Minnesota Editorial Roundup

Energy shift from coal to nuclear

Pioneer of Bemidji

Nov. 4

The demise Monday of the Big Stone II power plant could pose future power problems in the Upper Midwest.

The $1.8 billion, 550-megawatt plant was to use the latest technology as a clean coal power generating plant, fit to firm up the Upper Midwest's baseline energy for many years to come. The beginning of the end came late this summer when Fergus Falls-based Otter Tail Power Co. pulled out of a consortium of power companies working collectively to build the clean-coal plant.

Constantly embittered at every turn by environmentalist groups and lawsuits, the idea of building the next generation of coal-burning plants slid further and further away. But perhaps even more crucial to the demise of Big Stone II is the continuing quagmire in Washington, D.C., over climate change legislation. While a final bill has yet to be settled upon, carbon-emitted sources such a coal-burning plant could expect to pay huge penalties and fees under cap-and-trade policies. Prospects of high-priced energy also killed the project.

What next? Members of the consortium say that a decline in energy demand - conservation - is buying some time. Alternative sources are also being looked at. Natural gas, once thought in short supply, is more abundant through discoveries in shale. But how abundant is a serious question.

Montana-Dakota President and CEO Dave Goodin says the cooperative has a purchase agreement for power through 2015, but at what cost?

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It's time for Minnesota to consider another clean energy - nuclear.

Minnesota's current nuclear plants are aging, and Prairie Island is asking for a 20-year extension of its permit to operate. Minnesota has a law which pretty much prohibits even discussion of a new nuclear power plant, let alone lay out plans to build new nuclear power plants.

Efforts failed last year, but must be renewed by the 2010 Legislature to lift the ban on nuclear power plants in Minnesota. Today's technological advances can produce safe, efficient nuclear power plants.

Nuclear waste storage is still a problem, one that belongs to the federal government, which must come to grips with proper nuclear waste disposal.

In the meantime, as the last coal-fired power plants run their course in America, a new source of power must be found that can replace the lost baseline. Wind, solar and natural gas remain important, as well as conserving energy, but those policies must be build on grow out from a solid base.

Nuclear energy can be that strong base.

If any good comes from this, it's that other pilots will be concentrating more on their flights

Crookston Daily Times

Oct. 29

See!? Told ya we weren't sleeping!

That's the potential reaction of the one Northwest Airlines pilot who spoke to the media in the wake of the "airport overshoot" heard around the world recently in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Everyone, it seemed, assumed that the two pilots were sound asleep, and that's why they flew 150 miles past the airport and into Wisconsin, and that's why they, for 91 minutes, didn't respond to repeated radio requests to acknowledge they were awake, alive and hadn't been hijacked by terrorists. The pilot said he and the co-pilot were having a heated debate over airline policy and became distracted, but few, it seemed, believed that. They HAD to be snoozing, especially in this day and age, when planes literally seem to fly themselves.

But they were wide awake, apparently, but findings from a preliminary investigation show that they were distracted and, yes, it was because of a discussion over airline scheduling procedures.

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The pilots were first suspended with pay, then the Federal Aviation Administration suspended their licenses to fly. Will they fly again? It's hard to say. After all, with all the media attention this has gotten, Delta Airlines, which controls NWA, is going to have to come across as being especially concerned about airline safety and, even more, the security of its passengers.

The passengers and their families have every right to be upset.

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But, it needs to be said, it's not like the plane was going to crash. At least that's what seems to be the case at this juncture. Thankfully, they had enough fuel to turn it around and head back to Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Whether or not the pilots ever fly again, if there's any good to come of this, it's the chilling effect it will have on other pilots who maybe haven't been concentrating 100 percent on flying their planes when auto-pilot is exactly what it would seem to be: A computer program taking over and essentially flying the plane.

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They say flying is safer than driving a car. Even after this overshot-airport fiasco, that's probably still the case.

What's wrong with baseball

Albert Lea Tribune

Nov. 3

Baseball is a great sport, yet it continues to lose the grasp on the American imagination it once had.

Talk to nearly any loyal fan from a small-market team - such as Minnesota - and they will tell you why: It's no fun when the New York Yankees and other large-market teams can plop down huge payrolls for the best players while the Twins and other small-market teams can't hold on to star players. A Minnesota example is how Torii Hunter became a Los Angeles Angel.

What's right with pro football are effective salary caps and revenue sharing, which evens the playing field no matter which market the teams play in. New York and Green Bay both can field equal teams. That gets a greater number of fans interested in the sport - and watching other teams. Some years, it produces a race-to-the-finish parity and other years, like this one, some teams excel far ahead while others dwell in the cellar. The caliber of players on teams partly has to do with how the front office managed the salary cap and partly has to do with draft selections - not with market size.

In baseball, though, small-market teams don't have an incentive to spend on big-time players because they know that A. they likely will be outbid by rich teams, and B. if they land a big name, chances are they won't have enough overall talent to beat the rich teams. Conclusion of the front office: Why waste the effort?

Baseball knows it has a problem. The final four teams this year were all big-market teams.

"We don't know if that's a trend or just an aberration," Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said recently. "The disparity among the clubs appears to be widening."

Major League Baseball wants eyeballs glued to TV sets. If you are a Minnesota Twins fan and you want to send a message to Major League Baseball, don't watch the World Series.

By not watching, you cast your vote for fairness in professional baseball.