Maybe it’s all part of his ongoing effort to appear more macho — you know, “Oil Rigger Charlie” — but Florida Governor Charlie Crist’s about-face on drilling for oil off Florida’s coasts took most of us by surprise this week. See, it was just a year ago that Crist called his first climate control summit here in Miami. Pensito Review blogged live from the conference, and you can review our coverage here.
The timing of his announcement this week that he’ll do anything to be vice president … oh wait, I mean his announcement that he backs John McCain’s crazy plan to open our national coastline to the oil companies is odd. See, the guv’s second climate change summit is slated for next week — Tuesday and Wednesday, June 25-26. Pensito Review will be there again, live blogging and looking for interesting stories like “Bike Guy.”
Here’s the wording of the first press release for the 2008 event:
Building on the foundation for Florida’s energy future began at last year’s summit, the 2008 summit will focus on stimulating economic development in clean technologies as well as “greening” Florida’s business community.
“Florida’s businesses continue to demonstrate that there is gold in green, and climate-friendly energy sources – like ethanol and solar energy – are bringing new prospects for our state,” said Governor Charlie Crist. “Encouraging companies to do business the green way as well as building a strong market in renewable energy technologies in the Sunshine State will strengthen our energy and economic future and protect our natural environment for generations to come.”
Whoa, how things have changed since April 29, when the governor’s office issued the release. Here’s some more insights into Crist’s former position on the environment:
Building on the policy framework of the executive orders signed at the 2007 summit, this year’s summit focuses on developing Florida’s renewable and alternative energy industries. By encouraging companies to invest in our state’s energy future, Florida will transform its energy marketplace to enhance fuel diversity, lessen dependence on foreign sources of oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The 2008 summit will bring together industry leaders, policy makers, academics, scientists, environmentalists and the business community to explore opportunities for expanding Florida’s renewable and alternative energy marketplace and greening our business community.
Since last year’s summit, Florida’s “green” economy has grown significantly. Progress Energy along with Biomass Gas & Electric of Atlanta recently announced a partnership to build in North Florida the largest waste-wood biomass plant in the nation, converting waste wood to electricity. FPL Group, one of the largest utilities in the country, has a number of solar and wind energy projects across Florida, including a $2.4 billion investment in a 300 megawatt solar facility. Also, during the Governor’s trade mission to Brazil last year, a $183 million agreement was signed between Renewable Fuels of Tallahassee LLC and Controlsud International Group to build a system that converts trash into energy in Tallahassee.
I suppose Crist’s new position, let’s call it Willing to Be Drilling, does fit into his old position, which we’ll call Hell No, You Can’t Drill, in that it reduces our dependence on foreign fuel sources. And I guess scrapping his old position would provide more trash fuel for that energy plant in Tallahassee.
So, when Crist sits up in front of the media attending the summit next week, what can we expect? Tough questioning, probing for the truth behind Charlie’s conversion, hostility from the Fourth Estate?
Stay tuned.
Biomass LoopHole!
A Questionable Gas, Gas, Gas
It turns out that it is helpful to have a former DEP Secretary own a stake in your company if you need to slink through the regulatory cracks. Biomass Gas & Electric is certainly benefiting from Mrs. Virginia Wetherell’s considerable connections and her stake in the ownership of the company. Mrs. Wetherell says she owns less than 10 percent of the company.
Mrs. Wetherell attempted to cover up her business connection in 2007 by saying she withdrew as a “consultant” on the project in order to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest. The record shows that she is and has been an owner and has a profit interest in Biomass Gas & Electric, LLC of Norcross, Ga., and also in Biomass Gas & Electric Holding LLC of Lamont, FL. since before the announcement of the company’s’ intention to seek a state permit to create gas from wood chips, pulp and paper “mill wastes”, which can be toxic, and agricultural wastes, and then burn the gas to produce electricity.
Another connection which seems questionable is that TK Wetherell, Mrs. Virginia Wetherell’s husband, the President of FSU, represents Tallahassee/Leon County on the Greater Northwest Florida Economic Development Council, which is actively seeking taxpayer funding for “energy parks”. The BG&E facility is proposed to be located on FSU property at Innovation Park.
The new energy bill which is headed to the desk of Governor Crist for his signature, defines biomass as including combustible residues or gases from forest products manufacturing, (“mill wastes” which include knots and shives, sludge, and other toxic pulp and paper mill wastes.) Mrs. Wetherell’s position on the Board of Directors of the Buckeye pulp mill in Perry will benefit her financially if the mill profits from no longer having to pay to get rid/dispose of some of its most toxic cast-offs by sending them to be burned in BG&E’s “incinerator in disguise”. Such free fuel would surely help BG&E’s bottom line also.
In fact, there is nothing in the permit application which limits BG&E to burning wood wastes from forests, yards and roadsides, so the company can burn whatever materials are cheapest, as long as DEP allows that to happen. BG&E has made the case that it should be exempt from key regulations, that it can burn up to 30 tons of municipal solid waste a day, and that it can burn construction and demolition debris, waste tires, and refuse-derived fuel
BG&E has filed to be exempt from any Federal incineration or boiler regulations (MACT standards), desiring to take advantage of a possible loophole in the regulations.
BG&E has also applied to Florida’s DEP to allow the facility to be exempt from being classified as a Waste to Energy facility. The permit application states that “The term does not include facilities that burn vegetative, agricultural, or silvicultural waste, bagasse, clean dry wood, methane or other landfill gas, wood fuel derived from construction and demolition debris, or waste tires, alone or in combination with fossil fuel. Because wood waste is being used as the primary feedstock and product gas is being used as the primary fuel, this rule would not apply to the project.”
The combustion of CCA (Chromated Copper Arsenate) treated timber is a major problem in Florida, and results in emissions of dioxins and arsenic, in addition to toxic ash . Simple visual sorting is not good enough to catch much more than 90% of the CCA-treated wood, and the arsenic found in the other 10% is deadly. There are no proven technologies that are functioning commercially that either catch and efficiently separate all CCA-treated wood, or safely incinerate it. CCA in mulch in Florida is a major problem.
Woody biomass from forests, yards and roadsides are needed for the health of the soil. There are many positive uses for these materials, such as composting, which has major climate benefits. These are also materials that are in demand and offer a strong price on the market. Even if you could guarantee that only these materials would ever enter the proposed plant, it would be cost prohibitive and not the best use of the material.
Questions remain if anyone can control what gets burned at the facility. Further, what laws, regulations and daily monitoring are in place to legally and practically ensure what waste will be processed by the facility? Tallahassee area residents should certainly oppose to the company’s application if it will include municipal solid waste, but what legally binding statutes in Florida or in Federal laws would make one confident that anyone can control what is being burned on a daily basis?
The people of Liberty County, when faced with these same questions, decided that BG&E would not be a good neighbor, and wisely turned down the facility last year. They decided that Mr. & Mrs. Wetherell had an obligation to fully reveal the truth in their connections to this loophole-filled proposal, and that the company should reveal what the facility had in its plans to burn in their community. Now BG&E has targeted Tallahassee.
Do you want to live near a Loophole Biomass Gas incinerator burning 30 tons of municipal solid wastes a day (in addition to other harmful materials such as construction and demolition debris, waste tires and refuse derived fuel, including toxic pulp and paper mill wastes) that are not federally regulated by incinerator or boiler MACT standards? If not, let your concerns be known soon.