Featured Articles

In an earlier post on free speech, I suggested on possible case in which a university might be justified in interfering with a Professor's expression of his or her opinions. The case was a professor who openly advocated genocide. Well,...

What I wouldn't give for a damn fresh fig right now....

Rush Limbaugh proves he is the Truth Detector: I think -- and I don't know who; it's a bunch of people, but I think -- in the White House, there is a view of the conservative base that says that...

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.

I offer my most recent column in the Aberdeen American News. The best class I ever had was the result of a series of accidents compounded by mistakes.It was an accident that the old Jonesboro High School, a classical building...

Joe Knippenberg parses an analysis of the Democratic Party's ailments as penned by two scholarly Democrats, William Galston and Elaine Kamarck. As usual Prof. Knippenberg seems to get it largely right. Some highlights from Knippenberg's piece: In sum, Galston and...

From WorldNetDaily: If Al Franken speaks on the radio, and no one is tuned in to hear him, does he make a sound? That could be the question being asked these days in the nation's capital, where Franken's liberal network,...

From NewsMax: Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has likely decided not to indict top White House aides Karl Rove and Lewis Scooter Libby based on allegations they outed CIA employee Valerie Plame, lawyers close to Fitzgerald's Leakgate investigation have told the...

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?