Iowa Utilities Board Approves Coal Plant in Marshalltown

The Iowa Utilities Board approved the building of the coal-fired power plant in Marshalltown today. However, the permit does call for a much greater investment by Alliant in renewable energy.

The approval came with three main conditions attached to it:

-- The burning of bio-mass must reach 5 percent of the plant's capacity within 2 years and 10 percent within 5 years.

-- The company's energy supply must be 10 percent renewable energy when the plant goes online in 2013. The use of renewable energy must then increase 1 percent annually for 15 years.

-- The IUB will periodically review the feasibility of retrofitting carbon capture technology, which deals with capturing the emissions from generating power, and reserves the right to require Alliant to install that technology at its new plant.

A written ruling to further explain the terms of these conditions will be issued in a few weeks.

At first glance, this ruling seems like a decent compromise. It would require Alliant to further increase their investment in renewable energy and would require them to close older, inefficient coal plants.

My main question is on enforcement. What would be the punishment, if in 15 years, Alliant fails miserable to increase their energy supply from renewable sources?

The investments in renewable energy and the ability to retrofit the plant with carbon capture technology are a step in the right direction. However, as a local resident, I still have concerns about other environmental factors in my community, such as the release of mercury and other pollutants into the air and water.

Obama Gains Support from Another Iowa Super Delegate

Iowa Independent is reporting that Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01) is going to endorse Barack Obama today. This is the 2nd Iowa Super Delegate to declare for Obama this week after DNC member Richard Machacek endorsed him yesterday.

Obama now has the support of 6 of Iowa's Super Delegates, while Clinton has 3. There are 2 that are still undecided.

Obama Supporters
DNC member Richard Machacek
U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack
U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley
Gov. Chet Culver
Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald
deputy state party Chairwoman Sarah Swisher

Clinton Supporters
U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell,
Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal
DNC member Sandy Opstvedt

Undeclared Super delegates
U.S Senator Tom Harkin
state party Chairman Scott Brennan

Looks Like Everyone Supports Clean Elections

I have written a great deal in support of Clean Elections in the past.

Could it be true that Real Sporer supports Clean Elections also?

Young Republicans are Becoming Extinct

Iowa Super Delegate Declares Support for Obama

Barack Obama gained the support from one of Iowa's super delegates. Richard Machacek announced today that he has decided to support Barack Obama. Machacek, from Buchanan County, is a member of the State Central Committee and Democratic National Committee.

"I think it needs to be over, and in good conscience, I can't fly in the face of my precinct, county and district," Machacek told The Des Moines Register in a telephone interview. "The raw numbers coming out of the district conventions really sat me down hard."

Obama leads the Iowa super delegate count with 5, while Clinton has 3, and 3 remain undeclared.

Obama Supporters
Richard Machacek
U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack
Gov. Chet Culver
Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald
deputy state party Chairwoman Sarah Swisher

Clinton Supporters
U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell,
Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal
DNC member Sandy Opstvedt

Undeclared Super delegates
U.S Senator Tom Harkin
U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley
state party Chairman Scott Brennan

Fallon's Rap on the Economy

The Fallon campaign released this video last week. When I read that it was a rap video, I thought it was going to be corny, but it is actually pretty good.

This video highlights where Ed Fallon stands on economic issues and shows how Boswell has sided with big money interests over the interests of the people he supposedly represents.

Everyday is Earth Day Film Showing Tonight in Cedar Falls

From my inbox...

Everyday is Earth Day
Film event brings together green activists and public

The Sierra Club, Iowa Global Warming Campaign and I-Renew are hosting a special green event on Tuesday, April 29, which is open to members of the public. The event offers free admission and refreshments and will feature a film screening of Global Warming: the Signs and the Science a film that uses expert dialogues on global warming to talk about how we can reverse its course. After the film, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and participate in a discussion about the film and related issues.

WHAT: Everyday is Earth Day event featuring Global Warming: the Signs and the Science film screening and discussion. Free and open to the public.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

WHERE: Cedar Falls Public Library, 524 Main St., Cedar Falls, Iowa

WHO: Sierra Club, Iowa Global Warming Campaign and I-Renew supporters and the public

The Sierra Club's members and supporters are more than 1.3 million of your friends and neighbors. Inspired by nature, we work together to protect our communities and the planet. The Club is America's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization.

The Iowa Global Warming Campaign seeks to have state and national leaders, both Democrats and Republicans, discuss publicly, frequently and specifically how they will address global warming, and pledge that they make that plan a top priority. Iowa Global Warming's founding members are the Iowa Environmental Council, Iowa Renewable Energy Association (I-Renew), Environmental Law & Policy Center, League of Conservation Voters, National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, and Union of Concerned Scientists.

I-Renew (Iowa Renewable Energy Association) is a non-profit organization, founded in 1992. I-RENEW sponsors practical educational activities designed to reach individuals, farms, businesses, schools, and utilities, while also encouraging retail opportunities. The association is a vehicle for pooling and disseminating existing knowledge and experience in renewables and energy efficiency.

Clinton Critcizes Plant Closure that Her Husband Approved

Here's another example of the Clinton's willingness to do anything to get elected.

From David Sirota...

Clinton is airing this advertisement in Indiana, bemoaning the closure of a defense contractor Magnequench's manufacturing plant in Valparaiso (she is also echoing this line in her stump speeches). Looking at the camera, she tells us she's upset that the 200 jobs that were sent to China, and that "now America's defense relies on Chinese spare parts." And then comes the kicker: She tells viewers that "George Bush could have stopped it, but he didn't."

Clinton is certainly right that it is a tragedy that 200 American jobs were killed in a corporate deal that also exported sensitive military technology to China. But she forgets to mention that it wasn't George Bush who was in the key position to stop it - it was Bill Clinton.

Back in 1995, a Chinese consortium, which included two Chinese state-owned companies, made a bid to take over Magnequench. Because the company makes key parts for smart bombs, the takeover had to be approved by the Clinton administration's Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States. Despite the national security and economic problems with selling off such critical manufacturing capacity to the Chinese - and despite the knowledge that such a deal would likely end in a domestic mass layoff - the Clinton administration approved the deal. This same deal - not surprisingly - paved the way for those 200 Indiana jobs and that sensitive military technology to be shipped to China.

The Clinton administration's move was not surprising. This was an administration whose NAFTA and China PNTR record more than proved it was intent on helping Big Money interests face as little resistance to international financial transactions as possible - consequences be damned. But the move was very controversial, raising the ire of key Hillary Clinton surrogate Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN). As the Los Angeles Times reported in 2005, "Bayh was particularly disturbed by the committee's decision in 1995 to approve a Chinese consortium's takeover of Magnequench Inc." In 2006, Bayh specifically slammed the Clinton administration's approval of the deal to the South Bend Tribune, saying "It's not smart to put ourselves in the position of relying on the Chinese for a critical component of a vital weapon system, and yet that is what the CFIUS process has allowed."

Unfortunately, as he has campaigned around Indiana with Hillary Clinton listening to her decry the Magenquench fiasco, Bayh has suddenly gone silent on the matter.

1st District Convention Results

I posted my report about Obama gaining a national delegate at the 4th District Convention at Daily Kos and it sparked a lot of discussion. The discussion at Kos was if Obama won a delegate in the 4th District or if he ended up losing a delegate overall.

Coming into the convention, Obama had 15 delegates secured with 3 delegates up for grabs. The national media counted the hens before the eggs hatched and wrongly projected that Obama would pick up 17 delegates.

A person who attended the 1st District convention posted their results in the comments section and it looks like the Edwards group was able to become viable and won a national delegate. If the Edwards group wasn't viable, Obama would have likely won that national delegate.

After check-in, Edwards had 79 delegates but needed 81 to be viable. There were 7 undecideds. If only 2 undecideds went to Edwards, he was going to get a delegate, so the result in the 1st District was not at all unexpected. But the funny (in a sardonic way) thing was that some Clinton delegates went over to Edwards, just to make sure Obama didn't get that extra delegate.

1st alignment (534 delegates at check-in):
Obama - 281 (52.6%)
Clinton - 167 (31.3%)
Edwards - 79 (14.8%)
Undecided - 7 (1.3%)

2nd alignment (out of 533 - someone left early?):
Obama - 283 (53.1%)
Clinton - 156 (29.3%)
Edwards - 94 (17.6%)

National Delegates:
Obama - 3 (2 males, 1 female)
Clinton - 2 (1 male, 1 female)
Edwards - 1 (female)

National Alternate: Obama - 1 (male)

Who is tough now?

4th District Democratic Convention: Obama Gains A National Delegate

The big news out of the 4th District Democratic Convention was that Barack Obama picked up a national delegate.

The 4th District had 507 seats to fill. At first count 425 of the seats were filled with delegates and the first count was Obama 231, Clinton 147, Edwards 42, Uncommitted 5. The remaining seats were filled with alternates. I was one of the alternates that were seated for Obama.

After the alternates were seated the count was Obama 274, Clinton 175, Edwards 52, Uncommitted 6. The number for viability was 76. The Edwards group (and the uncommitteds) weren't viabile. The national delegate count at this time was Obama 3, Clinton 2, with one delegate up for grabs.

We then broke into preference groups for an hour where both the Clinton and Obama groups could persuade the non-viable groups to come to their side. The Obama group was very well organized, led by Tom Harrington. They had people already selected to go speak to the Edwards group (which had moved to a separate room), while everyone else sat and chatted. I quickly did some math and by figures Clinton could afford to send 6 delegates to Edwards, which wasn't enough to make Edwards viable even with the 6 uncommitted delegates.

The Clinton group let out a couple cheers as they had swayed a few people to come there way right off the bat. After about 45 minutes, the doors opened and a parade of people from the Edwards group marched in and headed to the Obama group. All of the Obama supporters stood and started a "Fired Up! Ready to go!" chant as the parade of former Edwards supporters joined with the Obama group. It was later announced that the Obama group offered the Edwards group a bunch of seats on the platform committee if they came to Obama's side.

The final numbers were announced with Obama having 316, Clinton 187, and 2 people stayed uncommitted. This meant during realignment Obama gained 42 and Clinton gained 12 supporters. The final delegate numbers were then Obama 4, Clinton 2, with the alternate going to Obama. Obama, also, won 6 of the 10 seats to the committees for the State Convention.

As part of the deal to get the majority of Edwards supporters to head to Obama's side, 5 of the 6 seats on the platform committee were from the Edwards group. Edwards supporters were also able to run for national delegate in the Obama group, though none ended up being elected. The Clinton group also went to the Edwards group with an offer, but the majority of the Edwards group favored Obama.

Iowa District Convention Delegate Counts

I am still at the 4th district convention in Boone. We elected 6 delegates to the national at our convention. Obama won 4 and Clinton won 2.

The statewide results for national delegates were just announced.

Obama 16
Clinton 9
Edwards 4

Obama won all 5 alternates.

I will post more about how the convention went when I get home, whenever that is.