Why Not Ohio? Huge Response to Ontario's Feed-in Tariff Launch
Dennis Spisak -
Green Party candidate for Ohio Governor cites a report by Paul Gipe last week about Ontario's Feed-in tariff program becoming a huge success.
"This is the type of government involvement that is needed to make a successful committment to renewable energy programs and to get them off the ground."said Spisak. "This type of program in Ohio would help people save money and begive the drive toa cleaner and greener Ohio in terms of renewable energies" he concluded.
According to the report, Ontario's new feed-in tariff program got off to an attention-grabbing start December 16, 2009 when the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) announced that it had awarded 700 contracts for renewable energy to homeowners under its expedited microFIT program.
Altogether, OPA received 8,000 MW of applications for wind and solar energy contracts under the province's precedent-setting, feed-in tariff policy.
OPA's remarkable press release was well timed to send a signal, if any was intended, to the Canadian delegation in Copenhagen where Canada was singled out as "Fossil of the Year" by climate change activists for its refusal to limit greenhouse gases.
Ontario is acting independently of Canada's federal government and plans to close all its coal-fired power plants by 2014. The province, Canada's most populous, is also aggressively developing its renewable energy industry. OPA's announcement was the first concrete indication of how fast the Ontario market may grow.
OPA estimates that the feed-in tariff program will stimulate more than $5 billion (Canadian) in new manufacturing, design, construction, and engineering investment in the province.
But the news that generated the most media buzz in Canada and elsewhere was the microFIT contracts. Saying the program "literally brings power to the people," Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Gerry Phillips sounded like a 1960s radical. He went on to add that the MicroFIT program "allows homeowners, farmers, schools and mom and pop businesses" to generate their own power "and get paid for it".
Under Ontario's microFIT program, homeowners generating their own electricity from solar PV will be paid $0.80 CAD/kWh ($0.76 USD/kWh) for a period of 20 years.
Indeed, it does sound radical, a program enabling citizens to profit from the renewable energy that falls on their rooftops. And Phillips wasn't alone in embracing the province's accomplishment-or sounding revolutionary.
Colin Anderson, OPA's chief executive, proudly noted that "We've cut the red tape and made it simpler for ordinary Ontarians to become electricity producers."
For Anderson and the OPA this wasn't idle boasting. They delivered North America's most aggressive renewable energy program in record-breaking time.
OPA said it was continuing to process another 500 micoFIT applications. When awarded, OPA will have issued a total 8.6 MW of contracts--nearly all for rooftop solar PV--to generators with projects less than 10 kW. These residential solar systems will generate nearly nine million kilowatt-hours per year under Ontario conditions.
Ontario's microFIT contracts alone will put Ontario close to one of the top ten markets for solar PV in North America. Yet the microFIT contracts represent just the tip of the iceberg.
Of the 8,000 MW of applications for feed-in tariffs, nearly 1,300 MW were for solar PV, and 6,300 MW were for wind energy.
Unfortunately, there is only 2,500 MW of grid capacity available in the first phase of OPA's feed-in tariff program. Another 1,500 MW of grid expansion is currently under construction.
In the meantime, OPA is giving preference to projects that are "shovel-ready" to get as much renewable energy in the ground as quickly as possible.
Within three to five years there could be as much as 4,000 MW of new renewable capacity in Ontario. Under Ontario conditions this would be roughly 3% to 5% of the province's electricity consumption. If achieved, this would be the most rapid growth of renewable energy in North America outside Texas.
For comparison, California--the one-time renewable energy leader in North America--currently generates only slightly more than 2% of its electricity consumption from new renewables.
Ontario has clearly put itself on the renewable energy map. This time next year we can judge the province by what really counts: not by the contracts awarded, but by the hardware installed.
Http://www.votespisak.org/governor/
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Reuters: U.N. envoy slams U.S. for unanswered drone questions
http://www.reuters.com/article/gc05/idUSTRE59Q51220091027
By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States must demonstrate that it is not randomly killing people in violation of international law through its use of unmanned drones on the Afghan border, a U.N. rights investigator said on Tuesday.
Philip Alston, a U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, also said the U.S. refusal to respond to U.N. concerns that the use of pilotless drones might result in illegal executions was an "untenable" position.
Alston, who is appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council, said his concern over drones, or predators, had grown in the past few months as the U.S. military prominently used the weapons in the rugged border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan where fighting against insurgents has been heavy.
"What we need is for the United States to be more up front and say, 'OK we're prepared to discuss some aspects of this program,'" the Australian law professor told reporters.
"Otherwise you have the really problematic bottom line, which is that the Central Intelligence Agency is running a program that is killing significant numbers of people and there is absolutely no accountability in terms of the relevant international laws," he said.
Critics say attacks using drones have resulted in unnecessary civilian deaths.
The killing of civilians, especially during operations by foreign forces, have infuriated Afghans and increased hostility toward the presence of international troops nearly eight years after the Taliban's fall in Afghanistan.
During a speech to the U.N. General Assembly earlier on Tuesday, Alston stepped up pressure for Washington to answer questions he first raised in June about the drones. He said the United States could well be using the drones legally, but the country needed to be more open about the program.
The United States told the Human Rights Council in June that it has an extensive legal framework to respond to unlawful killings. It also objected to Alston's criticism, saying the U.N. investigator did not have the mandate to cover military and intelligence.
Alston wants to know the legal basis on which the United States is operating the drones, precautions it is taking to ensure these weapons are used strictly for purposes consistent with international humanitarian law, and what mechanisms are in place to review the use of the weapons.
"The response of the United States is simply untenable," Alston said.
"And that (U.S. response) is that the Human Rights Council, and the General Assembly by definition, have no role in relation to killings that take place in relation to an armed conflict," he said. "That would remove a great majority of issues that come before (the United Nations) right now."
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States must demonstrate that it is not randomly killing people in violation of international law through its use of unmanned drones on the Afghan border, a U.N. rights investigator said on Tuesday.
Philip Alston, a U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, also said the U.S. refusal to respond to U.N. concerns that the use of pilotless drones might result in illegal executions was an "untenable" position.
Alston, who is appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council, said his concern over drones, or predators, had grown in the past few months as the U.S. military prominently used the weapons in the rugged border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan where fighting against insurgents has been heavy.
"What we need is for the United States to be more up front and say, 'OK we're prepared to discuss some aspects of this program,'" the Australian law professor told reporters.
"Otherwise you have the really problematic bottom line, which is that the Central Intelligence Agency is running a program that is killing significant numbers of people and there is absolutely no accountability in terms of the relevant international laws," he said.
Critics say attacks using drones have resulted in unnecessary civilian deaths.
The killing of civilians, especially during operations by foreign forces, have infuriated Afghans and increased hostility toward the presence of international troops nearly eight years after the Taliban's fall in Afghanistan.
During a speech to the U.N. General Assembly earlier on Tuesday, Alston stepped up pressure for Washington to answer questions he first raised in June about the drones. He said the United States could well be using the drones legally, but the country needed to be more open about the program.
The United States told the Human Rights Council in June that it has an extensive legal framework to respond to unlawful killings. It also objected to Alston's criticism, saying the U.N. investigator did not have the mandate to cover military and intelligence.
Alston wants to know the legal basis on which the United States is operating the drones, precautions it is taking to ensure these weapons are used strictly for purposes consistent with international humanitarian law, and what mechanisms are in place to review the use of the weapons.
"The response of the United States is simply untenable," Alston said.
"And that (U.S. response) is that the Human Rights Council, and the General Assembly by definition, have no role in relation to killings that take place in relation to an armed conflict," he said. "That would remove a great majority of issues that come before (the United Nations) right now."
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Dr. Weil Threatened by FDA Over Immune-Boosting Supplements
Dr. Weil Threatened by FDA Over Immune-Boosting Supplements
FDA, FTC threaten Dr. Weil over immune-boosting supplements for H1N1 swine flu
By Mike Adams
Natural News, October 22, 2009
Straight to the Source
In working to protect the business interests of vaccine manufactures, both the FDA and FTC have declared all-out war against any products that might offer consumers options other than vaccines. This week, that war against natural remedies reached the shores of Dr. Andrew Weil, who is perhaps the best-known alternative medicine doctor in America. In an intimidating, threatening letter jointly issued by the FTC and the FDA, these rogue government agencies threatened Dr. Weil with criminal prosecution for making true statements about his immune-boosting formula such as, "Astragalus ... is ... used traditionally to ward off colds and flu, and has demonstrated both antiviral and immune-boosting effects in scientific investigation."
This statement, although scientifically valid and true, is a threat to the profits of the vaccine industry, and so Dr. Weil's company is being targeted by the FTC / FDA vaccine racket tag-team for termination.
You can review the FTC threats against Dr. Weil on the FTC's own website: http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetter...
FDA, FTC threaten Dr. Weil over immune-boosting supplements for H1N1 swine flu
By Mike Adams
Natural News, October 22, 2009
Straight to the Source
In working to protect the business interests of vaccine manufactures, both the FDA and FTC have declared all-out war against any products that might offer consumers options other than vaccines. This week, that war against natural remedies reached the shores of Dr. Andrew Weil, who is perhaps the best-known alternative medicine doctor in America. In an intimidating, threatening letter jointly issued by the FTC and the FDA, these rogue government agencies threatened Dr. Weil with criminal prosecution for making true statements about his immune-boosting formula such as, "Astragalus ... is ... used traditionally to ward off colds and flu, and has demonstrated both antiviral and immune-boosting effects in scientific investigation."
This statement, although scientifically valid and true, is a threat to the profits of the vaccine industry, and so Dr. Weil's company is being targeted by the FTC / FDA vaccine racket tag-team for termination.
You can review the FTC threats against Dr. Weil on the FTC's own website: http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetter...
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Hospital Raided By Honduran Renegade Government
CIRIBOYA'S HOSPITAL GARIFUNA IS CLOSED
Yesterday at five in the morning, the Hospital Garífuna de
Ciriboya was invaded, by elements of the national police and
soldiers that broke in through a window. In the first
operation ,approximately fifteen soldiers and police
participated, which alleged to be participating in an
anti-narcotics operation.
This action on the part of coup
government of the Ministry of security and Defense, serves to
add itself to the persecution that is occurring in our country
against the national resistance to the coup d'etat. Days before
the Ministry of Health disqualified the hospital turning it
into a simple center of health, to the detriment of the
population garífuna and mestiza of the Municipality of Iriona.
The Hospital of Ciriboya is part of the project Luagu Hatuadi
Waduhenu, first popular hospital garífuna, which is a model
of medical attention in Honduras, taken care of by doctors
trained and graduated from ELAM (Latin American
Medicine School) in Cuba. The social function they are
fulfilling (the graduates of ELAM) in Honduras contrasts
sharply with the the majority of the Honduran trained
doctors, who have been reluctant to serve in the countryside
and remote areas of the country.
The Hospital of Ciriboya was
constructed with the support of unions of California and our
own efforts of the people of the garífuna villages, through the
leadership of Dr. Luther Castillo, who at present has been
one the organizers in the defense of the democracy and the
construction of a participatory government of our country for
all, which includes a constituent assembly .
The isolation in
which the garífunas communities live in Iriona and
Walumugu has been a favorite place used by the narcotics
traffickers in conspiracy with the elite, they are able to use
local people and the desolated areas to make their landings,
having logistical support of gangs associated to the national
elite. The complex phenomenon of the drug trafficking in
Honduras, on the North coast especially, has been going on
for several decades, without ,to this date, the determining
measures to change the course of the situation.
IT is public
knowledge who these people are, and of their untouchable
nature and their ties to the illicit business, those that persist
in using pseudo-clandestine plantations of African palm and
airports, but their economic power acquits them of any
crime. The closing of the hospital is a clear message sent to the
garífuna people, by their participation - especially of Dr.
Castillo and the personnel of the Hospital - in the resistance to
the coup d'etat.
For the OFRANEH the punitive action against the Hospital,
is one more of a sample of racism that prevails between the
followers of the coup participants, those that see the medical
support of the Cubans, as exemplary campaigns of
alphabetization which have been realized in some parts of the
country, and medicine with a social vision seems to threaten
the prevailing feudal regime in the country.
We ask ourselves
if there certainly exists " intelligentsia" between the security
forces, like those coming to search the hospital, with the
pretext that the day before an airplane had landed supposedly
unloaded drugs in the surrounding communities. For our
garífuna people, the closing of the Hospital of Ciriboya, is one
more aggression that demonstrates one of the fundamental
objectives of the government de facto is to destroy the
communitarian vision and to promote the violence.
It is
incredible that one of the best examples of communitarian
health on the the continent, is attacked by a government
conformed by a handful of mercenaries in the service of the
South command and the banana, telephone and oil companies
that want to preserve the Status Quo in Honduras.
IN La Ceiba, 7 of October of the 2009. Honduran Black
Brotherly organization, OFRANEH
ALLANADO HOSPITAL GARIFUNA DE CIRIBOYA
El día de ayer a las cinco de la mañana, fue allanado el Hospital Garífuna de Ciriboya, por elementos de la policía Preventiva y soldados los que irrumpieron al recinto a través de una ventana. En el operativo participaron aproximadamente quince elementos, los cuales adujeron estar participando en un operativo antinarcóticos.
Esta acción por parte de elementos del Ministerio de seguridad y de Defensa, viene a añadirse a la persecución que se está dando en nuestro país en contra de la resistencia nacional al golpe de Estado. Días antes el Ministerio de Salud descalificó al hospital convirtiéndole en un simple centro de salud, en detrimento de la población garífuna y mestiza del Municipio de Iriona.
El Hospital de Ciriboya es la sede del proyecto Luagu Hatuadi Waduhenu, primer hospital popular garífuna, el cual es un modelo de atención médica en Honduras, atendidos por médicos egresados de la ELAM (Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina) con sede en Cuba.
La función social que ha venido cumpliendo los egresados de la ELAM en Honduras contrasta con la visión capitalista de la mayoría de los médicos Hondureños, los que han sido renuentes a prestar sus servicios en las zonas rurales del país.
El Hospital de Ciriboya fue construido con el apoyo de sindicatos de California además de esfuerzos propios del pueblo garífuna, a través del tezón del Dr. Luther Castillo, el que en las actuales circunstancias ha sido uno los abanderados en la defensa de la democracia y la construcción de un proyecto de país para todos, que incluye el imperativo de una asamblea constituyente.
El aislamiento en que viven las comunidades garífunas de Iriona y Walumugu ha sido aprovechado por los narcotraficantes que en contubernio con la elite de poder local han utilizado lugares desolados para efectuar sus desembarcos, teniendo apoyo logístico de bandas asociadas a la elite de poder nacional.
El complejo fenómeno del narcotráfico en Honduras, en especial en la costa norte se viene dando desde hace varias décadas, sin que hasta la fecha existan las medidas determinantes para cambiar el derrotero de la situación. Es de conocimiento público quienes son muchas de los intocables vinculados al negocio ilícito, los que persisten en utilizar sus plantaciones de palma africana y aeropuertos pseudoclandestinos, pero el poder económico que poseen los absuelve de antemano de cualquier delito.
El allanamiento del hospital es un claro mensaje dirigido al pueblo garífuna por su participación - en especial del Dr. Castillo y el personal del Hospital - en la resistencia al golpe de Estado. Para la OFRANEH la acción punitiva en contra del Hospital, es una muestra más del racismo que prevalece entre las huestes golpistas, las que ven el apoyo médico de los cubanos, a las campañas de alfabetización ejemplares que se han realizado en algunas partes del país, y la medicina con una visión social como amenaza al régimen feudal imperante en el país.
Nos preguntamos si ciertamente existe "inteligencia" alguna entre las fuerzas de seguridad, como para proceder a allanar el hospital, con el pretexto que día antes había aterrizado un avión supuestamente cargando droga en las comunidades circunvecinas.
Para nuestro pueblo garífuna, el allanamiento al Hospital de Ciriboya, es una agresión más que demuestra como uno de los objetivos primordiales del gobierno de facto es destruir la visión comunitaria y promover la violencia. Es inaudito que una de los paradigmas en materia de salud comunitaria a nivel del continente, sea agredido por un gobierno conformado por una cúpula de mercenarios al servicio del comando Sur y de las compañías bananeras, telefónicas y petroleras que quieren preservar el Status Quo en Honduras.
La Ceiba, 7 de Octubre del 2009.
Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña, OFRANEH
Yesterday at five in the morning, the Hospital Garífuna de
Ciriboya was invaded, by elements of the national police and
soldiers that broke in through a window. In the first
operation ,approximately fifteen soldiers and police
participated, which alleged to be participating in an
anti-narcotics operation.
This action on the part of coup
government of the Ministry of security and Defense, serves to
add itself to the persecution that is occurring in our country
against the national resistance to the coup d'etat. Days before
the Ministry of Health disqualified the hospital turning it
into a simple center of health, to the detriment of the
population garífuna and mestiza of the Municipality of Iriona.
The Hospital of Ciriboya is part of the project Luagu Hatuadi
Waduhenu, first popular hospital garífuna, which is a model
of medical attention in Honduras, taken care of by doctors
trained and graduated from ELAM (Latin American
Medicine School) in Cuba. The social function they are
fulfilling (the graduates of ELAM) in Honduras contrasts
sharply with the the majority of the Honduran trained
doctors, who have been reluctant to serve in the countryside
and remote areas of the country.
The Hospital of Ciriboya was
constructed with the support of unions of California and our
own efforts of the people of the garífuna villages, through the
leadership of Dr. Luther Castillo, who at present has been
one the organizers in the defense of the democracy and the
construction of a participatory government of our country for
all, which includes a constituent assembly .
The isolation in
which the garífunas communities live in Iriona and
Walumugu has been a favorite place used by the narcotics
traffickers in conspiracy with the elite, they are able to use
local people and the desolated areas to make their landings,
having logistical support of gangs associated to the national
elite. The complex phenomenon of the drug trafficking in
Honduras, on the North coast especially, has been going on
for several decades, without ,to this date, the determining
measures to change the course of the situation.
IT is public
knowledge who these people are, and of their untouchable
nature and their ties to the illicit business, those that persist
in using pseudo-clandestine plantations of African palm and
airports, but their economic power acquits them of any
crime. The closing of the hospital is a clear message sent to the
garífuna people, by their participation - especially of Dr.
Castillo and the personnel of the Hospital - in the resistance to
the coup d'etat.
For the OFRANEH the punitive action against the Hospital,
is one more of a sample of racism that prevails between the
followers of the coup participants, those that see the medical
support of the Cubans, as exemplary campaigns of
alphabetization which have been realized in some parts of the
country, and medicine with a social vision seems to threaten
the prevailing feudal regime in the country.
We ask ourselves
if there certainly exists " intelligentsia" between the security
forces, like those coming to search the hospital, with the
pretext that the day before an airplane had landed supposedly
unloaded drugs in the surrounding communities. For our
garífuna people, the closing of the Hospital of Ciriboya, is one
more aggression that demonstrates one of the fundamental
objectives of the government de facto is to destroy the
communitarian vision and to promote the violence.
It is
incredible that one of the best examples of communitarian
health on the the continent, is attacked by a government
conformed by a handful of mercenaries in the service of the
South command and the banana, telephone and oil companies
that want to preserve the Status Quo in Honduras.
IN La Ceiba, 7 of October of the 2009. Honduran Black
Brotherly organization, OFRANEH
ALLANADO HOSPITAL GARIFUNA DE CIRIBOYA
El día de ayer a las cinco de la mañana, fue allanado el Hospital Garífuna de Ciriboya, por elementos de la policía Preventiva y soldados los que irrumpieron al recinto a través de una ventana. En el operativo participaron aproximadamente quince elementos, los cuales adujeron estar participando en un operativo antinarcóticos.
Esta acción por parte de elementos del Ministerio de seguridad y de Defensa, viene a añadirse a la persecución que se está dando en nuestro país en contra de la resistencia nacional al golpe de Estado. Días antes el Ministerio de Salud descalificó al hospital convirtiéndole en un simple centro de salud, en detrimento de la población garífuna y mestiza del Municipio de Iriona.
El Hospital de Ciriboya es la sede del proyecto Luagu Hatuadi Waduhenu, primer hospital popular garífuna, el cual es un modelo de atención médica en Honduras, atendidos por médicos egresados de la ELAM (Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina) con sede en Cuba.
La función social que ha venido cumpliendo los egresados de la ELAM en Honduras contrasta con la visión capitalista de la mayoría de los médicos Hondureños, los que han sido renuentes a prestar sus servicios en las zonas rurales del país.
El Hospital de Ciriboya fue construido con el apoyo de sindicatos de California además de esfuerzos propios del pueblo garífuna, a través del tezón del Dr. Luther Castillo, el que en las actuales circunstancias ha sido uno los abanderados en la defensa de la democracia y la construcción de un proyecto de país para todos, que incluye el imperativo de una asamblea constituyente.
El aislamiento en que viven las comunidades garífunas de Iriona y Walumugu ha sido aprovechado por los narcotraficantes que en contubernio con la elite de poder local han utilizado lugares desolados para efectuar sus desembarcos, teniendo apoyo logístico de bandas asociadas a la elite de poder nacional.
El complejo fenómeno del narcotráfico en Honduras, en especial en la costa norte se viene dando desde hace varias décadas, sin que hasta la fecha existan las medidas determinantes para cambiar el derrotero de la situación. Es de conocimiento público quienes son muchas de los intocables vinculados al negocio ilícito, los que persisten en utilizar sus plantaciones de palma africana y aeropuertos pseudoclandestinos, pero el poder económico que poseen los absuelve de antemano de cualquier delito.
El allanamiento del hospital es un claro mensaje dirigido al pueblo garífuna por su participación - en especial del Dr. Castillo y el personal del Hospital - en la resistencia al golpe de Estado. Para la OFRANEH la acción punitiva en contra del Hospital, es una muestra más del racismo que prevalece entre las huestes golpistas, las que ven el apoyo médico de los cubanos, a las campañas de alfabetización ejemplares que se han realizado en algunas partes del país, y la medicina con una visión social como amenaza al régimen feudal imperante en el país.
Nos preguntamos si ciertamente existe "inteligencia" alguna entre las fuerzas de seguridad, como para proceder a allanar el hospital, con el pretexto que día antes había aterrizado un avión supuestamente cargando droga en las comunidades circunvecinas.
Para nuestro pueblo garífuna, el allanamiento al Hospital de Ciriboya, es una agresión más que demuestra como uno de los objetivos primordiales del gobierno de facto es destruir la visión comunitaria y promover la violencia. Es inaudito que una de los paradigmas en materia de salud comunitaria a nivel del continente, sea agredido por un gobierno conformado por una cúpula de mercenarios al servicio del comando Sur y de las compañías bananeras, telefónicas y petroleras que quieren preservar el Status Quo en Honduras.
La Ceiba, 7 de Octubre del 2009.
Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña, OFRANEH
Friday, October 2, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
R.D. Laing
Speaking on Autonomy