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Thursday, March 27, 2008
813 High fuel costs here in energy country
Barack Obama made a speech announcing a plan to control gas prices. After hearing this, President Bush said, `That`s crazy, only Dick Cheney can control gas prices.’ — late night TV host
Despite allegedly having the lowest fuel prices in America, we are seeing signs that even here in Wyoming some people are starting to conserve.
One of my coffee buddies who drives a giant diesel pickup and a big engine sports car announced he is buying a 1969 Volkswagen on the Internet to deal with the high costs of gas. He apparently has decided to quit bucking the trend and will embrace the miserly VW.
Of course the car is for his wife to commute back and forth to work.
When he tried to hire a trucking company to ship the car from Long Beach, Calif. to Lander, he was told the company would charge an extra $500 to leave I-80 and make the 118-mile trip to Lander. He ended up having it shipped to Laramie, instead. The truckers blamed the surcharge on fuel costs for leaving I-80. Go figure.
Coincidentally, another friend has been working as a dispatcher for small independent trucking companies. He has made a decent living but says he is getting out of it. “No room anymore for the middleman,” he says. The pressure is so intense to cut costs because of high fuel charges, his role is going away forever. He said the independent trucker is going away, too.
In a few years, there will be just 100 huge national companies doing the hauling and that’s it, he says.
So what is causing the fuel prices to be so high now? In a recent Newsweek interview, an oilman said that the reason for the high prices (and higher prices to come) is that most oil is used to power transportation.
And that means cars.
It was quoted that predictions are of 1.1 billion cars on the road by 2050, compared to 20 million today. Most of the growth is India and China but demand is growing all over the world.
The article cited the pressures of increasing demand and a limiting supply as making for a very interesting future for commuters when it comes to fuel costs at the pump. Our society has used up one trillion barrels of oil and the world has another two trillion barrels in the ground – but much of that is in very difficult places, like the Arctic Circle or deep under the ocean.
That situation brings up a discussion about alternative fuels. For example:
• An Air Force general says oil is declining and coal is abundant. We will use coal, he says, when it comes to powering our military aircraft.
His exact quote was: “We`re going to be burning fossil fuels for a long time and there`s three times as much coal in the ground as oil reserves. Guess what? We`re going to burn coal."
This was the justification for a coal-to-diesel plant being considered for Malmstrom AFB in Montana.
• Alternative energy is not only big in Montana but Colorado and Arizona have scored some big successes, too.
One of the largest wind turbine plants in the world is under construction near Greeley, Colo. Hopefully that can leak over to Wyoming, which we know has tremendous wind resources.
And in Arizona, over $1 billion is being spent for a solar power plant.
Due to open in 2011, the plant is the world’s largest. A Spanish Company (APS) is building it. The 280-megawatt plant will be able to power 70,000 homes.
* * *
In last week’s column about tips for Wyoming newcomers, much was said about snow fences.
Laramie Boomerang Publisher Don Black related the following story: The tourist asked what those big wooden structures were along the highway. A Wyoming guy told him with a straight face that they were bleachers for watching the antelope races.
Again on expressions that newcomers do not understand, former Fremont County Commissioner Tom Satterfield (now of Cheyenne) says: “Once when the county ordered nine cattle guards on a project, they were refused payment because the grant did not pay for labor to guard cattle. I finally had to call them in D.C. Interesting conversation.”
And finally, John Black reminded me that the correct spelling is “borrow” pit, not barrow as I used in last week’s column.
Actually, the historical definition is barrow pit as meaning moving dirt with wheelbarrows. Modern definition is definitely borrow, as confirmed by Delbert McOmie, chief engineer of the WYDOT.
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Thursday, March 20, 2008
812 - Tips for living in Wyoming
By all indications, population growth has been steady here in Wyoming and will be increasing.
So what tips can we come up with to help out these new folks who are headed our way?
It was just 37 years ago when our family moved here and let me use that experience as a partial example:
• What the heck is a barrow pit? Well, here in Wyoming that is the area along the roads where dirt was gathered up to create a roadbed. But back home, we call that a ditch? No, a ditch is a groove in the land that carries irrigation water.
• The pass is closed because of bad weather. Really? Hard to imagine the possibility of a pass being closed here in the 21st century? If you are coming to Wyoming, you better darned well believe it is.
• What are mineral severance taxes? Newcomers have heard of property taxes, sales taxes and income taxes, but what is this? Newcomers should learn about it since taxes on our minerals amount to about two thirds of all taxes paid here.
Those are just three things that seem to be pretty much unique to Wyoming.
This is the example of a project just completed by the Wyoming Humanities Council. That august group felt some kind of primer was necessary for newcomers to our state. What should be in such a guide?
Probably one thing would be the admonition to keep your mouth shut when you attend your first public meetings.
Our old-timers are insufferably polite but it is almost impossible to not think: If it was so great where you came from – why did you leave there and come here?
So what other unique Wyoming tips would you offer someone who is moving here? I asked some folks and here is what they said:
Scott Goetz of Lander says we need to explain to people what those odd fences are. Jo Anne McFarland of Riverton says that when she first told newcomers they were “snow fences,” they thought she was kidding.
Clay James of Jackson says to buy a good strong snow shovel. Diane Galloway who moved from Wyoming to Washington, D. C. says she always packed a survival kit in her car for winter trips.
Rancher Jim Allen reminds that good fences make good neighbors. Wyoming is a “fence out” state. It is your responsibility to fence your property so other people’s livestock does not trespass on your land.
Former Iowan Tom Lacock of Cheyenne says that you should keep your gas tank at least half full, especially in winter. “Just because there is a dot on the map does not mean there’s a gas station there.”
Dave Kellogg of Lander says you need to make sure the spouse is prepared the kind of erratic weather you can get here. UW Prof Phil Roberts echoes that you better learn to appreciate the Wyoming wind. Bob Peck of Cheyenne says get used to “horizontal snow.” And if you do not know what directions are, just look at the trees, “they all point east.”
Chris Boswell of Cheyenne said when he first moved to Wyoming (to Green River) it was somewhat intimidating to see all the bumper stickers that read Wyoming Native. But the town was welcoming and all those people stayed and have families full of new Wyoming natives.
State Treasurer Joe Meyer recalls taking new state officials around the state and advising them “to just listen.” He also suggested they read Rising From The Plains by John McPhee.
Scott Ratliff of Riverton says it is great to have a state where you can have a good career without needing an advanced education, thanks to the mineral industry. My sister Susan Kinneman of Dubois says newcomers do not understand all our acronyms like BLM, USFS, G&F, EPA, and DEQ.
And finally Debbie Hammons of Worland offered: Do you know the story about the guy in Wyoming who had a small convenience store? A newcomer stopped and asked what the folks were like in the town. The owner asked, “What were folks like back where you`re from?”
"They`re really small minded, closed to newcomers, gossip a lot.”
"Well," said the owner. "That`s about what you`ll find here."
That fellow left, and another newcomer pulled in. He too asked what folks were like here? The owner replied with his same question, "What were folks like where you`re from?"
"Oh, they`re great," said the fellow. "Open and hospitable, help you out if you need it but respect your privacy."
"Well," said the owner, "that about describes the folks here, too.”
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Sunday, March 16, 2008
811 - Here come the Democrats!
I can see it now – Bill and Hillary Clinton standing on stage with Barack and Michelle Obama. They will be arm-in-arm to a standing ovation at the end of the National Democratic convention in Denver this August.
Democrats will feel this is truly a dream ticket.
As to which one, Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, is running for president or vice-president, well, it is too early to tell. But one thing is for sure, the party will insist they run as a team and it will be a coronation.
A little over a week ago, Wyoming people saw something that was unprecedented in history. A former president and the two front-runners for the Democratic presidential nomination were in our state campaigning hard over a 27-hour period. Heck, even a former First Daughter showed up and gave some speeches.
Despite being a registered Republican, it seemed important to me to jump in my car and attend these historical events.
And wasn’t it a heady time for Wyomingites to turn on CNN or Fox News and see huge banners WYOMING CAUCUS on the wall behind the commentators?
If I were to rate Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as public speakers, they would get A+, A+ and A++.
As hard to believe that it is, Hillary engaged the audience best during her one-hour late appearance at Casper College. Her audience was tired and if she was tired, well, you would never have known it.
To quote my hard-core Republican wife Nancy: “If I were voting Democratic, I would vote for Hillary based on what I saw today.” Now that is quite an endorsement.
Former Gov. Mike Sullivan greeted us at the Hillary event and asked how we were dealing with having just heard two of the best speakers in modern political history – meaning Bill Clinton and Barack Obama? At that point before Hillary’s speech, it was easy to bask in the knowledge that what Mike had just said was true. Both Bill Clinton and Sen. Obama had raised the roofs of their respective buildings with their speeches.
More than 2,000 jammed into the small Central Wyoming College gym to hear the former President and he did not disappoint. He talked for 50 minutes and for the first time really made his audience understand how Hillary’s health plan could work.
Plus he hammered away at the other traditional issues and did it all without a note.
The slim African-American with the booming voice showed up at his Casper event 20 minutes early. Sen. Obama spoke persuasively. He only mentioned Wyoming a few times and my criticism was that he did not localize his speech enough.
A young gal from the Indian Reservation asked a poignant question about Naïve Americans? His answer showed a lack of knowledge as he lumped American Indians in with other minority groups when so many of their problems are unique.
But what the heck. I gave him an A+. He really was terrific and it sure felt good to think you might be watching the future president of the USA right here in Wyoming.
Living in Wyoming, it is oh-so-easy to be critical of Hillary and the Clinton presidency. In her speech, she mentioned the Wyoming Range. She talked passionately about improving the electricity grid and energy infrastructure. She related to her audience about education and mentioned a many Wyoming people who had helped her.
In the end, Sen. Obama won the caucuses the next day by a 61-39 margin. But again, it was easy to walk away from the whole experience with a new appreciation for Hillary the campaigner.
And with Bill Clinton in full bluster, well, maybe the idea of a co-presidency of President HillBilly might really be good for the country? Or so say some people. Some final thoughts:
• It’s easy to recall the Clinton years as good for the national economy and terrible for Wyoming’s. The Clinton-Gore effort to hold back expansion of the electricity grid back then will soon reap a bitter harvest of blackouts and brownouts across the country.
• Be sure to look up on MSNBC.com to see the skits that Saturday Night Live did recently to poke fun at Sen. Obama. A cartoon called the Obama Files is particularly biting and effective.
Those skits effectively turned Sen. Clinton’s campaign around and have made this whole political season a lot more interesting.
• And yet if you are young (or young at heart) check out a musical video called YES WE CAN on YouTube.com by Will.i.am praising Sen. Obama. It is amazing.
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Wednesday, March 5, 2008
810 - Wyoming economy soars to new heights
Despite anguish across our nation about the decline in our economy, there appears to be no end in sight for the current boom in Wyoming.
This is a bold statement but it is the conclusion drawn by State Geologist Ron Surdan, which he gave as the final speaker at the recent Governor’s conference in Casper called Building The Wyoming We Want.
In fact Mr. Surdan was so bold, that he describes his findings as “driving a stake into the heart of the economic paradigm that claims Wyoming will be forever cursed with a boom and bust economy.”
Although it is easy to also worry about natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanoes, I worry about man-made ones, too. We have to do deal with extreme reactions to Global Warming, $5 per gallon gas and political leaders who stifle development of the country’s electrical grid. Despite these worries, it is easy to get on Mr. Surdan’s bandwagon when you listen to his facts and figures.
Much of what he talks about is the same stuff I discovered back in 2002 when it became obvious that when you did some digging, you could see Wyoming would soon pull itself out of the dour economy it had been experiencing for two decades.
Perhaps the most significant statistic he uses is that the USA has 20 percent of the world’s coal and Wyoming is producing one-third of it. He sees Wyoming mines producing 500 million tons of the black stuff by 2010.
And despite the tendency to bad-mouth coal in this era of Global Warming, there is no way utilities can shut down their current plants in the next decade.
Wyoming’s role in the nation and the world, when it comes to energy, is truly impressive and staggering. For example, today one out of every ten BTUs used in the USA comes from Wyoming.
In 25 years with the upgrades in transportation, pipeline and transmission line infrastructure, Wyoming could produce 650 million tons of coal and four trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas per year.
“Wyoming’s energy scenario has changed drastically, rendering the boom and bust paradigm obsolete,” Mr. Surdan writes. “During the last decade or two, Wyoming’s energy portfolio has expanded and diversified. Coal and natural gas production now drive the state’s economy; oil is only a minor player. Wyoming is also the nation’s leading exporter of uranium.
“Most importantly, Wyoming has become the number-one domestic exporter of energy … exporting more than 10 quadrillion BTUs per year to the rest of the USA.
“Even more astonishing is that when compared to all other major energy exporters (Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia), Wyoming emerges as the leading exporter of energy to the USA.”
While Mr. Surdan waxes rosily about Wyoming, he predicts dire consequences for the rest of the country when it comes to energy.
For the USA to grow successfully through 2030, it will need to build 80 new power plants the size of the Jim Bridger plant in Rock Springs, plus 13 large natural gas plants, five nuclear plants and 75,000 wind turbines to meet the projected demand.
And so if that is the projection for demand, what is happening to meet that demand?
Just the opposite.
Because of the current political indecision caused by fears of Global Warming, utilities, states and the federal government cannot come up with a way to produce more power. In fact, it has been going the other way.
In the last 15 months, 61 new power-generating projects (equal to 15 Bridger plants) have been cancelled.
I have long argued that Wyoming should invest in its own electrical power plants and natural gas facilities to guarantee uninterrupted energy for its citizens. This should be a no-brainer for our elected officials. Some enlightened communities like Gillette are already doing it, buying a piece of a new power plant under construction there. But it is a rare occurrence in our state.
According to a map talking about the reliability of power for parts of the country, it shows even the Rocky Mountains seeing brownouts as early as 2011.
It shows New England and Texas seeing them in 2009, New York and Arizona in 2011.
Once these blackouts and brownouts occur, there will be a national outcry to get plants built. Wyoming is one of the few places where such immediate action could take place.
We will need to be thinking about this as both an opportunity and threat. Our present boom could become even more spectacular.
The optimistic Mr. Surdan concludes: “Giving the facts and barring a global depression, how could anyone predict an economic bust for Wyoming?”
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Saturday, March 1, 2008
809 - Darned Global Cooling
This has been a winter for the ages.
After a decade of mild winters, Wyoming people have shoveled more snow, shivered more severely and endured more road closures than any time this century.
So much for Global Warming. It is that darned Global Cooling that has most Wyomingites upset during the past several months.
Now Global Warming is way too serious a subject to perhaps make fun of, but when you are waist deep in the white stuff, well, it comes pretty easy.
Here in Lander, our ground is still covered with two feet of snow and we have not seen the ground since Thanksgiving.
The snow has settled and is so firm even I could walk along the top without breaking through.
Meanwhile in Jackson over 400 inches of snow has fallen at the ski area, which is nearing record levels.
The open winters we have enjoyed for the past several years got me out of the habit of winter sports. But with all the white stuff around this year it was inevitable, perhaps, that I would try them again.
This winter saw me attempting to ski and ride snowmobiles for the first time in several years.
Went skiing for the first time in about six years at Grand Targhee and typically it was a snowy, snowy, snowy. I found out that it is not like getting back on a bicycle. It took several runs and an embarrassing fall to make me realize that I may never want to do this again – at least, in this lifetime.
And then there is snowmobiling.
Last Sunday went riding for the first time in about three years. Lots of snow in the Wind Rivers and the trails were remarkably bumpy. Days later my thighs were still protesting to me for that abuse.
Seems Wyoming is not the only place to have unusual severe winter weather.
This has been a year of Global Cooling way down south with South American having one of its coldest winters ever. Snow fell for the first time since 1918 in Buenos Aires and 200 people died from cold in Peru.
Johannesburg, South Africa, had the first heavy snowfall in a quarter of a century and Australia had its coldest June ever, the heart of its winter season. New Zealand had to rush to protect its extensive vineyards because of unusual cold weather.
In January over $1 billion in produce in California was ruined by unexpected cold weather.
In Wyoming, when you talk about weather, it is usually the wind that comes to mind.
Last week’s column about wind prompted three different stories from Wyoming folks about the wind. For example:
Tom Satterfield, formerly of Riverton and now of Cheyenne, writes:
“Many years ago I worked in the Wyoming National Bank building in Casper and one of my duties was to get the mail. No big deal since the Post Office was on the other side of the block. But when one came around the corner heading north you had to brace yourself or be blown across the street.
“One day I took the mail bag and started around the corner only to fall flat on my face. The wind was not blowing that day. Several people saw me fall and have never let me forget it. So be prepared - some days the wind does not blow.”
Steve Mossbrook, president of Wyoming.com in Riverton, has been a pilot for many years. He said: “I’ve had lots of adventures in the plane, mostly related to vertical wind speeds, like the time over Medicine Bow when I had the nose pointed straight down while I went up at 2,000 feet per minute. It finally let loose of me at 16,000 feet.”
Phil Roberts of Laramie writes: “When my brother David was publishing the Medicine Bow Post, the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation hired him to check a wind gauge set up south of Medicine Bow in the late 1970s. He did it regularly for a couple of years.
“The BR people told him Medicine Bow was the fourth windiest place in the country that they had measured, behind Mount Washington, N. H., Guadalupe Pass, Texas, and Livingston, Montana. I suspect that order might be changed now, but it isn`t because the wind in Medicine Bow has diminished any since then.
“When David moved out there in 1977, an old-timer told him that the last time the wind quit blowing, one day a dozen or so years before, everyone walking down the street tipped over!”
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