Staff struggles to prevent wind from blowing down prop as Romney unveils plan abandoning wind power

[ProSense]

Staff struggles to prevent wind from blowing down prop as Romney unveils plan abandoning wind power

by Jed Lewison

The New York Times's Ashley Parker takes note of Mitt Romney's newest prop:

On Thursday, Mr. Romney used an oversize bar graph to help unveil his new energy plan here. “This is not some pie-in-the-sky thing,” Mr. Romney said, before turning to a graph that, despite its large size, was all but impossible for those in the audience to read.

Yet he gamely soldiered on. “I have a chart that’s still, despite the wind, still holding up up here,” he said.

As you can see in the video above, Romney continued talking about the wind. "These guys," he said, pointing to aides, "have held it up with about every piece of weight you can think of."

But while Romney's audience chuckled at the thought of a big time presidential candidate's staff needing to deal with something as mundane as preventing a chart from blowing over in the wind, nobody seemed to realize the irony of Mitt Romney struggling to overcome the power of wind while simultaneously unveiling an energy policy that expands federal support for oil and coal production but explicitly abandons renewables like wind power.

So was this a message from God? I don't know—maybe you should ask Pat Robertson. But this much is certain: if Romney and his aides had spent as much time thinking about how to take advantage of wind as they did trying to prevent it from knocking down his chart, they'd have a much better plan and we'd all be a lot better off.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/24/1123676/-Staff-struggles-to-prevent-wind-from-blowing-down-prop-as-Romney-unveils-plan-abandoning-wind-power

... the Romney-Ryan Action Plan for Energy! I read it so you don't have to!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021185298

Senator Grassley calls Romney's wind policy "stupid" "I felt it was just like a knife in my back
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021141934

[liberal N proud]

1. Too funny

We will run out of oil, we will run out of coal, a drought will kill the crops used for fuel.

We will never run out of wind, yet these people refuse to embrace the technology. WHY? Because they are paid by the oil companies and the coal companies. They are paid to make sure American are forced to use their fossil fuels.

I was in Iowa last week and overheard a lady in a restaurant saying they didn't have wind until they put up those windmills. I don't know who put that wild idea in her head but she definitely has bought into the drill baby drill mentality weather she is aware or not.

[ProSense]

2. LOL! Wind magically appeared. n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. You know there IS a problem with wind...

wait what? Some of the approved projects are being built in places that will FAILL to produce as much power as they should, since the data was fudge.

Research the Ocotillo project in Imperial County... to see what I mean. And this will blow in the face of Democrats.

Let alone the destruction of the environment, fire hazard or the fact that part of it is on ancestral indian lands.

Oh wait, good democrats do not talk about this... shhh...

[ProSense]

4. You know,

"You know there IS a problem with wind..."

...Iowans appear to love their wind.

Wind power gives Romney Iowa problems
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/31/1115383/-Wind-power-gives-Romney-Iowa-problems

Romney’s Opposition To Wind Tax Credit May Become A Political Liability In Iowa: ‘This Is A Very Big Deal For Us’http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/08/23/730651/romneys-opposition-to-wind-tax-credit-may-become-a-political-liability-in-iowa-this-is-a-very-big-deal-for-us/

"Good Democrats" need to push environmentally sound energy and stop savaging the land.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Yup, the fire at Ranchita, if towers were there

would probably have taken the town, but since you love to play the blue links game, here you go.

WIND TURBINES ARRIVE IN OCOTILLO AS RESIDENTS COMPLAIN OF “DUST BOWL” CONDITIONS FROM PATTERN ENERGY SITE

http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/10795

WIND STORM : TRIBES IMPLORE PRESIDENT OBAMA TO STOP OCOTILLO EXPRESS WIND PROJECT, SAVE CULTURAL RESOURCE SITES

http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/9104

Mark my words, this little issue will blow up in Democrat's faces.

There are sites to do it, tell me, why aren't we placing any of these projects in oh I don't know... La Jolla Shores? It is an ideal site, both for wind and for water...

I will tell you why... too many people vote.

Shh... don't tell anyone. I am just warning you... this will hurt democrats. And when it does, please remember, you were warned.

When we have the fire that we expect to happen, we will not take prisoners. We will point fingers actually at BOTH parties (since a lot of these projects actually started with Bush)

[ProSense]

8. Kind of reminds me of BP and the Exxon Valdez.

Are you seriously trying to compare the cultural sensitivities and a community reaction to wind to the environmentally damaging effects of oil?

The concerns cited can be addressed, but there are no environmental groups opposed to wind energy.

[sammytko]

6. Lots of wind farms just down the road from Hobbs N.Mex in west Texas!

[amandabeech]

7. Google Watson Truck & Supply.

They provide the type of truck needed to erect oil & gas drilling derricks.

Of course, they might be able to modify their trucks to erect wind turbines and their towers. In appropriate locations, of course.

[ProSense]

9. Another Republican Congressman Pushes Back Against Mitt Romney’s Call To End Wind Energy Tax Credits

Another Republican Congressman Pushes Back Against Mitt Romney’s Call To End Wind Energy Tax Credits

By Scott Keyes

FORT GARLAND, Colorado — Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO) is the latest Republican to come out against Mitt Romney’s plan to end the production tax credit for the wind industry.

In an interview with ThinkProgress, Tipton rejected Romney’s pledge to end the wind tax credit, saying that the industry needs at least two years before it can be self-sustainable. “Do you want to cut it off when they’re on the cusp of being where we want them to be and to be able to create jobs and to be able to part of the energy solution?” Tipton asked, before answering his own question: “No, I don’t think we do.”

<...>

Romney’s push to end the wind energy production tax credit would put 37,000 jobs at risk, particularly in midwestern states. Not only is he at odds with wind supporters in his party, but also western voters, where two-thirds of voters agree wind and solar will create new jobs in their states. Colorado was home to nearly 5,000 wind jobs in 2011.

Tipton joins a growing list of Republicans from states like Iowa are pushing back hard against Romney’s proposal. Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) attacked his own party’s presidential candidate, saying that he “a lack of full understanding of how important the wind energy tax credit is for Iowa and our nation.” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) went further, calling Romney’s plan “a knife in my back.”

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/08/24/742441/scott-tipton-wind-energy/