone Convention Center, Ely, NV.

Nevada Division of Environmental Protection – air pollution hearing.

For those of you who couldn't make it to today's meeting; there appeared to by about an 80/20 percent ratio of those who were against the coal fired power plant and those who seemed to be for it. The reason I use the term “seemed” is because of something strange that happened early on in the group presentation. Dennis Sims (from Sierra Pacific) was well into his speech about how grateful we should be to have this coal fired power plant, when he showed us a picture of what the plant would look like. It was an artist's rendition. Quite attractive, if you're into big industrial buildings. But something was missing. Sure, the sky was as blue... as it is now. But we knew they would leave out the smog. That's the beauty of an artist”s rendition. No... Something else was missing. Oh, yeah! The toxic sludge landfill was missing! Being a stickler for detail, I asked Mr. Sims where the landfill was in the picture. He tried to brush me off, as I expected. But what I didn't expect, was a chorus of about four or five voices saying pretty much the same thing. “How rude.” It seemed like an over reaction. Yes, I was a little rude. But the comments from the audience sounded so staged. Maybe it was just me. But I knew that I would never see this picture again. This was my only chance to help out Mr. Sims, and point out his missing landfill. So, I said; “The landfill is the biggest thing on your (technical) drawings. Where is it? He finally conceded that it was in back, where the artist had drawn open range. A 1500 acre oversight? I think not.

Later on I couldn't help but point out that they had no idea of what to do with the carbon dioxide – if they ever separate it out... How rude of me.

As the meeting dragged on... The lady in the chair next to me remarked that they were trying to bore us into submission... Oh. I almost fell asleep there. Which is just where they wanted us – so that they could drop the bombshell – and we might miss it. But we didn't. During the question and answer period, someone asked just how much coal were they going to burn? The first answer was; Oh about one, one and a half train loads a day. What? What was that? Did he say TRAINLOADS? A lady asked; “How many train car loads is that?” A few numbers were tossed about until an average of 220 TRAIN CAR LOADS A DAY! And then a guy asked how many tons that was. They're going to burn EIGHT MILLION TONS OF COAL A YEAR! There was an audible gasp from the crowd... as if they had, all of a sudden, been enlightened.

Why the Sierra Pacific coal fired power plant is a bad idea.

The coal fired power plant at the Ely Energy Center planned by Sierra Pacific Power/Nevada Power (SPPCO) is an outrage. The big cities of the West have despoiled their own environment, and now they intend to pillage the rest of the West too. These coal fired monstrosities are going to turn our pristine valleys into polluted dust bowls for billions of dollars the local community will never see. They aren't here because the care about us. They're here for what they can take from us. “Clean Coal” is an oxymoron. If these things were as clean as they try to make them sound, they'd build them in their own back yard.

AIR POLLUTION:

30 years ago, Americans learned that coal fired power plants were dirty, dangerous, and ultimately destructive to the natural world that supports our economy and our civilization. Just because the coal industry can now keep a couple of chemicals from leaving their smokestacks, doesn't mean that they've cleaned up their act.

We've been told that scrubbers will reduce air emissions of sulfur by over 95%. That sounds great, until we realize that SPPCO intends to burn 4 million tons of coal a year. The 5% of the coal effluents that gets past the pollution controls amounts to 200,000 TONS of coal burnt with no abatement. That's right, we will see sulfur smog from the equivalent of a coal fired power plant that burns 200,000 tons of coal per year! The McGill copper smelter only burned 70,000 tons a year. Expect over twice the acid rain – from just the first phase of the SPPCO plant.

The story is essentially the same for Nitrates. Even if they find a way to reduce Nitrates by 98%, that still amounts to burning 80,000 tons of coal per year unabated – more than the McGill copper smelter – before it utilized any pollution controls.

Let me remind you that the Ely Energy Center is not the only coal fired game in town. LS Power already plans to burn just as much, if not significantly more coal. If one were to add up all of the coal that LS Power and SPPCO intend to burn eventually, it will amount to approximately 12 to 15 million tons per year. That's about 500 rail cars of coal a day! Literally mountains of coal will be burned here. This is insane!

But hey, the coal industry claims that they can clean up 80% of the mercury in the newer coal fired power plants. That's not so great an accomplishment. What this means is that 20% of that 500 rail cars a day won't get cleaned up. What this means is that approximately 100 rail cars of coal a day will spew out mercury unabated! This is practically guaranteeing serious health and environmental problems in the Ely area. Even a 700 foot tall smokestack will only send some of this smog into the next valleys... to damage their health too. Mercury is a very serious health risk. We're already commonly finding toxic levels of mercury in our oceans' fish. Where do you think this mercury came from? No living thing on the planet is safe.

What SPPCO doesn't remind us of is that the 80% of mercury that doesn't make it out of the smokestack doesn't just disappear. For every reduction they've made in air pollution, there is a concentration of toxic pollutants on the ground. Whatever doesn't go into the air, ends up in the SPPCO (toxic sludge) landfill.

By the time SPPCO has retired their coal fired power plant, They will have effectively contaminated over half of the power plant property – resulting in up to a 3,000 acre no-man's land – toxic for essentially... ever. Unlike radioactive waste, these chemicals don't have half lives. If SPPCO could keep this landfill contained, some of the toxic chemicals would remain for millions of years. But of course, SPPCO won't be able to keep them contained. Perfect containment simply isn't physically possible. The barriers will actually begin to leak as soon as material is put in the landfill. It will take a while before the leaks gets completely past the barriers, but they will. It's just straight forward basic physics. The real question about leaks in any containment system is not when. It is how much and how fast. There is no way that SPPCO can guarantee that they will be around when the inevitable leaks do occur. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that's actually what their betting on – that substantial leaks won't occur before they exploit the area for all the money they can get, and then get out before the clean-up.

What's been rarely mentioned by SPPCO is what will happen to all those other chemicals associated with burning coal. What about lead, arsenic, vanadium, barium, zinc, nickel, hydrogen fluoride, hydrochloric acid, selenium, and as many as 50 others? Yes, some of these chemicals may get captured and stored in the (toxic sludge) landfill. But, many of these chemicals will escape totally unhindered. Some of these pollutants will comprise of all of that particular chemical component within the 200 million tons of coal SPPCO intends to burn during the life of the first phase of the Ely Energy Center coal fired power plant. How much arsenic do you think is in 200 million tons of coal?

Over the life of the first phase of the Ely Energy Center coal fired power plant, 700 million tons of Carbon Dioxide will be released. (Carbon's atomic weight is 12, plus 2 Oxygen atoms, atomic weight 16, results in 3.6 times the mass of the carbon in the coal burned to carbon dioxide) This is the equivalent to 2 million SUVs running on White Pine County's roads for the next 50 years. SPPCO has no realistic plans for dealing with carbon dioxide. They have left a spot open on the property so that maybe someday, when they get around to it; they can think about what they might want to put there. At the scoping meeting they indicated that they had no plans for the pipeline, pumps, or destination for the carbon dioxide. Think about it. What difference does it make if someday they might be able to separate the carbon dioxide, if they have no place to ship it. SPPCO is not going to do a thing about carbon dioxide, and I predict (with 99% certainty) that they never will.

EXTREME CLIMATE CHANGE:

In the US, coal fired power plants' carbon dioxide emissions amount to over a third of the nation's total carbon dioxide emissions. SPPCO wants to increase that – for the next 50 years. The European Union, on the other hand, has just agreed to decrease carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by 2020. Apparently, SPPCO wants us to be more like a third world nation than the developed countries. Our nation's big cities are treating our rural areas like third world nations. This is what colonialism looks like. The people who live in the big cities don't want this. But the powerful people who wish to exploit us all can only think about the money. Ultimately, the pollution from these coal fired power plants will hurt us all.

For decades, scientists have been warning us about the Greenhouse Effect, Global Warming, or (extreme) Climate Change (if you wish to call it that). Almost every scientist that has studied carbon dioxide pollution says things are getting very dangerous for humanity, and life on Earth. Six former EPA leaders say that the US is not doing enough. National Academy of Sciences have concluded that human influenced Global warming has resulted in the past few decades being the warmest in the past 400 years. NASA's chief atmospheric scientist has shown that carbon dioxide levels are the highest, by far, than they have been in 650,000 years – and rising. The American Meteorological Society, the American Geophysical Union, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Science Foundation, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have all issued statements in recent years concluding that evidence for human modification of climate change is compelling. Even George W. Bush now admits we have a problem.

• The intensity and duration of hurricanes has doubled since the 1970's.

• 400,000 square miles of Arctic sea ice has melted in the last 30 years.

• There isn't a glacier on the planet that isn't significantly smaller than it was a hundred years ago. And the meltwater from some of these glaciers feed rivers that millions depend on.

• The National Center for Atmospheric Research has found that the density of the outer atmosphere is predicted to reduce by 3% by 2017 due to carbon dioxide emissions.

• The Center for Health and the Global Environment has reported that mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria, have spread to once cooler climates.

• The National Center for Atmospheric Research has found that the percentage of the Earth's land area stricken by serious drought more than doubled from the 1970's to the early 2000's.

• The El Nino has caused a drought for two years in the Amazon rain forest. Rivers have dried up, and wildfires have burned large areas. If this continues this year, an unstoppable cycle of deforestation will begin.

• In 2002 and 2006, the Western US experienced some of the worst wildfires in the last 50 years. The National Academy of Sciences have published data that show that Western wildfires have been linked to North Atlantic temperatures. Nature magazine has published evidence that this is happening on other locations on the planet also.

• The National Oceanography Centre found a 30% reduction in the currents that carry water from the Gulf Stream, which raises fears that Western Europe might plunge into a mini ice age.

• Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have found clear evidence that the top half-mile of the ocean has warmed dramatically in the past forty years. Nature magazine has published an article that points out that the Oceans' phytoplankton are in decline, and that the productivity of the Global oceans is tightly linked to climate change. Phytoplankton absorb carbon dioxide.

• The National Academy of Sciences published a report that Global warming was responsible for permanently killing off of 90% of the coral in a part of the Indian Ocean. The World Conservation Union warns that 20% of the Earth's coral reefs have already effectively been destroyed and that half of the world's coral reefs may die within the next 40 years.

• The Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory has found that the world's oceans are 30% more acidic from more carbonic acid (due to the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere). This acid is accumulating 100 times faster than at any time in a million years. At this rate, within the next 50 to 100 years seawater will dissolve sea shells.

• Divers from the University of California, Santa Barbara have already observed methane blowouts from the sea floor. They warn that if Global warming continues, we may reach a tipping point wherein frozen hydrocarbons will release tremendous amounts of greenhouse gases that could accelerate Global warming out of control.

• The Institute of Arctic Biology has found that frozen bubbles in Siberian lakes are releasing methane at rates five times higher than previously estimated. As permafrost continues to thaw, tens of thousands of teragrams of methane could be released into the atmosphere, accelerating Global warming.

• The Association of British Insurers has estimated that global warming will lead to $27 billion worth of storm damage annually by 2080.

• Nature magazine and National Geographic have published articles that predict that by 2050 a million species may go extinct due to human emitted greenhouse gases.

• An internal Pentagon report has warned that Global climate change will soon lead to drought, famine, and widespread warfare as countries begin to fight over scarce water, food, and energy resources. The report argues that climate change, “should be elevated beyond a scientific debate to US national security concern.”

In case you weren't paying attention, this is a very serious matter. We're not talking about a few jobs here. We're talking about the near future economic health of the planet. We're not just talking about a possible economic recession. We're talking about billions suffering. We're even talking about the possibility of the collapse of our civilization, maybe even the possibility of the extinction of humanity.

There. I said it. I just said what what nobody wants to talk about. We're likely in very deep trouble. The naysayers may claim that I am panicking. But, consider your source. Nobody is paying me to tell you everything is going to be alright. Nobody is paying me to tell you that burning millions of tons of coal won't hurt anything. I don't stand to make billions by telling you what they want you to hear.

Our civilization will fail if we continue to value money over wealth. White Pine County has an abundance of natural wealth that we should never sell out for any amount of money. This is my homeland. This area is sacred to me. For people to despoil it all for a profit – in fact, just to maximize a profit, seems an act of a psychopath.

THE WATER GRAB:

One more thing. As if all this pollution isn't enough, SPPCO intends to take 8,000 acre feet of water too. That's enough water to supply 40,000 people. Those people may not be here now, but they will never have the opportunity to be here if that water gets used up. It's as if there is a conspiracy to keep White Pine County weak, so that outsiders can take what they want, and leave us their waste.

Nevada Power and Southern Nevada Water Authority have been working closely together for decades. We know that SNWA wants water in Spring Valley. NV Power refused to build a power plant in Spring Valley. Now they want water from Steptoe Valley, Duck Creek Basin, Butte Valley, and maybe Smith Valley. Effectively, this is just an extension of the water grab.

They must realize that this is the desert. You don't waste water in the desert.

CONCLUSION:

All of this is completely avoidable. Other forms of profitable power generation exist that leave no pollutants behind and use no water. The winds in Spring Valley are strong. The solar energy in White Pine County is better than average. The technology to utilize the kinetic energy of the Earth improves every year. Don't believe the coal salesmen. Don't take advice from those who wish to take our wealth. Clean energy is practical. Dams have been generating electricity for decades.

SPPCO has better alternatives. Maybe not quite as profitable in the short term, but why should we be so concerned about maximizing their quarterly profits if they're not concerned about our lives.

The Ely Energy Center is a hideous idea based upon short term thinking. SPPCO has forsaken common sense for bottom line mentality. Residents of White Pine County don't need the power, don't want to lose the water, and resent our homeland being polluted so that Las Vegas, Reno, and California can get cheap electricity. Some of us even realize that these areas won't be getting cheap electricity. Coal prices invariably will rise. And with only one major power line delivering the power (the Frontier Line, which will be privately owned) – it will be far too tempting to be like Enron, and pinch off supply to raise prices. What's worse, is that it appears that the utility companies involved with the Frontier (power) Line intend to force California into rescinding their mandate to not buy coal power. Of all the power these companies plan to generate on the Frontier Line, 98 percent will be from coal. California may want clean power, but the utility companies appear to have no intentions of selling it – unless we stop them.

I see this as project as failing on all counts. If we continue on this path; we will ruin the environment of the West, energy customers in the cities will be subject to exorbitant electricity prices, our government agencies will be corrupted, and ultimately, the utility companies will suffer – when the price of solar energy drops significantly below the price of coal generated power (which, without coal and railroad subsidies, would already be happening).

Let's not try to fix short term financial issues by creating long term environmental problems.