"Transmission projects aim to tap Canadian hydroelectricity" by Erin Ailworth | Globe Staff July 20, 2014
Across the Canadian border, massive dams generate a seemingly endless supply of hydroelectricity — a source of power that could help New England replace its closing coal and nuclear plants while cutting greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. But there’s a big problem: getting it here....
PFFFT!
That debate flared again last week as New England governors met with the leaders of eastern Canadian provinces in New Hampshire to discuss energy and economic issues. Opponents of a hydro transmission project that would cross wilderness areas in New Hampshire, the so-called Northern Pass, staged protests; so did opponents of a proposed pipeline to transport natural gas from shale fields in Pennsylvania and other nearby states across Massachusetts.
Related: Earthshaking Post About Fracking
These protests underscored the challenges policy makers face as they try to balance growing demand for energy against increased urgency to slow the pace of climate change, which scientists attribute to the use of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas.
It would be so nice if one of the agenda-pu$hing $ides of the "debate" wasn't a complete fiction.
While solar, wind, and other renewables are certain to play larger roles in the region’s energy mix, they remain intermittent power sources without the scale to easily replace the more than 4,000 megawatts of generating capacity, or enough to power 4 million homes, that will be lost over the next few years with the shutdown or planned shutdown of three coal-fired plants in Massachusetts, a nuclear plant in Vermont, and other facilities in New England.
I've pointed out many times to green sources are not enough to power industry or technology.
With ISO New England, the region’s grid operator, forecasting potential shortages by 2017, policy makers are looking to Canadian hydro — and so are utilities hoping to profit by transporting the power south....
We were told abundant energy because of shale. WTF?!!
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Related:
"Wisconsin train crash hurts 2 people, spills fuel" Associated Press July 22, 2014
SLINGER, Wis. — A Canadian National Railway Co. train struck another freight train as it rolled through a small village in southeastern Wisconsin, causing cars to derail, injuring two people, and spilling thousands of gallons of fuel that prompted the evacuation of dozens of homes.
The southbound Canadian National train struck several Wisconsin & Southern Railroad cars around 8:30 p.m. Sunday at a rail crossing in Slinger, according to Patrick Waldron, a Canadian National spokesman.
Three engines and 10 railcars derailed, Slinger Fire Chief Rick Hanke said. Slinger is about 35 miles northwest of Milwaukee.
An engineer and conductor on the Canadian National train were taken to a hospital, treated for injuries and released, Waldron said Monday.
About 5,000 gallons of diesel spilled from a locomotive fuel tank, Hanke said.
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"Oil train mishap stirs fears in Seattle" Associated Press July 25, 2014
SEATTLE — Nothing spilled when three tanker cars in an oil train from North Dakota derailed at a rail yard early Thursday, but it alarmed environmentalists.
‘‘This is a warning of how dangerous this could be,’’ said Kerry McHugh, communications director for the Washington Environmental Council.
She noted the train derailed near Puget Sound, under Seattle’s Magnolia Bridge, the main connection to one of the city’s neighborhoods. ‘‘The potential for environmental damage, economic damage, and the disruption of people’s lives is huge,’’ she said.
But our government would rather focus on global warming to get a carbon tax out of you. F*** the oil spills.
The train with 100 tanker cars of Bakken crude oil was heading for a refinery at Anacortes and pulling out of the Interbay rail yard at 5 miles per hour when five cars derailed, Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman Gus Melonas said.
They included one of the locomotives, a buffer car loaded with sand, and three tankers. The locomotive, buffer car, and one tanker remained upright. Two of the tankers tilted. One leaning at a 45-degree angle had to be pumped out and taken elsewhere for repairs, Melonas said.
No one was injured, and a railroad hazardous material crew was on the scene in five minutes, he said.
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Related: Fire at oil-supply firm fouls N.D. town
Also see:
Maine’s tar sands oil ban a win for activists
Boston Globe Oil Flow
I'm stopping it right now.
