Underground University at KPFK, 90.7
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Author Archives: Ankur
The Spread of Homo sapien Over Time
Schedule of Solar Installations with Grid Alternatives
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More information to come.
Oil Pipeline Permitting Process
Brought by Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb). H.R. 1938 [Keystone Pipeline].
H.R. 1938 would expedite permitting decisions for Keystone pipeline. This specific pipeline would run tar sand oil from Canada to Texas.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Ca) painted the bill as a law that is being rushed through without public input because of the proponents [oil interests].
Rep. Pete Olson (R-Tex, Stafford, Sugar Land) brought up the 50,000 jobs that might be created in Texas because of this pipeline that would move more than 1,000,000 barrels of oil per day.
Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-Vir, Fairfax & Prince William Counties) calls the bill a sham. This pipeline is actually going to be used to export oil. He introduced an amendment to guarantee that the pipeline would provide oil to American not China, but the amendment was rejected.. This bill is about oil profits.
Waxman, being the committee ranking member, speaks often and claims we need move away from oil altogether.
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), “We can all ride bicycles and that will get us where we want to go” [2:31 PT, CSPAN]. Strawman argument based on rhetoric and oversimplification of energy security and construction.
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA, Decatur, Conyer, Norcross) makes the direct accusation that the campaign contributors and investors are getting returns on their political contributions. This pipeline will cost $13,000,000,000 to construct.
Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO, Ft. Collins, Greeley, Lamar, Sterling) “Continue to grow domestic sources of energy” — seems he considers Canada “domestic.” More jobs and security.
Waxman comes back with climate change.
Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY, Hopkinsville, Henderson, Paducah) continues to hit on jobs and the fact that this oil will be going to China if we don’t build the pipeline.
Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) emphasizes the fact that this would just expedite the decision making process, not force a yes or no decision. Energy security. Brought up the Energy Pipeline Safety Program. Also promoted natural gas via shale.
Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Ranking Members (served on the T&I committee for the last 32 years, since he joined the U.S. Congress), stood up against the way this legislation has been moved forward avoiding full public discourse… But still supported the bill.
Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fl, Jacksonville, Orlando) cited an “unhealthy relationship between the agency that regulates pipeline construction and the oil industry”
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Tx) emphasizes the loss of jobs overseas and the profits made by oil companies overseas and job creation here.
Rep. John Mica (R-Fl), Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman, brings up the price of gasoline. “1.3 barrels of oil per day” — he meant million. Turns into a partisan issue where “the other side hasn’t done anything.” Brings up the point that the Obama administration issued more deepwater drilling permits than the entirety of the Bush administration (I am not going to fact check… anyone?)
Rahall cites union support for the pipeline. I am supporting this bill, please support my other bill that is sitting in your committee now (in more words).
Rep. Dough Lamborn (R-Co) “The U.S. imported more than a trillion barrels of oil in 2010.” Uhhh, no we didn’t.
Rep. Bill Johnson (R- ) “the project would create 13,000 direct jobs and tens of thousands of indirect jobs.”
Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), tar sands put out more pollution than any other form of energy production. A report from actually shows that the price of gasoline will actually increase. offered an ammendment that would guarantee the benefit of the keystone oil would stay here in the United States, that the refined oil would have to be sold in the US — it was not even allowed to be voted on. Strong environmental rhetoric. Strong accusations that this bill was written by the oil industry.
Lamborn brings up jobs and energy security again. Chinese will use this oil if we don’t.
Ammendments
First amendment introduced would require more independent studies on specific environmentally sensitive areas that the pipeline would be built through.
Lee Terry claims this is the most studied pipeline in U.S. history
Rep. Steve Cohen (D- ) the sensors wouldn’t detect any leak less than 700,000 barrels per day. Key individuals have been excluded from the study of the pipeline.
Vote on the amendment will have to be recorded, so it has been postponed.
Move on to the next amendment.
By Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Il, Chicago, Midlothian), delete a misleading finding (#15) that said that the construction of the pipeline would not create any new green house gases. Rush requested the EPA to do an analysis, but the EPA has not done any analysis on global green house gas emissions. Quoting EPA statements showing that finding #15 was put forward by a hired contractor, not the EPA. Makes this an issue of truth.
Lee Terry opposes the amendment. Reads from a study that is in legalese and uses it to claim the construction of a 1,600 mile pipeline will have no effect on pollution.
Bobby Rush again brings up the EPA’s letter that states they have not done any modeling on the Keystone pipeline. We are perpetuating falsehoods if we allow these findings to continue.
Lee Terry cites the language from another report.
In the opinion of the chair the No’s have it. Bobby Rush requests a written vote.
Another amendment, each amendment gets 5 minutes pro and con.
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Ca, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Half Moon Bay) starts with the San Bruno explosion. Requests a study on the pipelines ability to transfer tar sand oil, which contain hazardous chemicals.
Lee Terry again rises in opposition. No need for this study because it is already done.
Anna Eshoo says that relevant agencies have not conducted proper studies [Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration].
Voted down, request recorded vote .
Another Amendment, this time by Del. Donna Christensen (D- Virgin Islands). Amendment recognizes that tar sand construction would increase greenhouse gas contribution.
Lee Terry again rises in opposition and gets into the semantics of oil types.
In the opinion of the chair, the No’s have it. No request of written record of vote. Amendment is rejected.
There are a total of 11 amendments being introduced.
I can’t watch any more. It is an exercise in futility. All of the voting members have already decided which way they are going to vote.
It’s Not Rocket Science
Laying off Rocket Scientists
For many it is just about the next paycheck, but for my father it was about pride. The way he talked about the next space shuttle mission or how he would wake us up at two in the morning to catch a glimpse of a man-made object leaving this planet. When he got the opportunity to travel to The Kennedy Center in Florida to witness the last launch in person, it was as cliché as a dream come true.
But after 32 years of working on the Space Shuttle Main Engine, he is waiting to be laid-off.
The Space Shuttle Program put rocket scientists to work developing technologies and opening a creative window to the rest of the world.
Instead of going to Mars, continuing to explore our universe, to boldly go where no man has gone before – our top scientists and most brilliant minds are developing weapons.
It is an issue of pride, moral courage, and of values… do we want to be building space shuttles or bombs?
________________
The American space program will continue, but the question is in what capacity.
Chicken Range on Campus
We don’t know where our food comes from, how it is grown, or what profit motives make a hamburger cheaper than an apple.
We need to have this discussion.
Chickens on campus would not be any more of a health or safety issue than alcohol, driving, or antibiotic riddled beef. Growing food on a campus like California State University Northridge would provide an invaluable real-life education to students and the community on the most basic of human necessities.
Grass is a drain on resources while providing little utilitarian benefit — it was originally a sign of opulence in imperialist England. The wealthy would flaunt the fact that they could use their land to produce nothing at a high maintenance cost in order to please their notions of aesthetics. We would survey the acres of wasted lawn space on campus and create a pilot program in the area that was most conducive to this project.
Our minds have been colonized by corporations, banks, and commodities markets that make us believe that the price of rice and grain is dependent on regional weather occurrences; to some extent weather and production does have an effect on the price of food, but the price of onions in India do not double in a 6 month period without massive speculation and manipulation by billion dollar companies like Cargill and Monsanto.
Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wraith was not fantasy.
We destroy animals by the billions so that we can be the fattest nation in the world. It is gross and pathetic.
Energetically speaking, we lose 90% of potential energy by going from one trophic level to the next. World hunger is not a production problem, it is a market, political, and values problem.
This project is simple and doable, but will likely get shot down by campus administration more interested in bureaucracy than doing something that would shake the foundation of the status quo.
Intellectual Dishonesty, Physical Inaction
Frustrated by lies and manipulation, searching for a way to make a difference, confronted by my individual insignificance, floundering with incompetence, and placated by comfort.
Knowledge dominated by ignorance fueled by meaningless rhetoric.
Tools centuries beyond stone axes, but still pen and paper remain underutilized by the illiterate masses dedicated towards labouring for masters governed by greed and an economic theory that would give a finite value to clean air and peace.
Profiting in the material world while the other fades into memory like prehistory. One people erasing another’s culture, controlling what we are taught, mistakes have been made, and dominion built upon false notions of manifest destiny promoted by ego.
The day to day of eating, sleeping and labouring for someone else’s best interest is the intellectual territory that we must reclaim. We subscribe to a system that propagates the consolidation of wealth and power. Decolonizing the mind is a process that will take serious questioning of how we grow our food, where we get our clothes from, who has control over our currency and why. All I can hope to do with these words on a screen is to stimulate thought that might lead to more action than clicking like, tweet, or leaving a comment, but please do that as well.
It is easy not to ask hard questions. Once you know, ignorance is no longer an excuse, everything becomes a conscious choice.
Intrinsically Valuable, Extrinsically Capitalist
Modern capitalist economists would give a dollar value to clean air. Therefore, because rural ChIndians are poor, they don’t have the right to breathe clean air.
Life has intrinsic value to me, but not to a capitalist who would put a dollar value on someone’s existence. Extrinsic value is necessarily given. Intrinsically valuable is something that is immanently valuable, there is value in itself, is innately valuable.
We give value to material and immaterial things arbitrarily. To a Hindu, the value of a living cow is greater than the value of a thousand pounds of ground beef. To a Christian, the Bible is more valuable than the Quran.
The status quo would have us give extrinsic value to things that are intrinsically valuable. Currency is extrinsically valuable because without our faith, it wouldn’t be worth the paper that it is printed on — as many subjugated countries find out when they try to print value.
The United States prints $600,000,000,000 using the phrase quantitative easing. Does that mean we have the right to purchase Thailand — twice?
We need to be able to discuss capitalism as an economic theory, not as the dominating force on this planet. We, as a whole — our intelligence, our creativity — are the dominant force on this planet.
The truth is intrinsically valuable.
Military and the Media: Wikileaks
This was a panel on CSPAN taped on 10/28/10 whose focus was very broad, but I zeroed in on this one segment.
Nadia from NBC Middle East on Wikileaks
She brings up the point that there is a general sense that the American military dismissed information within the 70,000 documents released on the war in Iraq as “nothing new.”
The Middle Eastern media sees it as a validation of what they have been claiming about the American military since the wars began.
Isn’t this going to create credibility issues for the US government?
Douglas Wilson Assistant Defense Secretary for Public Affairs
A credibility issue is created particularly with our allies about how does the United States keep information protected. This is another consequence of the advancement of technology and how it is outpacing law, legislation, and the government.
He will not discuss what is actually in the documents; that should be done with the guys at the podium during press briefings.
The stories in the Wikileak documents have been covered by journalists and the media, warts and all.
What is the whistle blower value here?
Elisabeth Bumiller NY Times Pentagon Correspondent
The Wikileaks documents add texture and detail to the stories and are crucial to the historical records on the long history of the long war in Iraq.
Specifically the greater number of civilian deaths and the torture are important to know.
Major General Paul Eaton (retired)
He left Iraq in 2004 after Abu Ghraib.
This sort of information will play very bad on the Arab streets.
This release of Wikileaks documents won’t be as damaging as that first Abu Ghraib tragedy.
His job was to develop Iraqi military forces. The Iraqi classes had put the Americans on a pedestal as they were coming in, but not after Abu Ghraib and the other atrocities.
He pleads for balance between the good things and bad things that are discussed in the documents
Major Kirk Luedeke
The thought that the entire American military turned a blind eye is false.
The perception that “the US turned a blind eye ” is true in some cases, but from his personal experience, he knows there are good people that will do the right thing when confronted with moral issues.
Doug Wilson
What is the role of the mainstream press in taking these documents and writing/reporting about them?
Some reporters have come to the pentagon and discussed the documents with us, others have not.
What is the press view of the Wikileak documents?
Elisabeth
We view Wikileaks as a source that needs to be checked out, we don’t take everything verbatim.
We don’t use anything that doesn’t check out. We did go to the pentagon to let the military know what we were working on.
We view Wikileaks not as a collaborator but as a source.
Josh Meyer Medill National Security Journalism Institute
How do you verify that information?
Elisabeth
Ask the people who have been covering the war.
Reporter from the Boston Globe
To follow up on the issue of credibility…
It does raise the credibility question to us.
The numbers on civilian causalities, which the media has been trying to get for years, has not been properly addressed by the American military.
The Associated Press was estimating 2,000 civilian deaths per month, but the American government claimed that was an overblown number.
One of the recently released documents actually puts that number closer to 4,000 civilian deaths per month around the same period of time.
So the question is:
How do you, while sitting on this vast pyramid of public affairs know that your people when put in front of the media are giving factual information.
How can you be sure that when that official is put out there to talk to the press they are not lying, or more likely, that they don’t have all of the information and are misleading by omission.
General Casey punted the question when asked recently, he didn’t answer by saying he hasn’t seen the documents.
How can you be sure it is not purposely untruthful?
Douglas Williams
When you take a job like mine, you take it understanding that your credibility is key.
Your credibility is your currency.
I must be as accurate, timely, and truthful with the media as I can.
I can only do the very best that I can to make sure that what people are saying is the truth.
It is a commitment that I have, that those that work with me have had to make in order to take this kind of job.
Major General Eaton
It was the military’s view that the military had to impose a higher level of standard and moral warfare executed than did the civilian leadership at the time… this goes from Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib.
General Petreaus put out a letter that said the military was not going to torture.
Then we had the faceoff between Rumsfeld and General Pace
What is the role of a soldier when something is going wrong?
General Pace said it is up to the soldier to stop the activity. Rumsfeld said it was his duty to report the misdeeds. General Pace came back and said Stop The Activity.
General pace had to recant the next day – ambiguity from the highest level of our government
The military had to establish a higher level of moral code than they were getting from Washington D.C.
Solar Roof Area [Concept Release]
Background
Since 2006 there have been 46,782 residential installations of solar systems in California. [1]
There are over 10,000,000 homes in California. The residential solar industry has remained untapped for a few major reasons:
1) Resistance from homeowners due to
- Financial misconceptions [power purchasing agreements, and solar leases
- Feelings of being ‘duped’/Too good to be true [$0 down/cash positive from day one]
- Technological misconceptions
2) Lack of financing
3) Inability of solar providers to market and educate homeowners effectively
Solar Roof Area [Concept Development]
Electricity is a commodity.
A certain amount of electricity can be generated from a certain amount of roof area.
There is a direct correlation.
Therefore value of Solar Roof Area can be speculated upon.
There are different factors that determine the potential value of SRA:
1) Pitch and angle of roof determine sun exposure
2) Shading from buildings, trees, etc. effect sun exposure
3) Total roof area determines how much technology can be installed
4) Geographical location determines solar insolation
5) Utility Provider
- Rebates
- Renewable Energy Quota
- Feed in Tariff/Net Metering
- Permits/Regulations
6) Roof
- Age
- Type
- Wear
7) Owner of Solar Roof Area
- Credit
- Energy Usage
- Stability
Primary importance is attributed to how many kilowatt-hours can be generated utilizing baseline technology.
These factors are variable and can be expanded upon.
Solar Roof Area will be divided into A, B, C, D grades each valued differently.
Because we can attribute value dependent upon variables, a market is required.
Values can be given in kW, kWh, $, or any arbitrary unit yet to be determined.
The Market for SRA
The supply of SRA belongs to home and property owners of any kind [the commercial solar market is starting to take off, LADWP is currently filing nearly 750kW of solar incentive paperwork a week]
The primary demand for SRA will come from those entities that can reap the benefits of solar roof area through the generation of renewable electricity
1) Utility Companies that need to generate renewable energy
2) Solar Manufacturers looking for customers
3) Solar Installers looking for work
4) Energy Financiers looking for investment opportunities
We will identify and aggregate the supply of Solar Roof Area by region.
Then let the free market dictate the value.
The homeowner benefits by gaining value on something they didn’t have a value for.
The analogy will be that of a diamond. You can take your diamond to be evaluated by different jewelers, but you don’t have to sell unless you feel it is in your interest. We will create standards to evaluate SRA, but it will be up to solar providers to give actual value via proposals. The homeowner can shop around.
Equilibrium
Having both supply and demand does not guarantee business.
It will still be up to the owner of SRA and the profit seeking entity to work out a unique agreement.
It is possible for an entity to purchase SRA to block the generation of electricity.
There are many “trigger-effects” that could create broader interest in this market
1) Rebates, Government Subsidies, Tax Credits
2) New Technology [cost, efficiency, aesthetics]
3) Change in Climate/Environmental Policy
4) Change in Societal Thought
Until it makes economic sense to utilize SRA, the commodity will remain untapped.
Memorandum of Understanding
We will build the pool of SRA through an MOU that incorporates the following tenets:
1) My interest in solar technology is dependent upon the value of my Solar Roof Area
- This is crucial to tying value to SRA
2) I will update all pertinent information on my Solar Roof Area on a regular basis [monthly]
- This is a form of quality control
3) I will respond to any offers on my Solar Roof Area in a timely basis [weekly]
- This enables a responsive market
Summary
This would create the market structure necessary for the residential solar industry.
In the process, educating the public on what a kilowatt-hour is, how much they use, and how much they can generate.
Propagating Memes 