Common Sense and Comity

• Site moved

  Enclosure: [download]

  To start off the new year fresh, this blog has moved to [gotsense.wordpress.com]. Thanks for reading. And as coal for power goes, the journey isn't over quite yet.' [...]
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  Posted: January 01, 2007, 6:22pm EST
  

• Local Sustainability Efforts

  Suzy Fenner, a Fairbanks resident, has taken up the mission to put together a grassroots effort to encourage sustainability. You can read about the nascent efforts at scanfairbanks.blogspot.com. I'd been encouraging the development of a clearinghouse of efforts locally and statewide so that we all can communicate and coordinate' [...]
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  Posted: December 12, 2007, 5:12am EST
  

• Consider the Source

  I see that some haven't given up casting seeds of doubt on working for mitigation of climate change causes and consequences. Resource Development Council board member Paula Easley's "Sky is not Falling" editorial is a case in point. She grabs at discredited or irrelevant straws to argue that global [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2007, 12:16pm EST
  

• MEA cancels coal plant idea

  Reading the Nov. 10, 2007 ADN, MEA (Matanuska Electric Association) announced it is canceling efforts to build a large coal plant in Matsu. They do have issues with not having any of their own generation, but this idea seemed ill advised.
  
  It was reported that MEA will [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2007, 3:48pm EST
  

• Changing Our Resource Culture

  I don't know everyone can walk and chew gum at the same time, but we are in the position of having to change our culture toward the resources we consume or waste. At the same time, we need to start taking obvious and radical actions to reduce our carbon footprint.[...]
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  Posted: October 25, 2007, 7:53pm EDT
  

• It's Been a While

  It's been a while since I've posted. Not that I've lost interest in things, but the summer was typically busy and actually quite pleasant sans mosquitoes and yellow-jackets. Fall is now in fall-swing. Some nice evenings of aurora and the colors.... A nice photoblog to give you an idea' [...]
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  Posted: September 22, 2007, 8:47pm EDT
  

• Utility Plans need full environmental considerations

  Electrical utility plans need to have a full accounting for environmental costs, especially considering the challenges of CO2, climate change and the costs we will bear in the future for having changed so much of our environment.
  
  Matanuska Electric Association is now going out to members to ask [...]
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  Posted: June 02, 2007, 10:32am EDT
  

• Mike Gravel as a democratic candidates for President

  Not sure how many folks watched the April 25, 2007 democratic candidate presidential debate. I was most entertained by former 2 term U.S. Senator from Alaska Mike Gravel, who didn't hold back at all. Kind of like Al Sharpton was in the 2004 Presidential race, but less humorous. Here's [...]
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  Posted: April 29, 2007, 9:05pm EDT
  

• Alaska State House rejects climate change mitigation opportunity

  The State of Alaska Executive Administration seems to be beginning to take climate change seriously with its creation of a sub-cabinet level group to recommend ways to reduce carbon emissions.
  
  This goal is what House Concurrent Resolution 56 asked the governor to do, only the Legislature [...]
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  Posted: April 29, 2007, 6:08pm EDT
  

• IPCC report out

  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) just completed the Fourth Assessment Report on Climate Change entitled: Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. This international conglomeration of governments and esteemed scientists from around the world continue to document why the world needs to get off its collective butt to [...]
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  Posted: April 07, 2007, 7:26pm EDT
  

• EPA can regulate CO2 emissions

  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the EPA does have the authority to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant, particularly for cars. The EPA and some states had argued they had no business doing so. This sets the stage for the U.S. to begin to reduce our CO2 emissions, [...]
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  Posted: April 02, 2007, 4:02pm EDT
  

• Alaska taking step forward or backwards in civil rights

  Alaskans go to the polls April 3 to vote in an expensive one issue advisory vote regarding benefits for those partners and dependents that are not the traditional married one man-one woman vote.
  
  I want to thank Reps. John Coghill and Mike Kelly for their hard work and [...]
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  Posted: April 01, 2007, 4:04pm EDT
  

• Alaskans are capable of adapting

  A friend recently posted the following and I thought I would share it. I've recently been in eastern Massachussetts during a Nor'easter (dropping 4"-8" of snow) that scared everyone so much, they closed all the schools for 1-2 days.
  Even Burger King closed. The driving conditions weren't very bad,' [...]
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  Posted: February 18, 2007, 3:32am EST
  

• Caifornia - leader in energy conservation models

  One wouldn't think California could be a model for energy conservation. Yet, over the past few decades, they have continually looked to reduce their consumption of energy in ways that other states bypass. Here's a recent article that details some of their efforts.
  
  It seems that a combination [...]
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  Posted: February 18, 2007, 3:05am EST
  

• Women's Tennis Tops Tie Tongues

  It takes a different set of linguistic skills to keep up with current women's professional tennis. Serena is the apparently rare exception. Excerpted from a recent article.
  
  "Serena overcame Shahar Peer ... to next play Nicole Vaidisova who beat Lucie Safarova. Vaidisova was the highest rank after Safarova upsent'" [...]
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  Posted: January 25, 2007, 7:28pm EST
  

• Ethanol is the answer?

  With the talk that the energy component of the State of the Union will be highlighting making more ethanol, there is little discussion to address that, while ethanol might be a way to reduce our oil consumption, it has a lower efficiency (less miles/gallon) than gasoline and more importantly, depending [...]
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  Posted: January 23, 2007, 11:12am EST
  

• "Nucular" Power

  With the State of the Union coming soon, the buzz is that Geroge Bush will talk about enhancing "nucular" power as a means of combating global warming and increasing our energy independence.
  
  Nuclear power has been given some incredibly large incentives in the last few congresses under the Republicans. [...]
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  Posted: January 22, 2007, 4:28am EST
  

• Alaska on the wrong side of climate change

  The state of Alaska is on the wrong side of climate change. We are both heavily favored for major impacts, but the State of Alaska has also taken the wrong side in a brief before the U.S. Supreme Court. The case has been argued before the court, with a [...]
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  Posted: January 05, 2007, 5:50pm EST
  

• State House Rep. Mike Kelly goes off the deep end

  I find myself deeply disappointed with my State House Representative Mike Kelly. I have always offered him respect even though I disagree with him and he likewise, but in his Dec. 29 Community Perspective, Mike Kelly has gone off the deep end in his righteousness to deny others the [...]
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  Posted: January 01, 2007, 10:31am EST
  

• Intelligent Design

  Nope, not what you were thinking I might be writing about.
  
  Some of you know I was the telecommunications manager for a large company in Fairbanks. While we had many departments, we went from needing 3-4 operators to an automated attendant system incorporated into the phone system. With over [...]
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  Posted: December 27, 2006, 6:57pm EST
  

• Tuna in a Can

  
  
  Has anyone wondered why a can of tuna is more like a half-can of water or oil and a half-can of tuna mush? The can still advertises tuna IN water or oil. I can't even count on making two sandwiches with a single can,' [...]
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  Posted: December 27, 2006, 6:37pm EST
  

• GVEA vote results

  It seems like a long effort on my part, but it is time to re-evaluate and move forward.
  
  Here are the vote results for the two ballot issues submitted to members:
  
  * * * * * * * *
  
  For transferring assets to the GVEA G&T
  [...]
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  Posted: December 12, 2006, 9:55pm EST
  

• GVEA second to last posting

  The GVEA website now includes links to the GVEA G&T, under board of directors. We'll see how long it stays there.
  
  After announcing results of the vote Mon. night of the G&T proposal vote, I would like to move GVEA discussions over to a separate blog [gvea.blogspot.com]' [...]
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  Posted: December 11, 2006, 9:22pm EST
  

• GVEA G&T Articles of Incorporation and the smell test

  Listening in on KFAR radio today to board members Dan Osborne and Tom Delong discuss the G&T proposal, one caller requested GVEA to post the G&T Articles of Incorporation. I had already done so, extracted from GVEA G&T's larger RCA filing back in June 2006. A list of documentation' [...]
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  Posted: December 08, 2006, 6:42pm EST
  

• Turn in those ballots

  I went down to GVEA to turn in my ballot in person a couple days ago. Jokingly I was asked if I wanted to share how I voted. Let them guess.
  
  Besides the full page Newsminer ads, GVEA also produced 15 second radio and TV spots. [...]
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  Posted: December 06, 2006, 8:59pm EST
  

• In Your Face

  GVEA has taken out 3 days of a full page ad to promo the G&T. I've posted it here, but have done a bit of editorial corrections, as I see it. GVEA spent $5,000 of the members' money on this ad.
  
  While missing board member Delong declined [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2006, 9:49pm EST