Montana's Flooding. Where In The World Is Gov. Greg Gianforte?
Add your own 'Appalachian Trail' jokes. God knows we did.
With historic flooding that's converted much of south central Montana from the Big Sky state to the Muddy Water state, Gov. Greg Gianforte has been out of the country since sometime last week, before the flooding began. His office would only say that he and First Lady Susan Gianforte on a "long-planned personal trip," although spokespeople haven't said where in the world the governor is, exactly. Probably for security reasons, we bet, because the Gianfortes are rescuing endangered baby animals with big eyes from drug lords in war-torn Cordovia. Or they didn't want anyone to know just how they're living it up somewhere swanky.
Montana is in a world of hurt, with the flooding Yellowstone River tearing up roads so badly that Yellowstone National Park is completely closed; some 10,000 visitors had to be evacuated. While parts of the park may reopen by Monday, the northern entrance to the park, where large sections of road are gone, may not reopen at all this season. (For shits and giggles, the video below switches from helicopter footage to a series of still photos 50 seconds in; your computer is not broken.)
Multiple small towns along the Yellowstone have seen flooding and infrastructure damage; roads and bridges in several counties have been damaged, and repairs are underway where possible. Road access to the towns of Gardiner and Cooke City was temporarily cut off for a time, but has been restored; some roads remain limited to local and emergency traffic. Several homes along the river were flooded out or washed away entirely as the river cut away at its banks.
Seems like an opportune time to mention that in 2021, Gianforte withdrew Montana from the US Climate Alliance, a coalition of states working together to meet climate goals. At the time, his office explained that Gianforte "believes the solution to climate change is unleashing American innovation, not overbearing government mandates." Maybe he favors mitigating the effects of climate change by filling Montana rivers with debris from roads and houses. That's innovative.
By Wednesday evening, the level of the river through Billings had begun to decline, but city officials warned residents to use water sparingly. The city's water plant was shut down Tuesday due to flooding; it began operating again Wednesday, but is only able to provide enough clean water to meet "essential" needs for the coming days.
In a statement to media Wednesday, a spokesperson for Gianforte would only say "The governor is returning early and as quickly as possible," although the governor's office still had no word on where he'd be returning from or how soon that might happen. which suggests Gianforte must be hard to reach or absolutely refuses to check out early, do you know how hard it was to get this place?
Gianforte has apparently been in some kind of communication with his office; on Monday, he gave verbal authorization for a disaster declaration and also “express written authorization” for Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras to act in his place. Juras signed an executive order Tuesday declaring a statewide disaster.
Oh yes, here's another fun detail, from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle Wednesday:
Hannah Slusser, Juras’ executive assistant, did not respond to requests for a copy of the governor's written authorization putting Juras in charge by Wednesday afternoon.
It certainly would be cynical to speculate maybe there's no written authorization at all because no one is willing to admit that Gov. Gianforte was lured to an eccentric friend's mansion by the promise of getting to taste an excellent vintage of wine or children, but hasn't been seen since.
The Daily Chronicle notes that despite Gianforte's absence, his official Twitter account has been quite busy, producing a whole bunch of tweets about the flooding, as well as retweeting other Montana accounts. None of them have mentioned that Gianforte is out of the country.
Yesterday, The Governor Himself — it had to be him, since it was written using the royal "we" — tweeted that he, or they, had been "working with FEMA yesterday to pursue an expedited presidential major disaster declaration" and that "we today submitted our formal request" to President Biden.
\u201cAfter working with FEMA yesterday to pursue an expedited presidential major disaster declaration for flooding in our state, we today submitted our formal request to @POTUS.\n\nSecuring the declaration will help our communities with our shared response, recovery, and rebuilding.\u201d— Governor Greg Gianforte (@Governor Greg Gianforte) 1655327017
As of blogtime, Biden hasn't yet responded, though we're certain he will, even though Montana didn't vote for him. He's sweet that way, and probably won't even ask that the paperwork be tested for traces of Gianforte's DNA.
As we were preparing to post this story, we learned from the Twitters that Gianforte's office had emailed a brief press release saying he's scheduled to return to the state tonight. Like, unless he's abducted by UFOs on his flight back from the Pleasure Pits of Pottsylvania.
Wonder if anyone will ask him any questions about his trip? Or more to the point, how he'll answer? Will he body slam any reporters?
Read more: Montana Elects Punchy-Man Greg Gianforte, Wingnuts Celebrate First Amendment's Demise
UPDATE: According to Newsy reporter Maritsa Georgiou, the Gianfortes have been vacationing in Tuscany, per a timestamped photo. And yes, Gianforte's office is now saying his location had to be kept secret for "security reasons."
\u201cGov. Greg Gianforte\u2019s office says he will be back in Montana tonight. They say they do not share his location when he's out of the country for security reasons. @Newsy has obtained a time stamped photo that shows he's been in the Tuscany region of Italy. #mtnews #mtpol\u201d— Maritsa Georgiou (@Maritsa Georgiou) 1655399087
Get over yourself, dude. You're not in any danger from Tuscan Raiders.
[Montana Free Press / CNN / Bozeman Daily Chronicle / Great Falls Tribune / KTVQ]
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Wind And Sun Destroy Texas Grid Again, By Delivering Power To It :(
DAMN YOU GREEN NEW DEAL.
Texas is getting whomped by a heat wave this week, with temperatures over 100 degrees F in many parts of the state, and the high temperatures — more typical of July or August than early June — are expected to continue for at least another week or so. That means record demands for electricity in a state that notoriously saw much of its power grid go into casters up mode during the winter storm of 2021. Fortunately, though, Ted Cruz probably won't have to abandon the state for whatever the cool-in-summer version of Cancun is, because as CNN reports, the state's growing renewable energy sector is helping Texas keep up with the unseasonably high demand for electricity.
On Sunday, the state's power demand was a whopping 75 gigawatts, a new record; similar demand may occur other days this week as well, according to ERCOT, the state's grid operator. During that peak demand on Sunday, CNN says, 27 gigawatts of electricity, just short of 40 percent of the electricity supply, came from wind and solar. Texas Republicans may complain about those crazy greenies pushing for a transition from fossil fuels, but the reality is that carbon-free energy sources — yes, including nuclear — made up about 38 percent of the state's total generating capacity in 2021, supplying an increasing portion of Texas energy. That's getting close to the 42 percent of energy from natural gas; since 2019, wind and solar alone have contributed as much or more to the mix than the dirtiest energy in Texas, coal.
“Texas is, by rhetoric, anti-renewables. But frankly, renewables are bailing us out,” said Michael Webber, an energy expert and professor at the University of Texas at Austin. “They’re rocking. That really spares us a lot of heartache and a lot of money.”
CNN's story ran yesterday; we have so far not seen any reports of armed mobs swarming Dr. Webber's office.
Researchers also point out that since wind and solar don't require the purchase of fuel once they're up and generating, they also help hold down overall energy costs, a significant concern since fossil fuels — even coal — are costing more during the current world energy freakout resulting from high demand and disruptions to energy supplies resulting from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
“Because the price of wind and sunlight hasn’t doubled in the past year like other resources, they are acting as a hedge against high fuel prices,” said Joshua Rhodes, an energy researcher at UT Austin.
The high temperatures this early in the year are still a matter of concern, especially given the failure of fossil fuel plants during the 2021 cold snap. CNN points out that Texas utility infrastructure has always been engineered with high temperatures in mind, but that energy boffins are concerned about what may happen as periods of extreme heat become more common and last longer due to global warming.
“As opposed to a winter storm, we were built for three months of 90-plus [degrees],” said Caitlin Smith, head of regulatory policy and communications at Texas-based battery storage company Jupiter Power. “Were we built for 4 months of 100-plus [degrees]? There’s some uncertainty there.”
Rhodes and Smith said that stress on the system might become a worry if peak demand continues for long periods, so Texas will need not only to build out more renewable capacity, it will also have to upgrade its grid to better make use of wind and solar, to get energy where it's needed. That there points to a problem, not only in Texas, but nationwide: There just isn’t enough capacity in the transmission system to handle and effectively distribute the new wind turbines and solar farms that will be coming online.
Rhodes pointed to ERCOT projects showing higher solar numbers than what was actually being used; a casualty of over-crowded power lines that can’t let the power through to consumers.
“About half of the solar that could be produced is not being produced right now because there’s no more room on the lines,” Rhodes said. “The numbers for renewables would probably be higher if we had the transmission capacity to move them around.”
In addition, the fact that wind and solar can’t be instantly switched on when power is needed means the grid will need to be able to accommodate high-capacity batteries that can store energy for when the sun is down or the wind isn’t blowing.
As the Washington Post noted yesterday (free link) — and as energy nerds have been saying for decades — the transition to clean energy is going to require major rebuilding of the national energy grid, which evolved to handle very different demands from energy producers and consumers during the fossil fuel age.
As if the winter deaths in 2021 didn’t already make it clear, Texas will probably need to stop isolating its grid from the two major national grids, yes even if that means its energy companies will be subject to federal regulation.
Just getting through the permitting process to build new transmission lines can be a nightmare; as the Post notes, in November, Maine voters turned down a referendum that would have allowed new transmission lines needed to carry power from Canadian hydroelectric plants to 900,000 homes in New England, a setback that could throw a wrench into the region’s plans to reach net zero carbon emissions. Big surprise, too: Campaign spending against the measure was overwhelmingly from fossil fuel companies, to the tune of $24 million. Now supporters of the transmission line are asking courts to get the project back on track in one form or another.
Fortunately, some of the grid problems will start being addressed by funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed last year, the hell of it all being that the transition from a fossil economy to a green economy is technologically doable, and has the potential to make people’s lives better through cleaner air and good jobs. But it’s still anybody’s guess whether the USA and the rest of the world will find the political guts needed to spend the money and actually do it in time to prevent the worst effects of climate change.
Perhaps if we could get some celebrities to sing “Imagine.” Or nah, not that.
[CNN / WaPo/ Photo: Jonathan Cutrer, Creative Commons License 2.0]
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Washington Post Takes Us Inside Manchin Tantrum That Killed Build Back Better
Shades of Newt Gingrich in the back of Air Force One
Sunday's Washington Post brought us what promised to be the thrilling behind-the-scenes true story of "How the White House lost Joe Manchin, and its plan to transform America" (free linky), with insider accounts of how the nominally Democratic senator from West Virginia and the Biden White House just couldn't reach an agreement to pass Joe Biden's signature legislative package, the Build Back Better bill, which had already passed in the House and just needed buy-in from Manchin to pass in the Senate. It's an interesting read, but don't go looking for any great insight into any epic clash of principles and personalities. Instead, we're told, the Build Back Better negotiations fell apart because Joe Manchin was offended by a White House statement that he felt was Very Unfair to him, so he had a big tantrum and sank the bill. Or at least, that's what the insiders say.
The Post explains that on December 14, Manchin and the White House seemed close to a deal:
Manchin had offered to support a $1.8 trillion package, a step toward the White House position, while Biden agreed to jettison a budget gimmick that Manchin believed disguised the true cost of the plan. The tenor of their conversations was “peachy,” according to one person briefed on the talks, and the two sides agreed to put out a statement saying they would continue talking.
And then, incredibly, it all fell apart.
The big problem was that the White House issued a statement that "named Manchin as the focus of negotiations," and Manchin was furious about that, although that had been obvious to anyone paying even a little bit of attention. The story says that the White House sent Manchin's office a draft of the statement, and that Manchin's people asked that Manchin either not be named or that the statement say negotiations included Sen Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) too. The story notes that, once the prospect of income tax increases was eliminated, Sinema was on board, but that's what they asked for.
Read More:
Kyrsten Sinema Really Trying Our Patience, Tell You What
Democrats Gonna Cancel Child Poverty Right Along With Dr. Seuss!
And here, children, is why we won't be ending child poverty, having free childcare or universal pre-K, lower drug prices, or take serious action on climate:
The White House issued the statement anyway. The president had personally signed off on it. ButManchin exploded, texting a senior Biden aide that the decision was “unconscionable and extremely dangerous” at a time when liberal activists were targeting Manchin’s family with protests.
The Post doesn't really go into much detail on what "targeting Manchin’s family with protests" consisted of, but as far as we can tell from stories last year, that mostly involved the kayakers floating around his houseboat and calling for him to address climate change. Also some people chanted at him while he was getting in his Maserati SUV in a parking garage. No, they were not threatening anyone's life, that's more of a MAGAworld thing.
As for the White House press release itself, it was hardly a besmirch statement of libelslander, either. Issued in Joe Biden's name, the December 16 statement expressed optimism that the negotiations were moving right along, and didn't even remotely criticize or threaten Manchin. Here's the relevant bit:
I had a productive call with Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer earlier today. I briefed them on the most recent discussions that my staff and I have held with Senator Manchin about Build Back Better. In these discussions, Senator Manchin has reiterated his support for Build Back Better funding at the level of the framework plan I announced in September. I believe that we will bridge our differences and advance the Build Back Better plan, even in the face of fierce Republican opposition.
My team and I are having ongoing discussions with Senator Manchin; that work will continue next week.
The statement goes on to say that actually getting stuff into legislative language takes time, but expresses confidence that yadda yadda yadda. Notice that the closest the statement gets to "pressuring" Manchin is the bit about his support for funding it, which certainly suggested no more damn cuts please.
Manchin's reaction was just plain weird:
Once the White House statement was released, Manchin “was just explosive. The anger — you could not believe the intensity,” said one person who spoke with him around that time.
Shortly afterward, Manchin texted Steve Ricchetti, one of the president’s top aides: “Steve, the statement you all put out tonight targeting me and my family was unconscionable and extremely dangerous. There will be no further negotiations,” two people familiar with the contents of the message said. Manchin allies say his reaction was in part driven by the number of credible threats at the time to his and his family’s safety.
Again, we're talking about kayaks, folks, unless there were a lot of terrible MAGA-style threats of death and dismemberment that we're not being told about; those would be terrible, but the White House statement doesn't "target" Manchin's family in the least.
In any case, aides say the White House statement crossed a red line for Manchin, and he was so very very mean mad that he turned off his phone and wouldn't take Joe Biden's calls, and that's why Build Back Better is dead and buried, although there are still hopes that he might be persuaded to support a very modest package of climate and tax measures, especially if someone can convince him it'll cut the deficit (nor cut consumption of fossil fuels).
We won't go into all the gory details here, but while we're perfectly willing to believe that Manchin had a shit fit over the statement, we'd also point out that he spent pretty much all of 2021 finding things he simply couldn't tolerate in Build Back Better, from the details of the electric vehicle tax credits to the fact that the child tax credit reduced child poverty without shaming poor people like it should, to his bizarre claim that low income parents would just blow the tax credits on drugs. And of course there was also his complaint that the funding cuts he'd demanded now were too sneaky and gimmicky. So if the White House had left his name out of the statement on negotiations, Manchin would absolutely have found something else to "explode" over.
Read More:
Joe Manchin Whines Build Back Better's EV Tax Credit Is Too Nice To Unions
Oh Good, Now We Know What Joe Manchin Wants, Maybe. And It's AWFUL.
Joe Manchin Killing Child Tax Credit Because Parents Would 'Just Spend It On Drugs'
Joe Manchin Complains Build Back Better Cuts He Demanded Are Very Bad And Tricksy
In conclusion, sure Joe Manchin had a tantrum over the White House statement. But let's not kid ourselves into thinking that he was ever really on board with Build Back Better, the end
[WaPo (free link) / Photo: Francisco Carbajal, Creative Commons License 2.0]
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Nice Time: Joe Biden Cramming Solar Panels Down America's Throat
If this is tyranny, then tyranny's pretty cool, also it's not tyranny.
President Joe Biden gave a boost to the US solar industry and to the world yesterday, declaring a two-year suspension of import tariffs on solar panels from four Southeast Asian countries. He also invoked the Defense Production Act to help ramp up domestic production of solar panels and cells, and to spur the nation's transition to clean energy, because it turns out that the climate emergency is still a thing.
The Washington Post explains (free linky here) that the tariff exemption clears up a regulatory mess that had put a bunch of big utility-scale solar projects on hold:
A Commerce Department investigation into alleged dodging of tariffs by Chinese panel- and cell-makers has paralyzed much of the industry. The investigation, which could go on for months, carries the threat of retroactive tariffs, driving up the cost of importing these parts and severely hampering the industry’s capacity.
“Diversifying our energy sources and responding to the climate crisis have never been more urgent, and solar energy is an essential component of meeting those needs,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement Monday. “The President’s emergency declaration ensures America’s families have access to reliable and clean electricity while also ensuring we have the ability to hold our trading partners accountable to their commitments.”
The exemption will apply to solar cells and panels imported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, which should help get stalled solar projects off the ground, while the use of the Defense Production Act is intended to help US manufacturers be more competitive. Planet's on fire, we need all of it.
The Post reports that investors were spooked by the prospect of having to pay retroactive penalties due to the tariffs, and that led to delays or outright freezes on "hundreds" of major solar projects.
Eighty percent of U.S. solar firms say the investigation has jeopardized at least half the projects they planned to complete in 2022, according to an industry survey. The tariffs under consideration by Commerce could exceed 50 percent of the price of panels.
The Commerce Department investigation will go ahead, and it's still possible that after the 24-month exemption ends, some companies may still be required to pay tariffs if they were found to be violating the law.
A "senior administration official" told the Post that presidents have the power under the Tariff Act to use emergency authority to do what Biden's doing, although the story also notes that energy analysts believe lawsuits are likely from American suppliers that don't like those Southeast Asian products coming into the US. The Post cites statements from two US solar firms that said the exemptions will in effect let Chinese companies sidestep US trade laws and sneak their products into the US through third countries in Southeast Asia. The Post 'splains,
The Chinese firms are accused of dumping heavily government-subsidized solar panels and cells into the American market. Investigators are examining whether manufacturers in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia have become conduits for such Chinese materials. Executives from Chinese solar companies say the allegations are baseless, noting hundreds of millions of dollars are being invested locally in their Southeast Asia subsidiaries on solar technology and operations, making the case that the factories are not merely pass-throughs.
US manufacturers' worries aside, the investigation has thrown a lot of uncertainty into the clean energy market at a time when decarbonizing the US economy is a top priority. Companies that have had to freeze or limit utility-scale solar projects say US manufacturers simply aren't yet producing nearly enough panels and cells to meet demand.
The American Clean Power Association says that the president’s plan will enable solar installations to get back on track while seeding the scale-up of a robust domestic manufacturing industry.
With oil and gas prices going crazy due to supply chain problems and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, we need clean energy to ramp up and start reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. That has to happen rapidly anyway, to keep the planet habitable for large mammals like you and me, to say nothing of our children and pets. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and other administration officials worried the slowdowns caused by the investigation might even put at risk the US plan to reach 100 percent clean power generation by 2035.
The Defense Production Act will also be used to increase production of heat pumps, which are far more efficient at heating and cooling buildings; it will also apply to producing more equipment used to make low-emissions fuels and for parts that will be used to beef up the electrical grid.
The administration says the Commerce investigation will go ahead without any interference, but that the temporary tariff exemptions are needed "to ensure the U.S. has access to a sufficient supply of solar modules to meet electricity generation needs while domestic manufacturing scales up.”
CNBC reports that solar energy stocks were up sharply Monday following the announcement.
Also, we'll just add that if you're a fan of keeping the planet mostly livable for humans and elephants and meerkats and tuna, it's pretty friggin' vital to keep Republicans out of power in 2022 and 2024. No pressure or anything.
[WaPo (free link) / CNBC / Photo: Photo: Stacie Peterson, AgriSolar Clearinghouse, Creative Commons License 2.0]
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