Oops... There it is!

I have to apologize. In my post on the TRA ruling, I mistakenly indicated the Crawford County Quorum Court had approved a resolution in opposition to the Plains and Eastern line. I was wrong... they did it last night. You can read the resolution here.

Sounds like they had an impressive turnout. I wish I could have been there... especially since the rep who was there to argue on behalf of Clean Line was reportedly the same one who answered "No" back in June (outside their Russellville Office Hours) when I asked him if Clean Line had an obligation to contact landowners on the route for the scoping period. Chris probably remembers. He was also the guy who hovered thisclose to landowners attempting to talk to the press at the same event. Funny that for a gent so willing to give his opinion back then, eyewitnesses report he was unwilling to indicate whether or not he'd let his children live under the line when questioned by a young mother... From our Facebook group...

"One of the landowners Name withheld turned and ask "Clean lines" lawyer if he would allow his children to live under these lines....and he couldn't give her an answer...people were getting fired up telling him to answer her question!"

So now we have resolutions from three quorum courts and the Tribal Council of the Cherokee Nation, the letter from Congressman Womack to the Dept of Energy, a letter from the entire Arkansas delegation (plus Senator Alexander) and a swarm of angry Arkansans getting louder by the day... #canyouhearusnow?

At some point, the DoE is going to have to acknowledge the incredible failure of Clean Line to get landowners on board with this thing and recognize that they have much better things to work on than acting as permitting agency for old pals.

P.S. The day after Mario reiterated the same tired, old 10% reduction claim for property values, this video showed up.

If the Southeast and the East Coast want wind energy, they need to develop it themselves...

Clean Line Energy Partners, LLC, would like to have everyone believe that their projects are necessary, and that progress in wind energy development will be stifled significantly if the Department of Energy doesn't elect to grant their for-profit venture the right to eminent domain to condemn roughly 17,000 acres in Arkansas and Oklahoma. This is, of course, a false dichotomy. Technology and progress in both offshore wind, as well as the potential for wind energy development in the Southeast are outpacing any implied need for this project. In short, this project will be obsolete before the first shovel hits the ground.

This is a good thing. The Department of Energy has no business granting favoritism to a private, for profit business venture in the first place. The country needs to be moving renewable energy forward in a smart way that benefits the country as a whole, not just a few billionaire investors.

Clean Line will tell you that the wind resources for the Southeast are inadequate for development, and that their idea is the best one to solve this problem. The reason they tell you this is because they use outdated wind resource maps to justify their (obsolete) position. Let me give you reasoning why.

In all of their supporting documentation, Clean Line likes to use the following image. This image represents the wind resources within the United States based upon an 80 meter turbine height:

Looking at that map, you might just buy into Clean Line's argument that their idea is a great idea for the Southeast. Generally the darker colors represent better wind resources with, apparently, few resources in the Southeastern U.S. The only problem with this: this map was created in 2011. Newer maps based upon newer data, taller turbines, and more efficient blade design have been created.

In the next example, I will show you current technology that is being deployed right now, as we speak, at the 110 meter turbine height. This map was released in November of 2014:

In the above map, as with the first, the darker the color, the higher the strength of wind resource available. You might say: "It still looks like the Southeast lacks the resources for wind to become a viable option for them." I would tell you that you are right. However, let's take a look at what happens to the resource potential in the Southeast when the latest technology in development is deployed. This technology will be deployed in the next few years, and would represent 140 meter turbine height:

In the above map, the Southeast looks just a little bit better for wind energy development, doesn't it? Clean Line won't show you this map, however, because it doesn't fit the narrative for their nearly six year old idea.

Let's now take a closer look at the wind resource in each state in the Southeast and apply new technology to it, shall we?

Arkansas:

 Tennessee:

North Carolina:

South Carolina:

Louisiana:

Mississippi:

Alabama:

Georgia:

Florida:

As you can see in the above up-to-date maps, the Southeast will be available for wind development in the very near future. This, however, doesn't even take into account the vast resources that are available off our coastlines, and particularly the Atlantic coast to which Clean Line would like to serve. The image below represents the potential wind resource that is housed within our coastal waters:

According to the Department of Energy:

Offshore wind resources are abundant, stronger, and blow more consistently than land-based wind resources. Data on the technical resource potential suggest more than 4,000,000 megawatts (MW) of capacity could be accessed in state and federal waters along the coasts of the United States and the Great Lakes. While not all of this resource potential will realistically be developed, the magnitude (approximately four times the combined generating capacity of all U.S. electric power plants) represents a substantial opportunity to generate electricity near coastal populations.

We are moving in that direction. In a recent article, it is noted that the Interior Department recently announced an environmental study that supports the lease of 300,000 acres off the coast of North Carolina. According to the article:

The Interior Department has released an environmental study that supports the potential lease of 300,000 acres off the North Carolina coast for wind farms. 

Leases could be sold to wind developers in three areas of federal waters off the coast. At least five companies have expressed interest in developing wind projects off North Carolina. 

“In close coordination with our partners in North Carolina, we are moving forward to determine what places make sense to harness the enormous wind energy potential off the Atlantic seaboard,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement Thursday.

The areas selected include about 122,000 acres 24 miles off Kitty Hawk, on the Outer Banks. An area of 51,000 acres is 10 miles off Wilmington and 133,000 acres is 15 miles off Bald Head Island near Southport, on the state’s southern tip. 

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, part of the Interior Department, says those areas were picked because they protect views from shore and wildlife habitat. The wind zones would also not conflict with military operations, fishing or shipping.

Other areas are being investigated for development, as well. I will provide a more detailed offshore wind post in the future, as I don't want to make this post too long. If you have managed to make it this far, I appreciate your interest in this issue.

In closing, we are at a crossroads in this country regarding the development of renewable energy. With this post, I am not attempting to sway any person's opinion about any given source of energy. I haven't even gotten into the potential for distributed generation via solar and micro wind, biomass, and other technologies that are available. I simply write this to show everyone that, of all the options we have, Clean Line's is likely the most damaging to private landowners, the least environmentally responsible, and the least beneficial to the country as a whole.

As the states of Oklahoma and Arkansas, and as a country, we are going to have to decide which direction we are going to take. Are we going to allow an inexperienced company that was formed in 2009 that has never built anything with an outdated idea trample all over private property rights by using Section 1222 federal eminent domain to construct a 720 mile long transmission line through tornado alley, areas sacred to tribes, thousands of parcels of private land that people have been planning their futures around for multiple generations, obsolete before construction has commenced, all for the private gain of a few billionaires? Or, are we going to embrace new technologies that are local to the load centers they are to service, beneficial to local economies that are spread across the country, more secure and more efficient, and less damaging to individual populations?

I happen to think the answer is pretty clear. In a letter from Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman, dated April 5, 2012, he laid out the conditions by which the DoE would enter into an advanced funding agreement with Clean Line. One of the conditions is as follows:

There are literally thousands of people who are under tremendous amounts of stress, putting future plans on hold, wasting countless hours of time, money, and resources, on behalf of this bad idea. It is time for Secretary Moniz to utilize his exit clause.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2015/01/22/4495889/feds-propose-wind-energy-leases.html#storylink=cpy

Call to Action

© Copyright 2015

**CALL TO ACTION: HELP PROTECT YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS**

Wind power has a significant place in the new energy economy. Advances in turbine and offshore technology mean that it will soon be possible to harness greater power from wind closer to East Coast, Southeast, and load centers.

The Department of Energy is determining whether to enter into a partnership with Clean Line Energy Partners, LLC, which would enable the Southwest Power Administration to condemn the property of individual citizens on behalf of Clean Line using federal eminent domain. This, in spite of the fact that Clean Line was denied public utility status by the State of Arkansas.

We need good, permanent jobs in our state, not temporary jobs that come at the expense of our neighbors' rights. We need your help to protect your friends and ensure that projects proposed to “benefit” our state don't hurt the people who make it great.

Tell your Arkansas representatives and the Department of Energy that eminent domain for private gain is not appropriate for our country! 

Here are a couple things you can do right now to help:

1. Make a public comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement that begins with “I oppose this project because…”
You can submit your comment here (make sure to check the box to receive email confirmation):

http://www.plainsandeasterneis.com/contact-us/comment-form.html

2. Contact your Congressmen and Senators and tell them that Arkansans deserve to have a say in what happens to the land they’ve worked for and that eminent domain for private gain is WRONG! You can find their contact information here:

http://votesmart.org/officials/AR/C/arkansas-congressional#.VMUhQEc7uSo

3. Sign and share our petition:

https://www.change.org/p/dr-ernest-moniz-protect-private-landowners-from-federal-eminent-domain-abuse-by-clean-line-energy-partners-llc

You can do even more! Just last week we met a couple landowners who still didn't know they were on the route. Please like and share this post with your friends and ask them to share as well. No one should find out they're on the route after it's too late to make their feelings on this matter heard by their government! The deadline for submitting comments and letters of opposition is currently April 20, 2015.

Thank you for taking a stand for your fellow Arkansans. We are always here to listen to your stories and offer community among other affected landowners and members of the public.

Like us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arkansas-Citizens-Against-Plains-and-Eastern-Clean-Line/1397073527241617

Or join a BLOCK group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/blockcleanlinepope/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BlockPECLOK/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/642766385769035/

Points to Remember:

• Arkansas needs new sources of clean energy that are locally and responsibly generated, utilize the newest technology, do not forcibly take land from Arkansans, do not involve clear-cutting 8,000 acres, and are capable of supporting local, permanent jobs.

• The proposed delivery station in central Arkansas is not a done deal. It is an “alternative” proposed in the draft EIS by the Department of Energy, not by Clean Line. Clean Line is under no obligation to build it at this time.

• New investment in Arkansas is important. However, it is wrong to imply that such investment is only possible at the expense of private property rights.

• This project has already received tax abatement in two Tennessee counties for eleven years. A sister project, the Grain Belt Express, has also received a ten year abatement in Kansas. Furthermore, two Oklahoma legislators filed a bill to change tax incentives for wind farms in that state due to the burgeoning burden developments have placed on the state budget. Billionaire investor Warren Buffet has said, “…on wind energy, we get a tax credit if we build a lot of wind farms. That's the only reason to build them. They don't make sense without the tax credit."

• Both the siting and development of the route and Draft Environmental Impact Statement were conducted without adequate landowner input as evidenced by recent quorum court resolutions against the line, as well as a resolution by the Tribal Council of the Cherokee Nation. In fact, the length of the comment period itself was recently challenged as being insufficient by the entire Arkansas Congressional Delegation along with Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee.

• Clean Line was rejected as a public utility by the State of Arkansas. The proposed partnership with the Department of Energy using an untested law in defiance of that decision is an example of federal overreach that will undermine years of careful planning by RTO’s for wind and renewables integration.

• It is absolutely inappropriate for the federal government to condemn taxpayers’ property on behalf of a private, merchant transmission company with no history of successful development or contractually obligated end users.

• Forcing landowners to accept fair market payments for a perpetual easement on a risky project is unconscionable. Clean Line should have to negotiate all easements without the advantage of eminent domain.

A schedule for public hearings can be found here:
http://www.plainsandeasterneis.com/nepa-process/public-involvement.html

The Draft EIS can be found here:
http://www.plainsandeasterneis.com/draft-eis.html

An interactive map of the proposed and alternate routes can be found here: 
http://www.plainsandeasterneis.com/interactive-map.html

Voices from the Route: Brandon's Story

Brandon's brother on horseback

We’ll be doing a post very soon on our awesome Arkansas Delegation, along with Senator Lamar Alexander, and their call to extend the comment period on the EIS. Right now, we really just want to bring you another voice from the route…

On Thursday, President Obama gave his sixth State of the Union speech. Predictably, Clean Line took a snippet on energy:

“America is number one in ‪windpower.”

…and added their own footnote on their Facebook page:

“We need long-haul transmission lines to move America’s vast renewable energy resources to market.”

Now, I know the POTUS talked a bit about infrastructure, but I don’t recall him saying anything quite like that… He did say this though:

“And as a new generation of veterans comes home, we owe them every opportunity to live the American Dream they helped defend.”

So, this is Brandon Bishop from Oklahoma:

"Here’s my story. I didn’t have a lot of direction in my life when I was younger. I joined the Marine Corps when I was 19. I was just trying to get a start. I figured if nothing else, after serving at least I’d have the opportunity to get a better job. Got married two months before I joined. It was hard on us, but we made it. I served for four years and went to Desert Storm.

I don’t feel entitled, but I feel like I’ve done a lot of things that others haven’t. I’ve served my country, worked hard, paid my taxes. I’m a disabled veteran and a productive citizen.

They’re wanting to run that line right down the center of the land where I want to build.  I’m not a rich man, but I’ve got that land out there…That was passed down to me. That’s what we do. I’m setting my kids up for success. I’ve been setting this up for years and years so that they would have something... A place.  We were going to build a retirement home there. A little log home.  My daughter grew up here. She’s really fond of that land, she’s got a lot of memories. She and her grandfather worked horses there.

These people (Clean Line) don’t know anything about me. They want to run through my property and destroy my hopes and dreams. I don’t have any ill intent for anybody, but it’s appalling to me… for them not even give me a say-so. It’s legalized thievery to me. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

So many people anymore, they sell out… but we just want to run the cattle and cut the hay, appreciate the beauty of the land. If we got another 200 acre tract of land, what’s to stop them from doing the same thing there? To me it’s abusive to the American people.

How much is enough? Before the people have had enough of it? All I’m telling you is my honest opinion.  And even if I wasn’t on the line, I’d feel the same way. I’d stand up for my neighbors the way I’d want them to stand up for me."

The cart is still before the horse...

Yesterday a couple of events occurred that represent a kind of perfect microcosm for the entire debacle that has been Clean Line Energy Partners, LLC's outreach efforts for Plains and Eastern.

First, the Cherokee Nation's Tribal Council unanimously approved a resolution in opposition to Plains and Eastern. Please check out the video from that meeting. The Plains and Eastern discussion begins at minute 46. Possibly the most interesting comment comes from a Ms. Watts, who rightfully calls for an investigation as to why no one in the tribe had heard of the line until recently, when Clean Line claims to have been in contact with the CN for the last three years.

Several hours later, Clean Line Energy Partners issued a press release celebrating their approval as a transmission only utility in Tennessee. As we have not yet been able to review the order from the TRA, we can't comment on the specifics. Experience in Illinois tells us that Clean Line is adept at spinning regulatory approval, but regardless of the details, this is a big deal for them... And probably for those last few holdout landowners in Tennessee waiting for them to get that approval before signing easements.

We knew our efforts in Tennessee were a long shot, but we are so proud of the hundreds of people who signed our letter and sent in letters of their own. And, really, part of what we're fighting for is the ability of state and regional planning organizations to maintain their sovereignty. The TRA's decision to allow Clean Line utility status in spite of the objections in Arkansas and Oklahoma are a consequence of that sovereignty. That's not such a bad thing. Click here to view the docket and the letters in opposition.

How does this relate to the project as a whole? Well, once again, Clean Line has put the cart about 700 miles in front of the horse. They have their endpoint all sewn up, while the people in the middle are throwing their hands up and asking, "Clean who?" And, clearly, they're not all that happy with the answer.

How do we know that? Well, Clean Line makes a big deal about it's involvement with local government. Their goal is to get those guys on board. They've been pretty open about that... But there's a big, huge, honkin' problem with that strategy... You can't expect to get away with it if the people, the landowners, aren't on board, too. The local government is elected by the people. Not the people who live two hundred miles away, but neighbors, friends, and family members. So when the grocer's kid calls his local judge crying because the house he just built two years ago is on the route and NOBODY seemed to know about the scoping period, there aren't enough promises of tax income in the world to ease the queasy feeling that judge is going to get in the pit of his stomach. It also doesn't help when Clean Line's reps roll their eyes at landowners during county meetings (Way to go, Mario!! Listen, you can say we're full of it all day, but the bottom line is that if you guys had gone about this whole thing a little differently, we would not find ourselves the situation that we do.)

Where's the proof? Here, here, and here. Three quorum courts. Three unanimous resolutions in opposition to Plains and Eastern. Are they binding? No, but they're important. You want to take the temperature of the mood of the people? There you go. By the way, Pope is one of the two counties that have been suggested as home to the converter station. I guess taxes aren't everything...

Meanwhile, we continue to hold meetings in an attempt to reach people who still don't know about the line... Though we still get the occasional immediately affected landowner who doesn't know, we've seen a huge increase in pissed off neighbors, if I can be so blunt. People who live next to the proposed route, but not on it. I'll let this gentleman explain...

Before I go, I mentioned blossoming Clean Line opposition in multiple states in my last post. I should have just linked to all the different groups. Come visit us:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/blockcleanlinepope/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arkansas-Citizens-Against-Clean-Line-Energy/1397073527241617
http://arblockcleanline.com/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BlockPECLOK/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/642766385769035/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Block-RICL-Rock-Island-Clean-Line/133050610203359
http://www.blockricl.com/
https://www.facebook.com/blockgrainbeltexpressmo
http://blockgbemo.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Block-Clean-Line-Energy/474445082622090
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Block-Grain-Belt-Express-Illinois/344837389031181
http://ridiculousricl.blogspot.com/

My Son, the Doctor...

Taking back NIMBY...

I know I promised new writers (and they are coming), but I have to take one more whack at eminent domain. This is why…

So, a banker, an energy industry worker, and a land agent stumble onto a post…

I confess. A few days after ribbing Clean Line for “sponsoring” ads on Facebook, we boosted a post for our petition with the help of the Arkansas Citizens Against Clean Line Energy page. I know, I know… but we thought it would really help us reach more people. We were right. And out of the many, many people who viewed our post, we only got negative comments from three.  The land agent was by far the most entertaining. I’m blocking out his name and picture here on the off chance that he actually works for Contract Land Staff and used some bad judgment in breaking Clean Line’s Code of Conduct.  It’s his job… He’s defensive… We get it. We’re all human.

Of course, as a rule we don’t remove comments. People sometimes, but comments never. Why? Because that’s playing pretty dirty (cough, cough) and because if we can’t defend our position, publicly, we don’t really have one.

Aside from pointing out the obvious irony in his statement, I want you to pick up on the essence of what he’s saying… No, not that we don’t know what we’re talking about. See if you can guess…

Got it? It’s essentially the same thing we got from the other two people… And what I’ve heard from a couple more as well, members of the Sierra Club specifically... 

“We all have to make sacrifices and it’s not like they take the land for free. It’s just NIMBY.”

Now, aside from the fact that the people who say that most often aren’t the ones being asked to make the sacrifice, I have a real problem with anyone who dismisses another person’s situation out of hand because of what they judge it to be. That denotes a rather disturbing lack of empathy and almost seems like a kind of defense mechanism to keep the dismissor from having to think too long and hard about what they’re suggesting. It’s like people who tell other people that they’re going to Hell without the slightest real consideration of what they are so flippantly condemning someone to. Whether you’re a believer of not, especially if you are, that’s not cool.

But how do you really wrap your head around what eminent domain does? How do you explain a taking to someone who’s never experienced it? Because really, there is no other area in our lives where something like eminent domain is acceptable. Yes, we pay taxes… but we all pay them. Some more than others, but still. This gets into why it is so important that eminent domain be so carefully guarded... Used so sparingly and with such thought and consideration. It’s hard to answer the question, “When is eminent domain okay?” It’s almost easier to identify when it isn’t. But rather than get into all that… again, let’s do this…

I propose a thought experiment. An exercise in empathy. C’mon… It’ll be fun and I’ll get to show off my babies.

Babies! What kind of warped mother compares her babies to property?

Ugh, I know! But stay with me through this part and then you can bail if you want… because this is gonna be long.

First of all, there is nothing more precious to me than my kids. For a lot of people on this line, and the others, the same is true… but their land is a close second. Why? Because it’s what they live off of. It’s their retirement plan. It’s what they’ll leave for their children. It’s their past, present, and future. And, like our children, we only get to nurture it for a little while. We are the stewards. The protectors. We are responsible for what it becomes.

Second, children are what is most precious to most of us. At this point, I can’t think of any other group of beings so universally adored and for whom most of us have some kind of connection. So, no, children are not the same as land, but windmills are not the same as transmission lines and goodness knows Clean Line has enough pictures of turbines on their literature, so here we go…

This is my son. He’s in disguise to protect his privacy. He’s nine and he’s brilliant. Not in a “River Tam before the Alliance summer camp” kind of way, but brilliant. He reads at an eleventh grade level. Math comes easy. So does science. Getting dressed, not so much. He comes out of his room with his undershirt over his flannel on a regular basis. His shoes are always untied… or knotted beyond belief with the loose ends trailing behind him. He’s incredibly sensitive to the needs and emotional temperature of other people. He has a deep sense of justice… a regard for the dignity of others.

This is my daughter… burping. You can’t tell from this picture how incredibly beautiful she is. We call her “The General” because, from infancy, she has had a remarkable ability to shape her environment (and the people in it) to suit her needs. She is also brilliant, but where my son is less concerned with the temporal, she has a common sense that is frighteningly efficient.

This is my baby. I’m not sure who he’ll be quite yet. He’s musical. He rocks the harmonica and sings all the time. He’s also a snuggler, apt to run up and hug a stranger’s legs. He likes to grab my face, a tiny hand on each cheek, look deep into my eyes, and nod. I don’t know what he’s nodding at, but he says, “YES!!” with his whole little being.

So, during this experiment you are going to be me. My family is your family… And I am going to come for your son...

I work for a company partnering with the government to find children we think will make excellent doctors. There’s a shortage of doctors, especially primary care physicians, and while we think you are doing a perfectly adequate job of raising your son, if we take him now and turn him into a doctor, the public will benefit in the long run.

How will they benefit? Well, the school we plan to use to train him will benefit from the influx of resources. Eventually, his patients will benefit. And, of course the company will make a profit. And we can’t forget about the nurses. Don’t you care about the nurses? They need jobs. How selfish of you not to give up your son for the nurses. Don’t you care about other people?

Besides, it’s not like you won’t see him. There will be a video feed. Everyday you’ll be able to see him. You can’t kiss him, you can’t hug him, and you certainly can’t make any decisions about his future. You will be required to pay for his room and board, but we’re going to give you a puppy to make this easier for you. Don’t you want a puppy? Fine, we’ll give you two puppies and some cash. There, aren’t you happy now?

No? I don’t understand why not. No offense, but it really doesn’t matter that he wants to be a paleontologist. All nine year olds want to be paleontologists. This is better. This is about a better future. If we want a better future, we all have to make sacrifices. People have been sacrificing their children since Mayan times, why should you be treated differently. This is the way it’s always been done. We can’t change it.

I understand your concerns, but if we wait a few more years, it’ll take him longer to graduate and we’ll lose the income he could have been producing (besides, advances in tele-medicine could make this program obsolete by then). Physician’s assistants? Nurse practitioners? No, those things don’t work. It has to be this way. This is the only way that makes sense for us. And, frankly, you can’t afford to take us to court. We have more money, connections, and expertise than you do, and when it’s all over we’ll just take him anyway. The most the court will give you is more cash and puppies. You don’t get to argue whether it’s fair for us to take him in the first place. Don't bother, you’ll just be giving money to the lawyers. Hey, everybody’s got to have a doctor.

Oh, goodness, no. He won’t come back here to practice. There aren’t enough patients here. He’ll be in Charlotte, or maybe Richmond… We’re not really sure. We don’t have any places set up for him to work yet, but it won’t be here. Maybe he can come back for Christmas, but we can’t guarantee anything. We’re not going to commit to that yet, that’s just one of the alternatives we’re looking at.

Can you have him back if it doesn’t work out? No, you don’t get him back. We’ll just sell him to another firm… Which we might do anyway, in which case, they’ll have different rules for you, but no more cash or puppies.

Why, no... We’ve never done a project quite like this before, though we’ve been in the medical industry for years. We’re brand new. Isn’t that innovative? Don’t you trust us? Here, look at this art deco sculpture of a doctor. Doesn’t that make you feel better? See, I’m smiling. I’m nice, right? You can’t be upset about this if I smile and act nice.

I don’t understand why you say you’ve never heard of us before. We sent you a postcard. No, it didn’t say that we wanted to take your son, but it said we were thinking about starting a school. I don’t know why you wouldn’t have seen it. We’ve been very active in the community-- We’ve been talking to literacy campaigns and state/federal officials about this for years. We took out ads in the paper. You don’t read the newspaper every day? Oh, well. I guess you don’t deserve to have a say in what happens to your kid if you’re not going to read the paper every day.

Now, before I leave, I have to tell you… I’m looking at your daughter. I’m not really sure if I’ll be back for her yet. I have to see how things pan out, but she’s a very smart young lady. Why are you crying? You’ll get another puppy! And you still have your baby. But you should know that I can come back for him at any time also. If fact, I, or someone from another company, can come back for any child you have or may ever have. There’s no requirement that we stop taking them after we’ve taken so many. We may have to eventually pay for you to have another if we’re using the federal government to do it, but not if we’re using the state. Anyway, we can take that child away, too.  It just makes more sense, don’t you see? It's for the public good. You’ve already given up a child. In some vague way here, I’m acknowledging the damage I’ve done to you, but only in the sense that since the damage has already been done, it’s easier to hurt you more than to start fresh with someone else. You don’t want anyone else to be hurt do you? Though I still don’t understand why you’re upset. Puppies! Cash! Yay!

Ugh, I’m so tired of people like you, you know that? All you NOOMK’s. That’s what it is you know, you’re just a NOOMK—Not One of My Kids. You don’t have any real objections to this project. No real justification for not wanting to give him to us. Nothing you’ve said tonight meets our criteria for a real concern. You’re just rationalizing your NOOMK-ism. It’s sad really, that you are so very selfish.

Whew! Okay. Well, I hope that gives someone a little perspective. Now obviously there are going to be some people who are really okay with, or even want, the transmission line (or at least I hope there are since Clean Line seems to think they’ll be able to “negotiate” the majority of the line—with eminent domain at their back of course), and that’s their prerogative (though it may suck for neighbors not hosting the line who'll lose property value). This exercise is about those people who don’t want it. Of course, I've used a touch of hyperbole, but I’m not quite sure how else to get through. I feel a bit like the guy in Whoville trying to find that one last “yip” or “yop” to break through the atmosphere.

We are not unaware of the world around us. We’re not oblivious to climate change. We’re not blissfully revving our engines (at least not most of us). We live the land. The drought that Diana Rivera referred to in her Congestion Study comment… we lived it. All we are saying… Well, all I’m saying... is that there has got to be a better way than this. And if we don’t stand up and say it now, the future of our energy industry is going to work a lot like the past… except meaner and more streamlined, with even less local control.

Let me be clear, the responsibility for the opposition that is blossoming in every state in which Clean Line is proposing a project falls directly on their own shoulders. It has a lot less to do with NIMBY than it does with Clean Line’s failure to effectively and proactively engage the people who will be most directly impacted by their projects. And the people out there, few as they have been, who feel so smug in throwing out the NIMBY label, need to pull their heads out of Clean Line’s pretty, glossy brochures and think hard about what that acronym really means.

Clean Line's jobs fantasy versus jobs reality...

So, if you've been following what Clean Line has been doing closely, you'll notice that the one thing they say consistently in their attempt to garner support for their projects is "jobs, jobs, jobs". Every where you look, on every project, Clean Line has made one claim: each one of their projects is going to create "thousands" of jobs. Five thousand temporary and five hundred permanent. I will give you an example where this has been done for each project below:

Rock Island Clean Line
Grain Belt Express
Plains and Eastern (I won't mention the paltry $14,000 per mile Clean Line has allotted for OK landowners)
Centennial West

Lately, in Arkansas, we have been bombarded by one half to three quarter page "feel good" ads from Clean Line, and we're always directed to visit the website "supportcleanenergyarkansas.com". I do just that regularly, because it is interesting to follow how Clean Line has been "adjusting" their webpage to fit the current narrative as this has played out. It's nice to take a few screenshots here and there, just for reference purposes. This is what the current page looks like when you click on the above link:

Why is this important? Because Clean Line has been being disingenuous about their jobs claims to try to garner support by over-hyping the benefits for all of their projects, that's why. Remember, we are always told to "go to their website" to find out more information about their projects.

However, since the Draft Environmental Impact statement has been released, Clean Line has been changing some things on its website. I am sure they probably thought we didn't notice, but we like to keep a pretty close eye on them. They can sometimes be a little bit sneaky. This is what another, assumingly mistakenly unchanged section of Clean Line's website looks like today:

As opposition, we have long thought that Clean Line's jobs claims are over-hyped, and it turns out, they are. Let's have a look at what the Draft EIS has to say about the jobs the Plains and Eastern will create:

Peak workforce during construction of 1,700 workers, with an average employment of 965 people. That being said, let's have a look at what percentage of workers would be local to Arkansas:

"Approximately 26 percent of the construction workforce is expected to be hired locally, and an estimated 74 percent of the total construction workforce is assumed to be non-local for the duration of the project." Given the above estimates, let's do a little math about the amount of jobs that would be created because of construction in both Oklahoma and Arkansas:

• Assuming that Oklahoma would host ~400 miles of the line, and Arkansas would host ~300, this gives Oklahoma an average percentage of construction workforce of 57%, and Arkansas 43%. 
• Knowing that average construction employment is 965 x 26% local = 251 total construction related jobs for Oklahoma and Arkansas on average.
• Assuming 251 temporary construction-related jobs would be dispersed across both Oklahoma and Arkansas, the Project would provide each state with 143 and 108 local, temporary jobs, respectively.

How's that for "hundreds"?

But what about permanent jobs?

Again, assuming that Oklahoma and Arkansas would receive 57 and 43 percent of total employment for operations and maintenance of the "Project" that gives us the following permanent jobs numbers for both states:

• Oklahoma - 57% x 57 full time workers = 32 permanent jobs (includes 15 for OK converter station)
• Arkansas - 43% x 57 full time workers = 25 permanent jobs (includes 15 for AR converter station)

So, how did Clean Line come up with the wild jobs estimates of "more than 5,000 temporary, and more than 500 permanent jobs"? One would suspect that, for effect, Clean Line has lumped all of the jobs created for all aspects of construction of the transmission line, manufacturing of the towers, insulators, and cable, and construction of the wind farms that could potentially ensue. However, bringing the following image back into the equation, Clean Line leaves further questions about their calculations on its own website that we are always directed to:

So, in the above image they admit that, for maintaining and operating the wind farms and the transmission line, they will create over 500 jobs. However, in the following sentence, they use the terms "in addition to these jobs". Even if you run the numbers on the jobs created for operation and maintenance should the wind farms actually be built to supply the line, you're still looking at a best case scenario of 367, and a worst case of 248 for the operation and maintenance of both the wind farms and the transmission line. 

So, where does the "more than 5,000 temporary and more than 500 permanent" number come from, Clean Line?

My point here is pretty simple: the jobs calculations for this Project should only be applied to the transmission line, since it is the "Project" in question. Clean Line really has no right or grounds to claim that they are going to "create" any jobs within the wind farms that would be constructed, because the wind farms to be constructed are not a part of Clean Line's project. The only project and associated impacts that Clean Line should be estimating jobs totals on is the transmission line. Doing otherwise is a result of either inexperience, or Clean Line is being deliberately disingenuous to garner support for its unnecessary project. I suspect it is probably both.

Still wish to forfeit your property rights to an inexperienced and disingenuous company that was founded in 2009? I don't!