WMC, Cohorts Return for Another Round of Deception

With the statewide elections less than twelve months away, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) returns touting misleading and deceptive studies. Citing a 'new study" WMC Urges Rejection of Global Warming Task Force Proposals

In the wake of a new study citing massive job and personal income loss, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce Thursday urged the Legislature to reject Wisconsin-only global warming proposals endorsed by a governor’s task force.

The "new study" is a piece of work commissioned by the Wisconsin Public Research Institute (WPRI), an organization that should know better. They commissioned the Beacon HIll Institute (BHI) to produce the Economics of Climate Change Proposal in Wisconsin which concludes:

Wisconsin will experience a negative shock to its economic well being, that given the economic damage of the proposals, may well inhibit its ability to fully recover the lost ground in the medium term.

All of which is predicated upon research and conclusions that are inadequate and misleading. To assess economic and fiscal impacts, BHI uses its copyrighted "STAMP® (State Tax Analysis Modeling Program) for Wisconsin" which is akin to being put on double-secret probation. No one knows what it is but it sounds ominous. As best as we can ascertain, it is a model not unlike the Tax Foundation's, which analyzes taxes and fees without any regard for their relationship or the truth.

A good example of the flawed methodology in the report is the section on renewable energy, Production, Capture and use of Animal Methane.

This policy recommendation focuses on increasing the capture of methane produced by farm animals in the form of decomposing waste.  The amount of captured methane would be enhanced through the use of digesters, which would speed decomposition and methane production.  The methane would be burned to produce electricity.

Targeting methane capture is a solid strategy to reduce GHG emissions, since it is considered “over 20 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.”30  However, the program’s cost appears to be high, since methane is typically produced through the decomposing of waste (either manure or landfill), and increasing methane production would be difficult.  The proposed digesters merely help to hasten the natural process, not create more.

Duh. Biodigesters are not about creating more methane. A biodigester is a system that more than hastens the natural process. The biodigester captures the methane rather than having it enter the atmosphere. In addition the biodigester has different strains of bacteria including those that can remove most of the sulfur which is detrimental to the use of the methane as fuel. The biodigester cleans the methane so it can be used as a fuel.

Efficiently capturing and cleaning the methane allows a farm to produce enough electricity at the rate of 25 households for every 100 cows. The economics could be better, but under present circumstances it works. The report also fails to include the economic value of the manure and the dry matter as both fertilizers and bedding. Figure a farmer can save $7,000 on bedding costs for every one hundred head. The manure applied to the fields has 90-95% of the pathogens destroyed, thus reducing the need for herbicides and pesticides.

Today's formula:   WMC + WPRI + BHI (STAMP®) = DECEPTION & MISREPRESENTATION

Comments

[Shorty]

I see you finally found a subject you are an expert in-manure.

[antpoppa]

‘Tomorrow does not belong to us,” Auguste Blanqui.
I hope that the controversy over the biodigester is resolved in my lifetime. I have always thought that the biodigester was a ‘win-win’ proposal. However, after attending meetings sponsored by The Family Farm Defenders, they believe that this will lead to still more destruction of the bio-sphere. In terms of discussion, education and insight, I am ill prepared to participate in this new world of bio-science
I guess in these frantic days, the next generation will be wiser than us. The next generation must be better informed and more willing to dedicate time and treasure to social and environmental vision, something my generation has forgotten in its sprint toward plunder and material greed.

[Bea]

The righties love to cry "generational theft." Of course their definition ignores all legacies except money. Paraphrasing Woody, some rob you with a six-gun, others by denying global warming.

[R.J.]

Let the suppression begin...
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/11/20/do-hacked-e-mails-show-global-warming-fraud/

[mike]

Well, this is TRUE, but it is only HALF TRUE. Why can Paul only see the deception on the right? The point is that BOTH sides do this. There are lots of slanted studies propogated by the left for every cause they have. BOTH are wrong to do this.

Bea the difference in the "generational theft" that you noted is that one is tangeble--and therefore easy to prove. The other is not. Big difference there.