Crown Hydro is a good opportunity for the city of Minneapolis to demonstrate it's commitment to renewable energy. Are there risks involved? Yes, anytime you have a construction project there are risks. And this project has more given it's location. But this is 2004. Predicting water flows over the falls is no longer rocket science nor is the construction problems at hand. There are risks but I have yet to see anyone show that they are great. The impression I get is that we're talking about routine surgery, let's say orthoscopic surgery on the knee, and people won't do it because there is a very small risk of a staff infection. I haven't seen many people stop to think about what the risks are if we don't allow this project to proceed.
Is this project resulting in expensive power? Yes. But what are our choices? There is no solar industry worth noting in the state. And the wind power that is the flavor of the day has many issues. For example, growth of wind farms at Buffalo Ridge and other places in the state is at some point necessitate constructing new high voltage power lines to carry that juice back to Minneapolis and surrounding communities. And if that seems like a minor issue to you, read about some of the fights that have occured over these in the recent past such as in northern Wisconsin. When the wind stops blowing, which it does in even the most consitant regions, power needs to be generated from other sources. On average, wind "plants" produce electricty 40% of the time. Fossil-fuel plants run 90% of the time. And there are subsidies to this wind power, such as the fed's $.0018 /.kwH that need to be taken into account. If you think the energy for Crown Hydro is expensive and heavily subsidised, it's not any different than what would occur with wind. I don't mean to rail against wind power. I simply want to put things in perspective. There are alternatives to this project. However, Crown offers a chance for MPLS to produce some relatively clean power in it's own back yard. We're not asking our neighbors to put up with the negatives, we're taking those responsibilities on ourselves. Allen Graetz Lowry Hill BTW - Thank you to whomever in MPLS put the map of MPLS neighborhoods on the city web site! http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/about/maps/neighborhoods.pdf REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
