Nova Scotia is banning fracking. Onshore, but not offshore,
and not pipelines.
But at least the Nova Scotia government listened to environmentalists,
the grassroots, and rural people about that much.
Will our local and state governments listen about the Sabal Trail
fracked methane pipeline?
Bruce Erskine wrote for The Herald Business 3 September 2014, Nova Scotia to ban fracking, Continue reading Nova Scotia to ban fracking
A second Virginia county board passed
a resolution against Spectra’s
proposed route for Duke’s Pennsylvania-to-North-Carolina pipeline
just as Spectra “suspended” its activities.
Warren County, VA realized that a few personal property business taxes and lodging and meals
taxes during construction wouldn’t be nearly enough to balance
“federal and
state designated historic districts, state and federal designated
historic sites, state designated scenic byways, state designated
scenic rivers, agricultural and forestal districts, the Appalachian
Trail, Civil War battlefields and historic sites, and conservation
easements”.
Are not Florida, Georgia, and Alabama’s agriculture, springs, rivers, and Floridan Aquifer as important as Virginia’s Appalachian Trail and historic sites?
Alex Bridges wrote for NV Daily 8 August 2014, Supervisors oppose gas line route,
Here’s Duke’s PR of 1 April 2014 about its pipeline RFP, Continue reading Warren County, VA resolution against Spectra pipelineFRONT ROYAL—Warren County leaders this week joined opponents of a $4 billion, natural gas pipeline slated to run through five states.
Duke Energy issued a request for proposals to build the pipeline to connect resources in western Pennsylvania to its facilities in North Carolina. Spectra Energy Partners responded to Duke’s request and proposed a corridor through Warren County and other jurisdictions.
Opposition to the Sabal Trail pipeline may be having more widespread effects.
The same day
FERC told Sabal Trail to pay attention to karst limestone sinkhole opposition,
Duke announced it wasn’t going to “modernize” that plant.
Two days later,
Sabal Trail told one of that opposition that it was considering
moving its Suwannee River crossing upstream, that is, away from Duke’s
Suwannee Plant,
Coincidence?
Ivan Penn wrote for Tampa Bay Times 26 August 2014, In flip-flop, Duke Energy will buy existing power plant, not build one, Continue reading Duke withdraws Suwannee and Polk plant plans
FPL integrated ownership of fracking and pipelines to LNG export for its profit,
at the expense of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida landowners, U.S. natural gas customers, and of course
FPL ratepayers: that’s what FPL is hoping to wrap up at the Florida PSC.
FPL wants to buy the 50% its parent NextEra Energy bought of “independent” PetroQuest’s Oklahoma fracking operation back in 2010 before FPL put out its December 2012 RFP for what ended up being the Transco -> Sabal Trail -> FSC methane pipeline to Martin County, Florida, plus an FPL pipeline from there to the sea at Riviera Beach. where meanwhile three LNG export operations have been authorized and a fourth LNG export operation has reqeusted a permit from FERC.
FPL’s PR of 25 June 2014 doesn’t mention most of the above, not even that NextEra already owns half of PetroQuest’s Oklahoma fracking operation. FPL proposes innovative plan to invest in natural gas to save customers millions of dollars and lower long-term fuel costs, Continue reading FPL to purchase NextEra gas fracking subsidiary in Oklahoma
Natural gas or oil pipelines are natural enemy targets,
in addition to the way they frequently
blow up on their own.
Why build such hazards when solar power is faster, cheaper,
cleaner, and doesn’t blow up?
Elad Benari wrote for Arutz Sheva 17 January 2014, Sinai Terrorists Blow Up Natural Gas Pipeline,
Strong explosion rocks central Sinai after explosives were planted beneath the gas pipeline connected to cement factories in the area.
What happens if someone blows up a solar array? Flying glass, which is bad, but nothing like blowing up the explosive fuel inside a natural gas or oil pipeline, not to mention distributed rooftop solar arrays would be very hard to destroy enough of to match the energy denial of one damaged pipeline.
Gas pipelines in Egypt has been attacked more than a dozen times Continue reading Pipelines as enemy targets
Even Putin couldn’t push a pipeline past opponents.
Russia’s formerly “dead certain” South Stream natural gas pipeline
around Ukraine
now has “potential for huge delays. Sceptics wonder whether it will happen at all.”
Gazprom used the same pipeline-pushing script as Spectra,
and that ended up as farce.
So maybe Sabal Trail isn’t “moving forward”, either.
State and local permitting, or just plain public opposition,
could turn that Sabal Trail pipeline snake into roadkill,
so we can get on with solar power for real economic benefits without eminent domain and with clean air and water.
Guy Chazan wrote for Financial Times 24 August 2014,
South Stream gas project may now be a pipe dream,
In November 2005, a pipeline called Blue Stream was inaugurated to bring Russian gas across the Black Sea to Turkey. It was, said President Vladimir Putin, who attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Continue reading Russian South Stream natural gas pipeline no longer dead certain
After citizens familiar with the springs, shoals, and sinkholes
of the Withlacoochee River and the fragile karst limestone that
contains them and the Floridan Aquifer, source of drinking water
for all of Florida and south Georgia, the north Florida county
of Hamilton passed a resolution asking FERC to have the Sabal Trail
fracked methane pipeline avoid those geological formations.
According to
a letter already forwarded to FERC by the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection
and also quoted in part to FERC by the
Suwannee River Water Management District,
that would mean
there’s basically nowhere that pipeline would be safe in north Florida
(or south Georgia, which has the same limestone substrate).
Joyce Marie Taylor updated in the Suwannee Democrat 25 August 2014, Hamilton fights back against Sabal Trail pipeline,
A special meeting was called on Friday, Aug. 22, and the board voted to pass Resolution 14-10 that expressed their concerns about the proposed pipeline route across the Withlacoochee River that forms the western boundary of Hamilton County.
A portion of the resolution states, Continue reading Avoid the Withlacoochee River and karst limestone –Hamilton Co. FL to FERC
The Florida Public Service Commission
has a special say in the
Southeast Market Pipelines Project
because the
Florida Southeast Connection (FSC) leg of this pipeline is
completely inside Florida and completely owned by FPL, a Florida regulated
electric utility.
And Florida has a say because the
entire excuse
for the three-part
Transco -> Sabal Trail -> FSC project is that
supposedly Florida needs the power (it doesn’t,
but that’s the excuse).
FPL is getting so desperate for public acceptance of this boondoggle
they pressed their own CEO, Eric Silagy, into attempting to rebut
Our Santa Fe River’s latest entry in the op-ed debate.
Sabal Trail and FERC would like everyone to believe state regulators have no say, but that’s just not true. It’s not even clear GA PSC has no say, considering that Continue reading State and local permitting for Sabal Trail pipeline
And Spectra, of the proposed Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline,
is also an oil pipeline company now.
Bill Trexler wrote for Emerging Markets 18 August 2014, Energy shares may fall again: Spectra Energy Corp. (SE), Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR), WPX Energy (WPX), Nabors Industries (NBR), Weatherford International (WFT), Transocean LTD (RIG),
Shares of oil companies gained as oil futures prices rose on Friday, after Ukraine said its artillery destroyed a large part of a column of armored vehicles seen entering Ukraine from Russia.
However, prices still posted losses for the week, as soft global demand pressured them down to multi-month lows….
Continue reading Spectra the war stock and oil company
A foreign company wanting to take local resources and not even
provide any local jobs, only in “preliminary stages”: sound familiar?
Swiss company Nestlé used the same playbook to try to grab
water from the Wacissa River that Houston company Spectra Energy
is trying to gouge its hundred-foot right of way for its yard-wide
fracked methane pipeline through Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.
Wacissa and Jefferson County, Florida fought back and won.
Counties can do the same to stop that pipeline.
Brett Adler wrote for the Florida Independent 2 December 2010, Nestle draws fire for plans to pump more water from North Florida springs,
Citizens in North Florida are gearing up for what many foresee as a drawn-out battle with Nestle Waters North America, the country’s largest water bottler, which recently completed test wells Continue reading Jefferson County, FL stopped Nestle; counties can stop Sabal Trail