Argus Headline: "Planet hinges on PUC"Planet: "I'm so screwed"

(Sorry, I couldn't resist that one. heh.)

The Argus Leader reports today that several groups are making the claim that the PUC should disapprove of the Big Stone II plant because of Carbon Dioxide emissions and their effect on climate:

The PUC is known to many South Dakotans for its five televised safety tips, such as, "Never put a ladder near a power line." But the panel also must protect the environment from "serious injury" caused by new plants.

It already is facing a big moment in its history. It has never considered a permit application for a coal plant, or any power plant close to Big Stone II's size.

But the environmental groups are asking for something even bigger - for the PUC to become perhaps the first state commission anywhere to reject a permit based on carbon dioxide emissions.

Commissioner Dusty Johnson, for one, is not sure that's his job.

"Those are things that are most effectively done on a national and international level," he said after the hearings. "We don't have the sum of all knowledge here at the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission."

Big Stone opponents disagree.

"You've got to do it locally. There is no other way to do it," said David Schlissel, a Boston-area consultant hired as an expert witness for the opponents. "You can't just talk nationally, you can't just talk internationally, you have to take concrete steps."

and...

Johnson said the economic arguments might not be a major factor in his decision and those of the other commissioners, Bob Sahr and Gary Hanson. South Dakota law does not require the companies to prove need, only that their project will not impair development or harm human health or the environment.

Johnson said a bigger issue will be interpretation of the law.

"What does that word 'environment' mean vis a vis national environmental policy? What role do we play in that?" he said.

Read it all here. Put me in the column of big doubter on humans affecting climate change. Just a few years ago it was "methane generated by cow flatulence." Now it's all our fault.

If anyone has happened to notice, the climate has managed to change over the course of millions of years without our help. At times it gets warmer, at times we go into an ice age. I believe the cycles are driven more by vulcanism and solar output than anything we could ever manage to do.

Does that mean I embrace pollutants? Well, of course not, silly. I want my kids to grow up in a healthy environment as much as the next person. But that doesn't mean I believe if I use my grill every night for a week I'm going to send the planet into an ice age. It does mean that we shouldn't empty oil and anti freeze into the environment, and we should dispose of pesticides and other pollutants safely.

So, as far as I'm concerned, I think people need to think rationally, and then act locally.