The State Journal Register has a good article today on the PURPA standards I wrote about before and that Greg blogged about extensively at CES Blog. I have to admit this is a complicated story that can get pretty boring so the SJ-R deserves credit for covering it in a long front page article.
The review of these standards is a good opportunity for the public to talk about what direction we want CWLP to take with clean energy and let Alderman know that it should be a priority. My impression is that CWLP leaders are open to public suggestions and we have a group of new Alderman who are probably willing to look at new ways of doing things.
One thing I like about the article (other than being surprised at seeing my name mentioned) is its acknowledgement that the clean energy agreement reached with the Sierra Club already put CWLP on the right path with several of these issues such as fuel diversification and conservation measures. I was glad to see a line about how the agreement called for conservation and a resulting reduction of emissions in the existing Dallman power plant units. That point was missed in some of the debate over the agreement, in which a few opponents falsely claimed that it did nothing to reduce pollution in Springfield.
The standards came up at CWLP's energy meeting last Thursday. It had the best attendance yet of any of the meetings and new Alderman Steve Dove was there. Its nice to see an Alderman taking active interest in learning more about the issues he'll be voting on.
While you're reading the SJ-R be sure to check out the article about Dick Durbin's comments on the Senate Energy Bill that I wrote about yesterday.
This morning I was watching "This Week" on ABC and I wondered why the Immigration Bill gets so much more coverage than the Energy Bill since the Energy Bill has at least as much, if not greater impact on our lives. Just then, the commercial break started with "This Week is brought to you by BP." That pretty well answered my question.
Of course, I can't expect NBC and the many other new outlets owned by General Electric to give the issue fair coverage either. So, we're left with the talk radio crowd setting the national agenda. That's the "liberal media" for you! If we're supposed to believe that campaign contributions affect how politicians vote, then why shouldn't I believe that the ownership and advertising revenue sources of the major media outlets affects how they cover the news?