North Carolina Prefers Strip Mines to Wind Turbines

This week the North Carolina senate voted to ban mountaintop wind turbines by a shocking margin of 42 to 1. From the article:

The bill would amend a 1983 “ridge law” to allow only turbines that are 100 feet or smaller to be placed on ridgelines above 3,000 feet. This effectively bars industrial-sized turbines — which can reach several hundred feet in height — from the windy mountaintops.

The executive director of the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association stated that the ban didn't reveal that the state was against sustainable energy, but rather was an issue "about do people want to look at wind turbines in the mountains of North Carolina.”

Excuse me? The state the still hasn't been able to pass a ban on mountaintop removal coal mining (despite being the second largest customer of MTR coal in the country) is complaining that wind turbines don't look nice? Do gouged mountaintops, rubble-filled valleys, and coal-dust infused rivers look any better? More likely the coal lobby bought several votes in the senate to forestall installation of the cleanest energy source we've yet come across.

This is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard of. I get that tourists come to NC to take in the sights of the beautiful North Carolina mountains and the state might be worried on losing out on those dollars, but a) I tend to think wind turbines look pretty majestic, b) the state might want to look at the dollars it spends on MTR coal before it starts banning wind, and c) I would think fans of the environment would support efforts made to sustain it instead of destroy it.

While it's true that offshore wind is still a viable option in North Carolina that fact does not offset the reality that this bill, if passed in the house and signed by the governor, will eliminate 2/3 of the onshore wind power available to the state. Not only is this a loss of a tremendous source of clean power, but it's also a loss of jobs and money for the state.

How disappointing.

It's Official: A Radio Talk Show Host Runs the Republican Party

Earlier this week newly elected head of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele, when confronted with the statement that Rush Limbaugh was the de-facto leader of the Republican Party, asserted that Limbaugh's attitudes were "incendiary" and "ugly". The very next day Steele stated that he called Limbaugh to apologize after the radio personality excoriated Steele on his show.

A radio talking head upbraided the head of the Republican National Committee and the RNC chair backed down. Would Howard Dean have backed down if Al Franken had pitched a fit about some statement or other? Or would he say "You know what, Al, I was a U.S. governor and am currently orchestrating a strategy to re-take the Congress in the next two years, so run along and spout off into your microphone while I do some actual work"?

This has been a long time coming. Over the years more and more conservatives have been moving into the Limbaugh wing of the House That Ron Built and conservative policy makers have been fine allowing this to happen - even encouraging it as long as they were able to gain votes from it. The loose confederation of social and economic conservatives has been chased socially right-ward for so long by the Limbaugh attack dog - fed and fattened by Republicans in Congress and the White House - that the Red State Powers That Be no longer have control of them. The dog is out of control and pulling its former masters on its leash. That lawmakers are answering to a hate-spewing microphone-jockey who has never had to deal with the realities of politics for a day in his life should be frightening for all conservative politicians, but if they remain true to form - as Steele has - they will not raise a voice to change the situation because it might cost them votes.

This reminds me of the scene in The Matrix: Revolution when Neo is speaking to the machines and says, "The program, Smith, has grown beyond your control." Sadly for the Republican party, there does not appear to be a conservative "chosen one" to bail them out of this one.