Minnesota Slowdown

Bus rates will probably go up

I just read today Wells Fargo stocks went down

The gas tax went up thanks to the Democrats and a few RINO's. So, besides the national price of gas going up we stuck it to local taxpayers and business.

Simon Delivers groceries was one of the first to go.

Every municipality that has fire trucks, police cars, snow plows, maintence trucks will be feeling that gas tax increase!

Because the gas tax is so high, people may not be able to contribute to MPR?

Boy it really must be bad! Almost 1930's ish! Starbucks is closing many locations. We cant afford $3 coffee anymore! Next thing to go, bottled water!

http://www.twincities.com/politics/ci_9892141?nclick_check=1

How bout that one!
Talk about getting kicked while you are on the ground!

More taxes! During a recession?

http://www.startribune.com/local/24793609.html?location_refer=$urlTrackSectionName

$50,000 drinking fountains instead of $6000 drinking fountains!

Times must be good for the City of Minneapolis! What hard times? Aint no hard times here!

Has anyone studied how the rise in student loans has effected the housing market? Students may take decades to pay down their loans to a point where they can buy a house. So the college educated first home buyer may be a significant absence. How many after graduation found good jobs that allowed upward mobility? How many flounder for decades in low paying jobs that do not require a college education?

The ecomony is so bad that no one will see the Batman movie this weekend.

The economy is so bad that they were lowering the price on the new I-Phone!

Minnesota spends about 17 billion per year on petroleum and .5 billion on coal alone. Failure to end the carbon economy has contributed to the current economic downturn. Surprisingly, and somewhat ironically it would cost 0.00 dollars to convert Minnesota from a coal burning state to a state that uses clean, wind-derived energy.
Based on the facts outlined by the federal government's Energy Information Administration, Minnesota spends about 1/2 billion dollars annually on coal to pay for electrical generation. (Minnesota has no coal, so this money flows out of the state.) Back of the napkin calculations show that generating electricity by wind instead of coal would cost 10 billion dollars. (This is the amount needed to build roughly 7,000 turbines.) This is similar to the price of a huge mountain of coal-- a mountain that Minnesota would consume in 20 years, which is the lifespan of a wind generator. Because turbines could be located closer to sources of consumption, it's likely that less power would be lost due to resistance. Currently about half of the power generated by coal is lost to resistance. About 12 plants service the entire state. My calculations do not take into account this aspect of wind generation, but it could provide an additional boon.

But we can't put that many turbines in Minnesota to completely replace coal. There just isn't enough spots with ideal wind capacity.

We also need to have redundant power generating capacity to run when the wind isn't blowing. Wind doesn't provide us with the peak capacity needed that is reliable.

We also need to run a new power grid to the windmills, so there is cost there.

There will also be many legal fights over running new grid lines across private property.

We will also need more capacity if people start buying more "plug in cars".

Yes, wind power helps us diversify our energy needs and is a part of the solution. But remember, it is only part of the solution.