I'm posting it because of the information about the North Dakota coal industry which I know little about. I can check it out on Wikipedia but that won't give me any idea of what's really going on now, or the "buzz" as they say.
The other two parts of the article are on South Dakota ethanol industry, known to some as the Daschle Debacle; and the Minnesota wind-generated electricity industry, the killer of birds.
So, a little bit of something for everyone.
Here are some data points for the ND coal industry. Well, actually not much. The two first paragraphs, instead:
North Dakota’s four lignite mines produce about 30 million tons of coal every year. About 80 percent is used to generate electricity and the other 20 percent is used to make synthetic natural gas and other valuable byproducts such as fertilizer. The electricity serves about two million customers in North Dakota and surrounding states. More than 50 percent of the electricity generated in North Dakota is used in Minnesota.
The state of North Dakota is one of 11 "clean air" states, which means it meets all of the federal government's clean air standards. The state receives more than $90 million in tax revenues every year from the lignite industry, and the mines and plants represent some of the best paying jobs in the state with salaries averaging about $80,000.
$80,000 salaries, average, in North Dakota! Wow. I had no idea. I wonder how much a windmill job pays?
Last windmill job I seen advertised a few days ago was 37$ hr for exp jrnymn, iowa
ReplyDelete40x40x52=$83,000.
ReplyDeleteWonderful things brought to you through subsidization. The brave new world is here, booze for cars and bird grinders! Isn't it beautiful?
ReplyDeleteThe loathing and contempt I have for faux-environmentalists is immeasurable.
DeleteI used to give most environmentalists a pass, give them the benefit of the doubt, sort of a "live, and let live"; on balance I thought our environment was better through some of their initiatives.
But with the faux-environmentalists support of wind turbines in migratory bird paths, my patience no longer runs thin; it runs not. After all the work it has taken to bring the whooping crane back from near extinction, and now this.
Beer for cars is simply an economic, not an emotional, issue for me. Anyone with greater than an 8th grade education and a sincere desire to help the environment knows that ethanol is a sham.