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rolf westgard

rolf westgard's picture
st Paul, MN
Commenter for
4 years 6 days

Recent Comments

Posted on 03/18/11 at 02:48 pm in response to Global temperature to rise 3.5 degrees C. by 2035, International Energy Agency says

The more you subsidize uneconomic so-called renewables, the higher go electric power prices. This hurts employment, the economy tanks, and you have Spain and Portugal. Corn ethanol is perhaps the worst of a bad lot. it's bad for the environment, bad for the soil, bad for water quality, bad for world food prices, bad for engine parts, and basically, a scam.
Solar, despite big subsidies, is about one tenth of one percent of our electric power. Wind is more, but requires big taxpayer...

Posted on 11/05/10 at 08:49 am in response to DFLers choose Sen. Tom Bakk and Rep. Paul Thissen to lead minority caucuses

Paul Thissen is a very competent legislator who lacked only name recognition in the last governor campaign. He will make an excellent majority leader in 2012, as the Republicans will likely blow this new opportunity big time.

Posted on 11/04/10 at 01:02 pm in response to Why the Democrats lost on Tuesday

It should be interesting watching the Republicans saying no to each other. They haven't produced an original idea since Obama took office.
The hole dug by the GW Bush administration was so deep, that even the wisdom of David Schultz wouldn't have saved Obama.

Posted on 10/30/10 at 09:51 am in response to Poll: Walz leads Demmer by nine

Walz is also a very solid person who doesn't scare people like some candidates. The more you get to know him, the more you like him. I think he has grown on the people in his district.

Posted on 10/24/10 at 05:07 pm in response to Dayton over Emmer by 7 in Sunday Strib poll; Horner's percentage drops

The new Minnesota Poll, which has Dayton with a widening lead, seems to verify the impression each of the candidates makes on voters. Dayton seems weak on first meeting, but the more you get to know him the better and stronger he looks.
Emmer on the other hand makes a strong first impression, but the more you get to know him the less you like him as a governor.

Posted on 10/23/10 at 03:14 am in response to Barriers to truly high-speed rail: Why are our trains so much slower than others'?

Right on, Myles. The Chinese have licensed from Alstom and are building a system which will connect every major city in China with high speed rail.

Posted on 10/21/10 at 10:10 am in response to Minnesota study suggests climate may play role in evolving new species

A consensus of climate forecasts for the late 21st Century puts our temperatures reaching the levels in Central Iowa. So don't spend a lot of time looking for tropical fish in Lake Minnetonka.

Posted on 10/21/10 at 05:38 am in response to Braublog's first Local Media web rankings

If time spent per visit was included, MinnPost would move up because of its strong content.

Posted on 10/21/10 at 10:22 am in response to Will Google wind power project harm wildlife?

I hope that MinnPost isn't paying much for those Christian Science Monitor 'science' editorials. They are typically replete with errors or just simple well intentioned ignorance.
6,000 MW of wind is NOT the equivalent of 5 nuclear plants. Nuclear plants have a capacity factor above 90%. And the power is predictable. In 2009, U.S. wind operated at 27% of time, and the grid manager didn't know when that 27% would be operational. It takes about 4,000 MW of wind to equal one standard...

Posted on 10/14/10 at 04:07 am in response to Tom Horner campaign cites GOP poll and blogger to argue that 'Tom Emmer has hit a ceiling and cannot win'

"There has been a big uptick for Tom [Emmer, that is] in recent weeks," Kuhl said. "As more and more people learn about Tom for themselves <<<<

It strikes me that the opposite is true. The gregarious Mr Emmer can make a good first impression, but the more you learn the scarier he gets.