Summaries for: Coal and Fossil Fuel

Saint Model Outcomes – actions speak louder than words in land use politics
By Paul Mindus, Director, UK Business Development, The Saint Consulting Group Earlier this year The Saint Report began publishing case studies called Saint Model Outcomes to give some examples of our experience from 25 years in land use politics. Actions speak louder than words, and to win land use battles political campaign strategies and tactics gain far more leverage than traditional PR ...
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Chess match between renewable and fossil fuel industries is riveting
By Ben Kelahan,Senior Vice President for Energy, The Saint Consulting GroupIf you are a political professional, it's high time to chart how various energy industries are utilizing the current environment to promote and prop up their business, or defend against their extinction.  I've become an avid onlooker of the chess match between renewable and fossil fuel ...
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Carolinas become new front in land use battles over wind energy
By Ben Kelahan, Senior Vice President for Energy, The Saint Consulting Group Looks like land use politics is quickly following on the heels of wind energy's movement to the mountains and shores of the southeast.  The Carolinas are the new front in the midst of sometimes heated discussions about wind energy in locations considered sacred by many environmentalists, preservationists and ...
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Saint Model Outcome – coal-fired power plant must respond to local concerns
By Ben Kelahan Senior Vice President for Energy, The Saint Consulting Group Our third look this week at Saint Model Outcomes from our experience in land use politics focuses on the proposed expansion of an existing hybrid (coal-fired and waste-to-energy) power plant. The expansion included modifying the facility’s fuel blend to burn more waste, including tires, and ...
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Nuclear power fights for share in Obama’s renewable energy, climate change goals
By Ben Kelahan, Senior Vice President for Energy, The Saint Consulting Group Last week, nuclear industry executives and allied interests met in Washington to carve out a role for nuclear power in the U.S. as a stable, base load source of energy generation that is both reliable and "green." Hosting several key Capitol Hill speakers, ...
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Wind energy polling dilemma — emotive opponents fly in face of public support
By Ben Kelahan, Senior Vice President, Energy, The Saint Consulting Group Where is the passion in polling? There is none. Polling indicates the public's feelings about a number of various topics on any given day. But it can also be misleading if viewed out of context — especially when it comes to land use issues. How is it, ...
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Uranium battle heats up to overturn mining moratorium in southern Virginia
By Chris Hopkins, Senior Vice President, Aggregates and Mining The Saint Consulting Group One of the most heated permitting battles surrounding mining is underway in a very unlikely location. If you were to ask most people to guess where perhaps the largest untapped uranium reserve in the United States and the seventh largest in the world is located, ...
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Wind Energy Daily reports YIMBYs say yes to transmission if it is for renewables
The Wind Energy Daily, reporting at the conclusion of the AWEA Windpower 2009 conference in Chicago, picked up the Saint Index flash poll and noted that if Americans are asked about transmission lines for renewable energy, the answer is Yes-In-My-Back-Yard. While a majority of Americans oppose new high-voltage transmission lines in their communities, opposition drops ...
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Public face of coal is filthy, but expertise is well positioned for clean energy fight
By Ben Kelahan Senior Vice President for Energy, The Saint Consulting Group Coal. Whether it's mined, firing power plants or now utilizing technology to turn it into gas and liquid form for electricity or jet fuel, it elicits perhaps the strongest opposition to any land use project you can find. Environmentalists fund full-scale campaigns ...
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Maine wants state to approve wind power projects, reduce local NIMBY delays
By Ben Kelahan Senior Vice President for Energy, The Saint Consulting Group The Bangor Daily News is backing steps by the state of Maine to shift the permitting process for wind projects from local to state level. I've been waiting for this. In fact, I'm very surprised that it's taken this long for states that are significantly invested ...
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