T Boone Pickenspeak:

The second main speaker at the Clean Energy Summit was T Boone Pickens who has been putting all those TV ads together, spending HIS OWN MONEY on it to educate the American Public on how we are transferring our wealth to the Middle East for their oil. He has a plan and he has already started investing the money to make the plan work.

In contrast to Clinton his down-home-folksy speaking style suited him and his use of a marker board only enhanced his simple approach to solving our "energy crisis". Even when he would stumble over his words, like Clinton did, he would recover with a simple ease that endeared himself to the people of the opposite party he was speaking to. It was hard NOT to like him.

As to his message. His main argument is that we are transferring $700 billion every year for oil and we can cut that by 38% in the next 5 years. The way to do this is to change all our vehicles from oil based gasoline to natural gas. ALL of our natural gas is produced in the US and it is cleaner and more efficient than gasoline. He says to start with the truck fleets in the nation which upgrade their semi's, on average, every 2 1/2 years, so by 5 years all semi's on the road should be natural gas. All new cars should start soon after. This would bridge the gap between battery powered vehicles which are, realistically, 10 years away from mass appeal. It is a simple conversion to make engines that run on gas to ones that run on natural gas. This is the biggest step. He called on Senator Reid for the tax incentives to make it happen but he believes the market will pay for the rest.

The rest of the oil that is used for power generation (after the 38% used for vehicles) will be locally produced and not Middle East produced but also will be reduced with wind and solar every year to make up for taking Natural Gas out of the electricity generating process.

What impressed me, contrary to Clinton, was that he came carrying a check. He has spent millions already on this project and is intending to spend hundreds of millions if that is what it takes. Money spoke pretty loudly. I wish he was a Nevada Oil Man and not a Texas Oil Man.

Now THAT is a good question!

Props to Phoebe Sweet of the LVS for her questions to the Las Vegas Valley Water Authority in their plans to pump water from Rural Nevada to Vegas. Read the article here.

Where are the Environmentalists?

State Water Engineer Tracy Taylor agreed to allow the Las Vegas Valley Water Authority to pump 6 BILLION gallons of water a year from rural Nevada to quench an overheated Las Vegas. Did you hear that? SIX BILLION GALLONS A YEAR from our farmers and ranchers AND pristine Nevada desert! LVRJ

Where are the environmentalist protesters? Where are the discussions on fish, turtles, rabbits and plants that will be destroyed with this water drainage. I don't understand how all the all this can happen without hundreds of lawsuits filed by US Fish and Wildlife, Sierra Club, Forestry Services and even Indian Reservations! This doesn't just effect the farmers and ranchers.

Every time a farmer wants to move a water right permit from one field down the road a mile to another field HE OWNS he get hit with 100 lawsuits from these groups. Now LVVWA is moving billions, and piping it a couple HUNDRED MILES there is not a peep from US Fish and Wildlife. Can someone answer where these people are on this?

BLM Pushes Solar Power back FIVE YEARS!

We've been hearing about it now for a few weeks but the Fed's, the BLM: Bureau of Lame Management, er, sorry, the Bureau of LAND Management has decided to put a moratorium on disposing of or leasing land for Solar projects. They complain that they have gotten "so many" applications in the last few years that they need to do an environmental impact study to see if the new shade offered to the desert turtles will hurt them or not. Read the PVT article.

They want to push any approvals back for 22 months! That is almost TWO YEARS! How long does it take to find out whether a turtle likes the shade of a solar panel or not? Add that two years to the current THREE YEAR process to get the proper permits and we are still at least FIVE YEARS away from any new Solar Power in rural Nevada. That is not even counting the time it take to build the solar or wind plants.

I put this solidly in Senate MAJORITY Leader Harry Reid's lap. He is the freekin' head of the US Senate with a majority in Congress and what have we seen for all his LIP SERVICE to renewables in Nevada. Back when new coal plants were being proposed and he came out saying "over my dead body" he should have said "No to coal but I will get the BLM to release 50,000 acres for solar and wind projects"

I am TIRED of the lip service to renewables by ALL OUR POLITICIANS. It seems like this Ed Goedhart from Nye County is the ONLY ONE who gets it!

Water to the FRONT

In both the LVS and LVRJ papers you will find articles on water usage in Las Vegas and the pipeline proposal.

Vegas seems to think this is a done deal. Vegas seems to think that all it will take is a little more negotiation and water will come GUSHING from White Pine and Lincoln Counties to serve Las Vegas' growth. All that SEEMS to be left is a small deal with Utah.

PRO Nevada appreciates the farmers and ranchers who cashed in on the thirst of Vegas by selling their acre-feet of water, but PRO Nevada stands against pumping the water to Vegas for billions of dollars. That's right BILLIONS of dollars. As we said in a previous post Las Vegas can build a desalinization plant in Mexico for $250 million, with no annoying California environmentalist whackos stopping it. Why use up water that farmers, ranchers and miners already use in mid Nevada when you can trade desal' plants for water out of the Colorado? It is like driving 50 miles to see a movie that is playing in your back yard FOR LESS MONEY! Why is the Vegas Water Authority even messing with northern water? It is more expensive, it is expendable as opposed to the ocean of water in Mexico, and it is more environmentally sound.

Kudos to the ranchers and farmers who cashed in on LVVWA's stupidity but, seriously Vegas, get your head out of your ass.

Little boy, why do you hit yourself in the head with a hammer?

I walked around the corner in our neighborhood and found a young boy hitting himself in the head with a hammer. "Little boy," I said, "why do you hit yourself in the head with a hammer?" He looked up with a smile on his face and said, "Because it feels so good when I stop."

The Pahrump Valley Times has another in a series of articles in ALL the local papers on the next attempt by the DOE to "revive" Yucca Mountain. They will send another bright scientist to head the project and then cut back the money and manpower ... again ... while getting now further in the process. More delays, more money down the drain (or hole). I makes you want to ask: "DOE, why do you keep hitting your head with a hammer?"

Well it is long past time to MAKE IT STOP!

It is time to spend the billions of dollars on recycling nuclear waste and not hiding it - "oooh, that feels so good!"

It is time to spend the billions of dollars on technology that WON'T PRODUCE the waste in the first place - "yessss, that feels so good!"

Let's get the DOE to STOP banging themselves with Yucca, I am sure they will thank us for it.

The Local Toad

I have just read a quote that completely summarized what PRO Nevada is all about. This comes from the Pahrump Valley Times and it is out of a story entitled "Beatty Group Opposes Amargosa Toad Listing"

It seems there is a local group of volunteers that have been working to preserve the natural habitats along the Amargosa River in Beatty and suddenly the feds have come in and declared the Amargosa Toad an "Endangered Species." Ryan Tweney is the chairman of the group of local volunteers and he is opposed to the listing. Now comes the great quote:

"Listing as an endangered species would make this harder, not easier. These things are best done locally and with the cooperation of everyone involved," said Tweney. "We don't want our work hampered by all of the bureaucratic obstacles that listing would bring." (PVT)

Let me say that again, with emphasis: "Listing will make (protecting the toad) HARDER!" And "(Protecting the Toad) is best done LOCALLY with COOPERATION" and "(Protecting the Toad is) HAMPERED by all of the BUREAUCRATIC OBSTACLES!"

This is what PRO Nevada is all about. WE in Rural Nevada should have the opportunities to do what needs to be done without the bureaucratic obstacles of outsiders. Sure there are people who will sometimes abuse the privilege of rural land ownership and predetermination but we at PRO Nevada believe that it is the rights of the rural landowners to work cooperatively together to preserve rivers, streams and toad AND to grow alfalfa, mine gold and silver, and raise herds at the same time. IT IS POSSIBLE to be good stewards of Nevada and put food on your table AND make a profit! That is PRO Nevada!