Jim Ulvog – Page 41 – Outrun Change

Other news on wind turbines killing off eagles and other sundry wildlife

Photo courtesy of DollarPhotoClub.com. I'm nowhere near a good enough photograph to get a shot like that. — Photo courtesy of DollarPhotoClub.com. I’m nowhere near a good enough photographer to get a shot like that.

I’m catching up on a bunch of old articles of interest. Here are a few articles over the last year on various types of devastation that wind turbines cause wildlife. Also, a few projects being halted in order to prevent the killing.

4/2/15 – (Yes, yes, an April 2015 article discussed in March 2016. Like I said, I have a lot of catching up to do.) Chris Clarke at ReWire – Study Proves How Little We Know About Wind Power and Eagle Mortality – Mr. Clarke cites a particular peer-reviewed study on eagle mortality at a wind facility near Palm Springs.

He explains the subtle nuance in the report and describes how people could take part of the conclusions and use it to support their opinion. If read and analyzed carefully, Mr. Clarke says the paper does not provide any conclusive proof of anything.

All it offers is observations by teams that were on site a few months of the year tracking desert tortoises. While doing their visits a few days at a time over the course of only 4 months a year, they documented whatever bird carcasses they happened to stumble across. Not exactly a conclusive study.

The report cites a separate study that placed chicken carcasses in the desert to see how fast predators ate them up. That study found only 1 of 10 chicken carcasses were still in place after 10 days.

Continue reading “Other news on wind turbines killing off eagles and other sundry wildlife”

Rule to allow wind farms to kill eagles for 30 years overturned. FWS has to actually consider whether 30 year free-kill-permits might affect eagles.

Birds that are at risk of finding out why turbines are called slice-and-dicers. Pictures courtesy of DollarPhotoClub.com. — Birds that are at risk of finding out why wind turbines are called slice-and-dicers. Photo courtesy of DollarPhotoClub.com.

Previously mentioned Wind farms will soon be able to apply for official permission to slice-and-dice a negotiable numbers of eagles for 30 years

I’m catching up on a long backlog of articles describing the devastation from wind and solar power. On 8/13/15, Chris Clarke at ReWire reported Court Sends 30-Year Eagle Kill Permits Back to Drawing Board.

Continue reading “Rule to allow wind farms to kill eagles for 30 years overturned. FWS has to actually consider whether 30 year free-kill-permits might affect eagles.”

More background on Keith Graves’ sentencing.

The view from Mr. Graves’ residence for the next 33 years or so. Photo courtesy of DollarPhotoClub.com

As was mentioned earlier, on February 17th many women who had been trafficked in prostitution received justice when Keith Graves was sentenced to 33 years 9 months in federal prison.

Amy Dalrymple interviews several of the victims and explains After the trauma of sex trafficking, women struggle to cope. The emotional aftermath is severe. The trial was devastating for the witnesses, because Mr. Graves was able to cross-examine them in person since he was representing himself. Check out the article for a better description of the trauma involved.

Most of the sentencing documents are now available in the federal PACER system. Since those are public documents, I will post them as part of this discussion. Feel free to read the following documents if you are really interested. Or really, really bored.

I will summarize and comment on the documents in case you don’t want to read them.

Sentencing

The sentence is 405 months for each of five counts of trafficking, with sentences to run concurrently and credit for time served. That is 33 years and nine months. Follow along with me for a few minutes and I’ll explain where the 405 number came from.

Continue reading “More background on Keith Graves’ sentencing.”

North Dakota oil production drops 2.5% in December. Graphs showing impact of lower prices.

In December 2015, crude oil production in North Dakota dropped from a slightly revised 1,181,786 bopd in November to 1,152,280 bopd in December, for a 2.50% decline.

Completed well count was 76, which is a substantial drop from the 119 to 123 range in July through September. From August 2011 through December 2014 there were anywhere from 180 up to 213 rigs running. During that time, the average rig count was 192, by my calculations.

Fracklog is 945 at the end of December, which is a drop from the count during August through November but is higher than any month before that. This is the estimated tally of wells that have been drilled to total depth but have not yet been fracked & completed. As a result these are wells essentially held in inventory pending a price increase of oil.

The February Director’s Cut report indicated oil prices continue to drop, hitting $16.50 a barrel, yes under 17 bucks in February. The director’s expectation is for low oil prices to continue through the third quarter of 2016 with further drop in number of rigs in operation.

As you would expect with the dramatic drop in prices, exploration & production companies are cutting back operations. Today’s news making that point:

Continue reading “North Dakota oil production drops 2.5% in December. Graphs showing impact of lower prices.”

Best. Vacation. Ever.

Got back yesterday from another trip to Williston, North Dakota to visit our son and daughter-in-law. (Cross-post from my other blog, Nonprofit Update.)

Also got to spend a lot of time with our first grandson, who was born on February 8. (Our daughter-in-law pointed out he has a mathematical birthday: 2-8-16. Read that as 2 x 8 = 16.

He is an absolute delight. Quite a precious baby.

Continue reading “Best. Vacation. Ever.”

Report from Williston – Feb ’16

The old Armory in Williston. Love that craftmanship. Photo by James Ulvog.

Bruce Oksol, of The Million Dollar Way, reports on his observations during his frequent trips to Williston. Comments from his February trip, with a few of my comments on his comments:

2/6 – First Day Back in the Bakken – Construction on the bridge across the Missouri seems to have stopped. By-pass on the west side of town is complete. He senses less oil rig traffic, Wal-mart is not as full as during the boom, but still quite busy, and less cars in the parking lots of nicer hotels. Restaurants are busy, but not anywhere like during the boom.

Continue reading “Report from Williston – Feb ’16”

Keith Graves sentenced to 33 years 9 months

Long term housing for Keith Graves. Duration of residence yet to be determined. Photo courtesy of DollarPhotoClub.com — Residence of Keith Graves for the next 33 years. Photo courtesy of DollarPhotoClub.com

Sentencing was on February 17. Federal judge Daniel Hovland sentenced Keith Graves to 33 years 9 months in federal prison for five counts of human trafficking along with drug possession and distribution.

2/18 – Williston Herald – Man sentenced to 33 years for sex trafficking (online link not available) – Article says the feds asked for life. Judge ruled 33 years 9 months is the appropriate sentence. Article says he noted that is within federal sentencing guidelines.

Update: Viewable copy of above article: Dickinson Press – ‘Despicable’ sex trafficker gets 33 years in prison

Prosecutors claimed in the hearing there were “dozens” of additional victims, none of whom could be located for the trial. It looks like those victims were identified by review of the electronic devices confiscated from Mr. Graves. He denies those devices are his.

Mr. Graves says he will appeal the conviction. He also objected to several references to previous conviction (or convictions, not sure) for sexual offense.

I have not read the sentencing arguments filed by the US Probation Office. Last time I checked, the document was posted at the federal PACER system but not available to be read.

Sentencing guidelines

Continue reading “Keith Graves sentenced to 33 years 9 months”

What has happened to oil production in North Dakota since prices started dropping?

I’ve been going through a backlog of energy articles that I haven’t had opportunity to comment on before. A great article last fall from The Million Dollar Way prompted me to look at what has happened to oil output since prices collapsed.

10/14/15 – The Million Dollar Way – Wednesday, October 14, 2015 – Part IV; Blue Skies – Article is from October. The underlying point stands. Look how little the monthly output has changed even though drilling activity has shrunk.

Here are some stats mentioned for October 15 with prior year numbers:

67 current – 190 year ago – working drilling rigs.
About 1000 DUCs currently (Drilled and UnCompleted, meaning awaiting fracking) – a year ago the concept did not exist – this is the number of wells that have been drilled but have not been fracked. As soon as prices rise a bit, these wells can be completed and start producing in short order. Sort of like unassembled inventory on the shelf, just waiting for a worthwhile price to assemble everything to get it on the market.
Currently producers are choking back initial output to spread it over a longer period of time while a year ago production was wide open as fast as you can go.
About 150 now – 300 a year ago – new oil permits per month.

So production has collapsed, right?

Continue reading “What has happened to oil production in North Dakota since prices started dropping?”

More on the destruction from solar power

NIce view of the mountain, huh? What looks like a lake is appealing to birds, but landing on it will be deadly. Photo by James Ulvog. — Nice view of the mountain, huh? What looks like a lake is appealing to birds, but landing on it would be deadly. Photo by James Ulvog.

Have lots of articles on the damage from wind and solar power I want to discuss. Background article on wing-toasters suggests we may not see any more concentrated solar towers blight landscape and destroy wildlife. Article has video of the ‘streamers’ killed by a solar tower – 14 are visible in 9 seconds.

Oh, the solar-powered Ivanpah facility burns so much natural gas that the project will have to participate in the state cap-and-trade program.

9/25/15 – Chris Clarke at ReWire – Are Solar Power Towers Doomed in California? – We can only hope.

Article gives deep background on the various concentrated solar power facilities actually built, planned, or abandoned in California.

There are currently two operating solar tower projects in California:

392 mW Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating system next to I-15 near the California-Nevada border and
5mW Sierra Sun Tower demonstration project in Lancaster.

Article discusses a variety of other projects, with the only one that seems likely to move forward is the 500mW Palen Solar Electric Generating System, which at the time of the article was going to be built with parabolic trough design instead of the wing-toasting CSP towers. (In 2/16, regulators finally pulled the plug on the stalled project.)

CSP is providing only 4% of the solar power in the state.

Continue reading “More on the destruction from solar power”

Suffering increases in Venezuela, all as a result of official government policies – 2

Shipwreck standing on the beach with the sea in the background. Margarita Island. Venezuela. Photo courtesy of DollarPhotoClub.com

The level of suffering in Venezuela is increasing. All of the blame for the current and future suffering can be laid at the feet of the socialist government.

Previously mentioned Venezuela is in the early stages of hyperinflation: Instead of reading about hyperinflation and economic collapse in history, you can watch it play out live. Tune in to Venezuela.

Some more discussion on the increased suffering:

2/6 – The Economist – The endgame in Venezuela – A few stats from the article:

Government acknowledges that for the 12 months ending 9/2015, inflation was 141% and the economy shrank 7.1%.

Continue reading “Suffering increases in Venezuela, all as a result of official government policies – 2”

Update on devastation from wind and solar power. Catching up on backlog of articles.

Only one of the three Ivanpah towers is burning the wings off birds at the moment this picture was taken in 2013. Photo by James Ulvog.

I have a plethora of articles on the wide range of economic, environmental, and biological harm caused by wind and solar power. Will try to get caught up. So much devastation. So little time.

3/2/15 – Coyote Blog – New Business Opportunity: Lolo’s Eagle and Waffles Next to Large Solar Plants – Post points to the following two articles. Those articles plus this headline suggest that if the solar plants can get away with killing eagles and other federally protected migratory birds, then perhaps there is a business opportunity from serving up the carcasses as exotic dishes at a nearby café.

2/18/15 – ReWire – Scores of Birds Killed During Test of The Project in Nevada – During a test on 1/14/15 at the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project outside Tonopah, Nevada, federal biologists counted 130 streamers.

Continue reading “Update on devastation from wind and solar power. Catching up on backlog of articles.”

Update on Keith Graves sentencing – 2/11/16

Now-convicted human trafficker Keith Graves is still scheduled for sentencing on Wednesday, February 17. That is the latest information visible on the federal PACER website.

A presentence investigation report was filed yesterday, 2/10, but is not available on the website. It is not noted as sealed. I don’t know the PACER system well enough to know what that means. Usually when something is posted it is available immediately.

Continue reading “Update on Keith Graves sentencing – 2/11/16”

Update on the government players in the wide open frontier of space exploration

Cutting edge tech from 1981, above, will update the Saturn V for the new Space Launch System from NASA. Photo courtesy of DollarPhotoClub.com — Cutting edge tech from 1981, above, will update the Saturn V (cutting edge in 1960s) for the new Space Launch System from NASA. Photo courtesy of DollarPhotoClub.com

The subsidized, politicized government players in the space race are still in the game. A few articles of interest: the directly subsidized ULA approach, the hidden subsidies in the European approach, NASA’s rolling forward the cutting edge Saturn V technology, and China expanding GPS coverage from their country to worldwide.

1/28 – Behind the Black – McCain and Air Force question ULA military arrangement – ULA receives a payment even if there aren’t any launches in a year. This is to give ULA sufficient funds to keep a critical national defense resource open.

I vaguely remember reading that during the Cold War, big defense contracts would be given to one of the major contractors merely because they didn’t have enough work to keep all their production lines open.

While those approaches made sense 10 or 30 years ago, the concept doesn’t work quite so well when there are multiple private companies developing their own launch vehicles and manned capsules.

Continue reading “Update on the government players in the wide open frontier of space exploration”

Update on the wide open frontier of private space exploration

The competition for getting back into space is strong. Very cool.

1/22 – USAF Space and Missile Systems Center – SpaceX Falcon 9 upgrade certified for National Security Space Launches – Upgraded Falcon 9 has been approved for military launches. Gives SpaceX increased opportunities for USAF work.

2/1 – Behind the Black – Another 5 month slip of first Falcon Heavy launch – Continue reading “Update on the wide open frontier of private space exploration”

Visual illustration of energy foolishness

I just learned that Robert Wilson (@CountCarbon) does a huge amount of graphing. (Yeah, yeah, I’m slow to catch up with what’s happening. On the other hand, keeping up with change is the purpose of this blog.)

Here are two of his illustrations that shows the utter foolishness of two specific energy policies: ethanol and solar power.

Ethanol

Question along with graph to help figure out your answer:

Question: Would corn be better used to feed people than cars?

Continue reading “Visual illustration of energy foolishness”