News Jun 21, 2012 at 4:00 am

Clean Energy Takes Hit from a Wyden-Sponsored Bill

Comments

1
WTF, large portions of our existing electrical grid were built with subsidies, and both utilities and consumers benefited.

The Rural Electrification Administration was a New Deal agency that electrified vast portions of the United States by extending the electrical grid to previously unserved rural areas.
2
this story is just odd. wyden has been the single biggest advocate of wind development in Oregon. He took on the Defense Department and the Obama Administration when they tried to block the biggest wind farm in the country going in at Arlington, and won. He has been pushing geothermal, solar and biofuels as well. It sounds like this has more to do with protecting BPA rate payers - Oregonians - from paying to run long distance powerlines to California. California has been pushing for more lines to get gorge hydro and wind power into their market.
3
This is hardly surprising of Wyden, he's always been a DINO. Hell, just in the last week both he and Jeff Merkley signed on to a letter urging Obama to take an even more hard-line stance against Iran and their nuclear energy ambitions. It made me sick to my stomach to think that I had just donated a piece of my tax return to Merkley.

http://www.salon.com/2012/06/18/bipartisan…
4
You have no idea what you're writing about. Ask any biologist or ecologist who actually goes where these wind farms are being emplaced and you will have your sweet fantasy of "clean energy" rapidly erased. 'Eagle blenders' we call 'em; and that's just the beginning.
I also like how your "environmentalists" are one "senior advisor at Americans for a Clean Energy Grid". Gee, think that industry created "grassroots organization" is biased?
5
As we're about fifty years away from having a true clean form of energy (hopefully), we have to choose today which form of energy is the least damaging to a dying planet.

I choose wind and solar over nuclear or petroleum. but these other energy industries are very, very wealthy and powerful and can afford off people like Rion Wyden and Chuck, Harry and Diane...

Wyden is obviously a CROOK (and maybe something worse, if Douglas Adamson was right)! Remember, Wyden and Senator Utah said last year the government was involved in some very disturbing practices with regard to our privacy, but wouldn't tell us exactly what that practice is... His unjustified support for the war-mongering government of Israel, who is stealing land from Palestinians and killing their children, is pathetic!

Earlier this year Wyden announced his support of RepubliCon Paul Ryan's effort to destroy Medicare (to promote Ryan's 2012 campaign against a real progressive Democrat), which was clear evidence as to who's paying Wyden's campaign bills...not that he's already got a phat lobbying job lined up-

When he told the local Clear Channel shills that he was a "good friend" of billionaire con-woman, Meg Whitman, in 2007, I knew he was a fraud! His unHealthy American Act was all about sabotaging any effort to have 'Single Payer' or a 'Public Option'. Hopefully the Court will rule next week that forcing people to buy health insurance from PRIVATE insurance companies, as was in Wyden's Bill, is unconstitutional...and we can start over with something better -- SINGLE PAYER! If the President wants my vote-
6
We are all caught in a Catch 22!

Often when I speak about our political system my voice almost goes to a shrill level. I get so angry that I actually spit. Here is what drives me a little crazy, we have a very destructive party and a milquetoast party. The difference can be quite stark or just a matter of degrees depending who you talk to; me, they are just part of the same creation. Do you remember when the Christians tried to explain the holy trinity and used a shamrock to do it, telling you there are three equal parts or leaves of a shamrock and together they make up one god. Our two parties, the democrats and republicans are like that, two parts of one piece of corruption. The only thing that makes the dems look good is the republicans. You will hear many leaders from unions to defenders of our natural resources tell you we must vote for the dems in November or the world as we know it will cease to exist. Fear does work. If the two parties fight so viciously then why do many of us say there is little difference between them?

This is a concept that many have tried to explain and all so far have fallen short. The majority still think that there is a vast difference between the republicans and the democrats. We often hear one talk about the other in terrible terms; the dems are all socialists, or the repubs are all warmongers. The dems are big government lovers and the repubs want government to do nothing--out of our everyday lives. The repubs are corrupt and the dems are defenders of unions. I could go on and on but by now you should get the picture. Life is never that simple, the two party system has been on a course of self destruction for at least 50+ years, maybe after WW2. It may have started before that but 1945-1947 is a good place to begin. We, as a nation, had come to dominance just after 1945 because of our sole ability to produce an atomic weapon. We also celebrated the victories in Japan and Germany without the destruction of our way of life as happened in Europe. We were strong and felt like we were a nation for good. There may be other reasons but these will do for my purpose. We were on a high!

Our economy was the biggest in the world, we had money to spend and we did, made lots more money rebuilding Europe, kept our armies large and did not disarm as we did after WW1. A military man became president and built highways across the country to speed up delivery of food and move more people west, it was a time that one pay check was enough to pay the bills. It was a time that equality was in the air and those minorities who fought in the war were not going to be silent anymore, they had seen new ways of thinking and liked them. The GI Bill would bring education to many who never thought of going to universities. It was a time that many remembered as a drastic raising of the standard of living for millions of people, many who suffered during the great depression not so long ago. There was hope in the air. The race to space was lost by the US of A but won later with our landing on the Moon first and that may have been the beginning of the large corporations and the end to our freedoms. We fought against fascism and dictatorship but embraced them both in the 50s and 60s until all hell broke loose in the late 60s and early seventies. We were moving so fast that we ended up where we started, not once but several times. The civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, the women’s movement and others created great opportunities but we settled for new cars and new TV programs, we wanted our streets to be quiet and were willing to settle for politicians who told us that we were free, but little by little we gave up our freedoms. We did not want hippies to run our government, we did not like people who marched for their rights, they were noisy and needed a bath, we wanted Father Knows Best.

The democrats were the separatist party of the south until President Kennedy sent the federalized National Guard to Mississippi. The GOP saw an opportunity and took it, in a few short years they were the dominant party of the south. The racists left the democratic party in droves, they joined with the Grand Old Party and condemned the march for civil rights. It may have been the finest moment for the Democratic Party, because they paid a high price for the movement to create some sense of fair play for minorities. Money in politics has always caused terrible problems and many politicians were caught taking bribes, but yesterday was nothing like what is happening now.

Today, President Obama brags that he will collect over a billion dollars to run for re-election and we cheer. Mitt Romney may collect even more from his billionaire friends who do not want to pay more in taxes. Where and how this money will be collected is beyond my ability to see or imagine--it is an incredible amount of money. The corporations give to both parties, more to the party in power most of the time, and they hedge their bets by giving to the party out of power, just in case. The corporations have now taken the power away from us by just buying congress, the judiciary and soon the presidency. The difference between the two parties is so small today you need a magnifying glass to see it; the corruption is everywhere and takes on different forms

We are so screwed.

There are senators who are good on particular issues and terrible on others. Sen. Wyden is a good example, he is good voting against attempts of keeping people from voting or many other social issues but terrible when it comes to Israel and the Palestinians.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/97228310/Obama-L…

He takes a lot of money from AIPAC and will always vote for Israel. Sen. Merkley has now joined Wyden. I cannot for the life of me think of a noble republican senator at the moment, there were some but they have all been kicked out by the t-baggers. Sen. Hatch--no, Sen. Crocker--no, Sen. Snow--no, Sen. McConnell--hell no. Let me come back to this part later!

The Supreme Court is in the hands of corrupt judges, at least five of them: Thomas, Roberts, Alito, Kennedy and the leader of this pack of hyenas, Scalia. These five make justice a mockery and cause me great pain every time they come down with any decision. I hope we get a new majority soon. The democrats argue that this is one of the best reasons to vote for President Obama. The balance of the court will be open again in the coming 5 years, we must have Obama to appoint a good and noble judge to the Supreme Court. Not an easy concept to argue against but is it true? There is also the question of who will Obama nominate to the court.

Have I confused you yet, well that is everyone’s aim anymore, just confuse the hell out of everyone. The only thing I can suggest is be true to yourself, let the chips fall where they will, try not to sell yourself and if you must at least know you are doing it. Know that if you must vote for Obama, you are deciding the best of the worst and not voting for a noble person. Our only chance is understanding that we must have some light now, then keep working for more and more light. Politicians will never pull us out of this mess, only you and I can do that, the question does remain, “Is is too late?”

PS There are no noble republicans senators that I can think of, I did try.





















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