Featured Articles

I was a Cards fan as a boy, but I have to say that a Houston trip to the Fall Classic would be marvelous. Its official. Houston is in its first World Series. My opinions on baseball are my own...

It should come as no surprise that MoveOn.org astroturfed the shit out of the Freeh interview on 60 Minutes....

Deal 'opens the door' to wind power

DEFINITELY A WIN-WIN-WIN for South Dakota's Economy!

One of the biggest hinderances to the development of more wind power in South Dakota has been a lack of enough transmission line capacity to get the electricity to where it's needed.

There is a positive logic to the addition of a new coal-burning plant also. The US has an abundance of coal, and large deposits of high quality low-sulfur coal are just to the west in Wyoming. There is a synergy that comes into play here with a three-way synergistic development of South Dakota's utility and transportation infrastructure which is catalyzed by the planned construction of a new coal-burning power plant at Big Stone.

The first element of this synergy is the expansion of the DM&E Railroad, which, in spite of the usual opposition from envirowacko activist groups and assorted other NIMBY (Non-In-My-Backyard types pushed through approval of extending it's lines into the Wyoming coal fields, and upgrade of its existing mainlines to handle the greatly increased traffic that results from this. (See note 1 in extended entry) This increases the availability of coal for new plants.

With the abundance of coal, and modern abatement technology, it is possible to burn low-sulfur coal with a minimum amount of air pollution, plus it helps to increase the electric power capacity, which is an essential positive factor for continued economic growth in the area. (See Note 2)

Finally, this proposed coal plant will bring in a significantly serious excess in electrical power transmission capacity, above and beyound the needs of the new plant. This excess capacity is available for the development of large(r) scale wind turbine developments, which (a) provides yet more electricity, (b) is a clean, renewable energy source, and (c) provides yet another boost to the local economic structure.

So, what's the "win-win-win"? More needed electrical power, use of domestic coal instead of imported oil, and the enabled development of even cleaner wind power capacity. Three birds with one "Big Stone". Not too bad.

Dave Matthews and I have something in common: Dave Matthews Not That Into Himself Anymore. "I used to be a hardcore Dave Matthews fan," said Matthews on the porch of his Virginia home. "I had all my records and posters....

I'd like to see Reader's Digest start doing a regular feature on this....

I think we all know someone who lost a parent to Adler's Croup in 1921. Achewood is the best webcomic out there. Hit the archives and work your way forward. (And yes, I know linking to a strip right in...

From NewsMax: The mood was unpleasant, a source familiar with that grand jury's proceedings tells the Associated Press. The source revealed that Earle tried to convince the grand jurors that DeLay had guilty knowledge of a money laundering conspiracy by...

Roll Call:Democratic Think Tank Mixes Ideas With Bush-Bashing October 17, 2005, ROLL CALL By Morton M. Kondracke, Roll Call Executive Editor Behind a sulfurous fog of anti-Bush diatribes, there is a Democratic new-idea factory operating at the Center for American...

A Message from tdaxp

Send feedback to danhabbott@gmail.com

Browse the Archives

What's New with the Blogs

South Dakota Blogs

American Blogs

Pro-Freedom, Anti-Terror

South Dakota Blog Alliance

RadioActive Chief, Ryen McClaren, Sibby Online, South Dakota Politics, Straight Talk

tdaxp Blog Network

Jim River Report, tdaxp, Bloglines, Cobuyitaphobia, Junk Politics

Breaking News

South Dakota Mainstream Media

American Mainstream Media

British Mainstream Media

Everyone Else

Jim River Report Archives

1. today
2. this month
3. this year

How Popular is the Jim River Report?