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New York governor wants to return Sandy-damaged neighborhoods to nature

by wqds234der Posted on February 4, 2013

New York governor wants to return Sandy-damaged neighborhoods to nature

By Philip Bump

Whoever is tallying the bill for Hurricane Sandy (Paul Ryan, maybe? Chris Christie?) needs to add another $400 million in the “expenses” column. That’s how much New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) plans to spend to buy storm-damaged houses, raze them, and leave the land vacant.

From The New York Times:

The purchase program, which still requires approval from federal officials, would be among the most ambitious ever undertaken, not only in scale but also in how Mr. Cuomo would be using the money to begin reshaping coastal land use. Residents living in flood plains with homes that were significantly damaged would be offered the pre-storm value of their houses to relocate; those in even more vulnerable areas would be offered a bonus to sell; and in a small number of highly flood-prone areas, the state would double the bonus if an entire block of homeowners agreed to leave.

The land would never be built on again. Some properties could be turned into dunes, wetlands or other natural buffers that would help protect coastal communities from ferocious storms; other parcels could be combined and turned into public parkland.

Jenna Pope

The governor telegraphed this announcement last week. And it’s a good idea — albeit not a cheap one. In order for it to proceed, the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, created by President Obama, has to sign off. As of right now, the organization is noncommital.

Some residents aren’t excited about the prospect of resettling.

State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., a Democrat who represents Howard Beach, Broad Channel and the Rockaways, said that in his district of more than 300,000 people, perhaps three had asked him for information about selling their homes to the government. “These are residents that chose to live by the water,” he said. “They’re not going anywhere.”

To which the Atlantic Ocean responded by chuckling softly. “We’ll see,” it whispered.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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Corn on MSNBC: Does McCain Have a Grudge Against Chuck Hagel?

by wqds234der Posted on February 1, 2013

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The confirmation hearings for Obama’s defense secretary nominee, Chuck Hagel, got off to a rocky start. Senator John McCain got so testy grilling Hagel over the Iraq War that Mother Jones‘ DC bureau chief David Corn called it “as close as we get to soap opera at a congressional hearing.” Watch the whole segment from MSNBC’s BashirLive below.

David Corn is Mother Jones’ Washington bureau chief. For more of his stories, click here. He’s also on Twitter.

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New Mexico GOP Rep. Wins Prize for Abortion Trolling

by wqds234der Posted on January 24, 2013

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You might think the 2012 election taught Republicans that talking about rape and abortion is just a bad idea. But apparently Cathrynn Brown, a GOP state representative in New Mexico, didn’t get that message, because on Wednesday she introduced a new law that would bar raped women from getting abortions because doing so would be “tampering with evidence.”

Brown’s bill, HB206, would make obtaining an abortion after a rape a felony punishable by up to three years in prison. Here’s what the bill says:

Tampering with evidence consists of destroying, changing, hiding, placing or fabricating any physical evidence with intent to prevent the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of any person or to throw suspicion of the commission of a crime upon another.
Tampering with evidence shall include procuring or facilitating an abortion, or compelling or coercing another to obtain an abortion, of a fetus that is the result of criminal sexual penetration or incest with the intent to destroy evidence of the crime.

As Huffington Post notes, the bill isn’t likely to pass: Democrats control both chambers of the legislature. But it is some world-class trolling that this is even being introduced.

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New Mexico GOP Rep. Wins Prize for Abortion Trolling

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Somehow, the renewable sector in Sicily was infiltrated by the Mob

by wqds234der Posted on January 23, 2013

Somehow, the renewable sector in Sicily was infiltrated by the Mob

By Philip Bump

If you look at it in one way, this is pretty good news. After all, if renewable energy weren’t a growing market with potential for profit, why would the Mob have any interest in it? From the Washington Post:

The still-emerging links of the mafia to the once-booming wind and solar sector here are raising fresh questions about the use of government subsidies to fuel a shift toward cleaner energies, with critics claiming huge state incentives created excessive profits for companies and a market bubble ripe for fraud. China-based Suntech, the world’s largest solar panel maker, last month said it would need to restate more than two years of financial results because of allegedly fake capital put up to finance new plants in Italy. The discoveries here also follow so-called “eco-corruption” cases in Spain, where a number of companies stand accused of illegally tapping state aid.

Because it receives more sun and wind than any other part of Italy, Sicily became one of Europe’s most obvious hotbeds for renewable energies over the past decade. As the Italian government began offering billions of euros annually in subsidies for wind and solar development, the potential profitability of such projects also soared — a fact that did not go unnoticed by Sicily’s infamous crime families.

Wikipedia

Would you buy a solar installation from this man?

Unsuprisingly, the discovery of deep Mafia infiltration in a heavily-subsidized industry prompted the government to step in.

Roughly a third of the island’s 30 wind farms — along with several solar power plants — have been seized by authorities. Officials have frozen more than $2 billion in assets and arrested a dozen alleged crime bosses; corrupt local councilors and mafia-linked entrepreneurs. Italian prosecutors are now investigating suspected mafia involvement in renewable energy projects from Sardinia to Apulia.

My initial optimism aside, this is clearly bad news for the sector in Italy. In 2011, Italy led the world in new solar capacity and was fourth in overall renewable investment, according to the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century [PDF]. 2013 will almost certainly be less successful.

REN21

Click to embiggen.

It does, however, provide inspiration for the script I’ve been developing, working title: Godfather IV. The only line I have so far is, “Leave the solar panel; take the cannoli.” But I think it shows promise.

Source

Sting operations reveal Mafia involvement in renewable energy, Washington Post

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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Which is Worse: Pedophile Teachers or Insane Gunmen?

by wqds234der Posted on January 14, 2013

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From the LA Times today:

Behind a locked classroom door, a Los Angeles third-grade teacher purportedly committed lewd acts against students. The charges spurred demands for classrooms to remain open during the school day.

But after the shooting deaths of 20 first-graders in Connecticut last month, calls were made to keep classrooms locked.

The intent of both efforts is to keep students safe. But as school districts nationwide examine their security measures following the Newtown, Conn., massacre, the question of locked versus unlocked classroom doors is in debate. Should teachers and administrators use their secured doors as a shield from an outside danger? Or does a locked door conceal a potential danger inside?

I really hate living in the 21st century sometimes.

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Which is Worse: Pedophile Teachers or Insane Gunmen?

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