Michele Bachmann calls for nuke plant in Stillwater

[Minnesota Raindog]

I presume it would be on the St. Croix River...

http://hometownsource.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6101&Itemid=1

On nuclear energy Bachmann supports presumptive Republican presidential candidate Arizona Sen. John McCain’s proposal for building an additional 45 new nuclear power plants in the United States.

“It’s a great idea. And the sooner the better,” said Bachmann.

Indeed, Bachmann would “welcome” an additional nuclear power plant into the 6th District, she explained.

“Another nuclear power plant would bring down the price of people’s monthly energy bills,” said Bachmann.

She quipped that they could build a new nuclear plant in her backyard, arguing that nuclear energy is safe.

[mediaman007]

1. and where can they stick those spent nuclear rods?

Forget I asked.

[CatholicEdHead]

2. Let me guess, she has never visited Prarie Island in Red Wing

to see how that goes with a nuclear plant down by the river with operation and storage.

What does greater Stillwater think about this along the St Croix?

[kickysnana]

3. Stillwater needs a bypass bridge.

I went to a wedding north of Stillwater this weekend and everyone dutifully googled, and mapquest and found that between the Saturday traffic and detours due to road construction it took up to twice as long to get there as was estimated. The wedding party was beginning to think no body was coming.

The two mile long parade of cars creeping into Stillwater to get over the bridge does nothing for air quality.

[Minnesota Raindog]

4. Get better directions--Stillwater already has a bypass

There already is a bypass around Stillwater--Manning Ave. (Cty 15) off of MN 36 west of Stillwater takes you to Hwy 95 north of Stillwater, avoiding downtown altogether. And it's clearly marked as a bypass. If you were going north of Stillwater into Wisconsin, the bypass is called the Interstate 94 bridge at Hudson. As for the two-mile-long parade of cars, they were obviously people who can't read a road map.

If you're suggesting Stillwater needs a half-billion-dollar bridge across the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, Stillwater needs that bypass like it needs a nuclear power plant.

[Avidor]

5. The Sierra Club is Opposed to Bachmann's (and MnDOT's) ugly Stillwater Bridge Design.

http://northstar.sierraclub.org/campaigns/open-space/greenGuide/lowerStCroix/index.html

Such a bridge would be visually massive, akin to drawing a sharp horizontal tear across a priceless landscape painting. Its unimpeded, high-speed traffic would impact the St. Croix's surrounding bluffs and water surface with high, constant levels of vehicle and roadway noise. If built as the DOTs prefer, the decision whether to establish transit service to and from the accelerating Wisconsin-side suburbs would be left to the chronically underfunded Metro Transit and the often deadlocked Minnesota Legislature. Bridge piers would massively disturb endangered native mussels and aquatic ecosystems and the Wisconsin side of the Riverway will see an explosion of housing and commercial development.

This is the view from Pioneer Park in Stillwater that would be ruined by an ugly bridge:

[loveable liberal]

12. what this view doesnt show to the right is the

Allen S. King coal burning power plant. its a 600 mw coal burner with an 800 foot stack. if the picture taker moved to the left a bit it would be in full view. A new bridge would serve mostly wisconsin 3m'ers and employee's of anderson windows. Tearing down the old bridge (or making it pedestrian) would cause wisconsinites much distress.

There is plenty of scenic waterway north of pioneer park all the way to Taylors falls. There will be a new bridge built as the lift bridge might just fall over one day.

I grew up in Stillwater, ask me anything.

[Minnesota Raindog]

14. Unfortunately, not everyone can live upstream

Push it downstream and out of sight--that's been the M.O. in Stillwater for years (the King plant, the sewage treatment plant, the new bridge). I grew up there too. And what's this nonsense about "there's plenty of scenic waterway north of Pioneer Park?" That's what they say about drilling for oil in ANWR--there's PLENTY of wilderness somewhere else, so it's ok to despoil this. What part of National Scenic Riverway don't you get?

[loveable liberal]

16. Tell me what parts of the King plant and sewage plant...

you find pretty? Dont get all uppity with me, your views are not judge and jury. And dont compare a bridge extending hwy 36 to drilling for oil. that part of the river has no view. The king plant is dirty and ugly, Andersons is ugly, the sewage plant is ugly. There is no scenic riverway south of stillwater to afton (the part of the river I have travelled). You can plainly see peoples residences on both sides of the river.

The stillwater bridge is ancient; we need a new bridge. What part dont you get, neighbor?

[Minnesota Raindog]

17. What part of an 8-lane interstate bridge 6 miles away don't you get?

There is an 8-lane interstate freeway bridge 6 miles away at Hudson. There is a bridge at Osceola. There is a bridge at Taylor's Falls-St. Croix Falls. There is a bridge at Prescott-Hastings. How many freakin bridges do you need across a National Scenic Riverway (and yes, it's a designated National Scenic Riverway all the way south to its mouth at Prescott)? But you want to build a half-billion-dollar freeway bridge across the protected river at Stillwater? And once you allow this precedent to be set--allowing a new bridge to be built across a protected riverway without an old one being removed--you'll see bridges being built across protected rivers all over the country.

Shut the lift bridge down. Permanently. Turn it into a walking/bike path to Legion Beach across the river, which the city of Stillwater owns. People will find another way to drive across the river. Maybe they'll even slow down and see the river. Downtown Stillwater was heaven when the bridge has been been shut down for maintenance in the past two or three years. Ask the merchants downtown. Ask the locals.

As for residences being visible along the river--those are people who violate the scenic riverway rules by cutting trees down to improve their view. The DNR doesn't enforce the law. If it did, there would be a lot less visible on the St. Croix. But that's right--there's plenty of wilderness somewhere else so let's not worry about the lower St. Croix.

[loveable liberal]

25. And there we have it. The merchants need the bridge through downtown.

That is the real crux of the argument. The "locals" that I know and grew up with dont give a rats keister where the bridge is located, but ask the "merchants" and they want that bridge right through downtown. Merchants dont care about scenic waterways, they care about traffic.

I'm betting that the design wasnt rejected because of the destruction of scenic riverway which you assume (rather rudely) that I dismiss, the design was rejected because of commerce.

The local Stillwater government has always had a terrible track record regarding land use. Back in the day they chose immediate jobs over future consideration when they opted for a State Prison over the University of Minnesota. I would love to see the Stillwater of the 1970's return, where Lumberjack Days was a community event and not a idiot drunkfest where out-of-towners use our city for their personal toilet. The old bridge also brought us the commercialization of hwy 36 and co 5 as western Wisconsin became a 4th ring suburb. There used to be farmland there, now its all businesses. Where is your complaint against the mutilation of those lands? Maybe you dont remember those days. I would love to see the old bridge closed for good without replacement.

Thats not reality though, is it. There will be a new bridge, its just a matter of where.

[Avidor]

22. Pictures of The Saint Croix Before and After Bachmann Destoys It...

The Saint Croix River now...



The Saint Croix River with Bachmann's ugly bridge...



With Bachmann's ugly bridge and nuke plant...

[Minnesota Raindog]

18. From the Sierra Club St. Croix Valley Interstate Group today

Protecting the St. Croix Valley: St. Croix Bridge in Stillwater

By Jim Rickard

It goes without saying that the bridge issue in Stillwater is still a very contentious issue with many people on both sides of the river. While there has been a number of news stories and statements by public officials of late expressing very negative opinions about the Sierra Club's lawsuit, it is very important that we all know the FACTS on this matter.

1. The Sierra Club lawsuit has not stopped the bridge project. What is stopping the bridge project is the lack of funding by the State of Minnesota. The SC only filed the lawsuit last year - why wasn't the project progressing before then?

2. The Sierra Club is not against building a new bridge entirely. The Sierra Club has previously and continues to be supportive of alternative bridge designs which continue protections of the riverway.

3. Some public officials have been quick to say that the SC's lawsuit is putting people's safety at risk by making them use the old bridge. Again this is not true. The Stillwater bridge went through a significant upgrade effort last year and the DOT regularly inspects the bridge to ensure it is safe. The SC would support immediate shutdown or capacity limitations if safety was a concern by the DOT.

4. It has been proposed to the DOT that truck traffic be permanently rerouted to cross on the 94 bridge. This would provide immediate congestion relief to Stillwater. The DOT however has not done this and continues to allow truck traffic through Stillwater. A number of other alternatives have been proposed to the City of Stillwater to relieve congestion such as reprogramming traffic lights and changing traffic flows on certain roads yet Stillwater has again chosen not to pursue any of them.

The Sierra Club has always taken a stance for protecting our natural resources for generations to come. It is at these times when the public pressures and sentiments may appear most aligned against us that our organization should be the strongest. We cannot forget the legacy of those who have come before us to give us the natural assets that we enjoy today!

[kickysnana]

19. Manning is what was detoured. n/t

[Minnesota Raindog]

20. Ok, but the Manning detour is clearly marked...

...and adds at MOST 3 minutes to your trip and not one mile further. Keep trying to justify that half-billion-dollar bridge!

[kickysnana]

21. I am looking at the traffic backed up, idling for years now.

If there were a good alternative, people would take it.

As for my trip Google says 38 minutes. It took us 53 on the detour and I made one one block wrong turn. Many people are not as good as I am at orienting. My sister, mother of the groom got totally turned around because she had been to the place once two months ago and left without a map and the detour threw her. It took her an hour and 25 minutes.

[Minnesota Raindog]

23. If you can't get north of Stillwater without going through Stillwater...

...maybe you better stay home and quit clogging our streets. Sorry to sound harsh, but this is such a no-brainer to get around Stillwater, even with a detour that doesn't go one block out of the way, I find it hard to believe they could even get out of their driveway. The detour is plain as day. You turn off of 36 a mile or two before Manning, go north to Cty 12 and then south to pick up Manning again. Done deal.

The bottom line is, we don't need a half-billion-dollar bridge for people who can't read a road map.

[kickysnana]

26. Ah, I know you now

You were the guy on the St Paul Vo-Tech staff in 1971 who said that the welfare mothers who were trying to get secretarial skills should go back to their slum. I wasn't a welfare mom but I told him privately that if I had heard him, they had heard them and what he said was very demoralizing and counter to what an instructor was supposed to do. He did apololgize.

And you are the instructor at 916 vo-tch who said that women had no place in Bio-Medical Electronics and he was going to force me to quit no matter what he had to do. He didn't succeed. I graduated and he retired.

You were the one who in 1991 said that I shouldn't move into the Hamline-Midway neighborhood of St Paul because I was too liberal and should stay in my old neighborhood. I moved in anyway.

And you were the man nodding in agreement when Kiki Sonnen, having a neighborhood get-together but actually stumping for DINO Kelly went on a rant about how the people moving into the neighborhood who let their grass grow too long and were bringing the neighborhood down. I asked if they had inquired if that family needed some help, needed someone to loan them a lawn mower or find a kid to mow the grass once a week. They looked stunned.

Your last reply makes me wonder why you don't live in a wilderness or gated community but I would never say you didn't belong there or here.

I go into Stillwater to visit my elderly Godmother about once a year. I have had occasion to go through Stillwater to get somewhere else about twice a year. I am disabled and cannot take leisurely drives, shopping walks, nor restaurant runs into Stillwater. I am also extremely low income so I do not drive one mile more than I have to and believe that another sensible bridge is needed if nothing else because the I94 bridge and the Stillwater bridge will probably fall down at the same time, maybe soon.

[Minnesota Raindog]

28. You assume a lot little lady

How did this go from a discussion about a half-billion-dollar bridge over a National Scenic Riverway to a pity party for you and your godmother? Start a new thread if you want some sympathy, but don't try to lay your "woe is me I'm more liberal than you" trip on me. I don't need any lectures from people who can't read road maps. Go build your goddamn bridge somewhere else.

[kickysnana]

29. All right, Archie. n/t

[Deja Q]

6. Well constructed and maintained, they ARE safe.

Trouble is, she'd lick the backside of the cheapest vendor and not give a damn. Especially if she opted to resign her post and move at least 75 miles away...

[Minnesota Raindog]

7. Fine, we'll store the waste in your backyard for 10,000 years

Ahhh, nuclear waste--the little problem that everyone always seems to forget about. Do you want it in your floodplains (oops, we've already got it there in Minnesota). Or on your highways, being transported to a storage repository on a fault line?

[lakeguy]

10. fine, we'll build the coal plant in your back yard...

just kidding. no one wants a power station or plant in their back yard (except for bachman). what a dumb thing to ask.

on that note, nuclear is the safest form of energy produced in terms of human fatalities per energy unit produced but don't let the facts get in your way.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/03/deaths-per-twh-for-all-energy-sources.html

and, all renewable alternatives put together will not be able to make up for the decrease in oil/natural gas production and the increase in demand expected over the next 20 years as the planets population continues to grow. maybe if we would have listened to Carter we would stand a chance (in the US anyway) but we are 2 decades behind now.

without nuclear, you're looking at coal. or trees i guess. look at germany for example. decided to phase out nuclear and are now planning on 26 new coal plants because alternatives do not produce enough to replace oil or gas. that's 26 new coal plants in an are the size of montana.

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-33163-6.html

who's up for radioactive waste EVERYWHERE, including your floodplain. don't forget about the mercury too. dangerous fossil fuel waste is killing every second of every day right now and the problem is growing.

every form of energy has risks. fear mongering instead of looking at facts is not going to get us through the next few decades.

[Minnesota Raindog]

11. You' re missing the point--like everyone else

"fear mongering instead of looking at facts is not going to get us through the next few decades."


Neither will writing lengthy posts about our energy crisis without even mentioning conservation.

[FiveGoodMen]

13. !

:applause:

[Eric J in MN]

8. There usually isn't a big event like the accidents at...

...Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.

But that doesn't mean that smaller amounts of radioactive material doesn't get into the environment gradually.

[MnFats]

9. the prevailing winds are generally west-to-east or NW to SE, so who cares?

tough hop if Wisconsin and Illinois start to glow in the dark!

[CatholicEdHead]

15. I don't want my beer to set off radation detectors

;)

[Avidor]

24. This is great...

From a comment on the Dump Bachmann Blog:

[dflprincess]

27. It would make a lovely billboard (eom)

:rofl: