Indiana tax payers will buy your product...

[one_voice]

Daniels takes natural gas bet that others refused

Critics say his plan committing state to 30-year natural gas deal is risky for Indiana homeowners

Gas companies backed away. Bankers declined loans.

The deal collapsed -- until Daniels stepped in and put it back on track.

Now, every household in Indiana that burns natural gas is being pulled into a venture that consumer activists call risky.

If the plant to be built at Rockport can't make gas from coal cheaply enough, household bills will increase for every home in Indiana that uses the fuel.

The reason is that the bold plan the governor announced Dec. 16 makes Indiana households the safety net for the proposed plant, which would use heat, steam, pressure and oxygen to turn coal into natural gas.

Under the plan, officials say, the plant would put 200 miners to work, open a new market for the state's coal mines, moderate spikes in natural gas prices and make Indiana a leader in gasification, a time-tested process never commercialized on a mass scale.

But it is a complex wager -- a bet, really -- that natural gas prices will rise.

Indiana would rely on the Rockport investors, a company in New York called Leucadia National Corp. It is betting that gas made from Midwestern coal will be cheaper than the natural gas flowing from the ground.



*snip*

http://www.indystar.com/article/20110102/BUSINESS/101020347/Daniels-takes-natural-gas-bet-others-refused :wow:

[Hawkowl]

1. Socialism!

It's o.k. when Republicans do it. Oh, and btw, I believe this governor to be Obama's biggest threat to re-election. He would kick, Obama's ass, into next week. (And no, I would never vote for him.)

[Contrary1]

2. Gee whiz, Wally...the only thing missing from this story...

is how much good ole' Mitch will pocket from this venture.

He lies, he cheats, he cashes in.

[rgbecker]

3. Is this the "Clean Coal" some have promoted?

[MrModerate]

6. Naah. Clean coal is supposed to be a way to burn coal more-or-less directly and . . .

Result in lower emissions release. It doesn't quite work yet. The article is talking about a high-energy-investment conversion of coal to "natural" gas. It doesn't entirely work either.

To be fair, both technologies are improving and may meet their promise within a few years. Today, no.

[MrModerate]

4. Frakkin' crazy (pun intended). In the next five years, new production equalling . . .

Approximately 50% of the existing production is going to come on line (much of it from Australia). Even with unanticipated growth in China, India, and anywhere else, natural gas prices are going down.

[salvorhardin]

5. Nice

So nice of Mitch Daniels to play craps with the money of Indiana homeowners and renters. I wonder how long into the 30 year contract it'll be before we find out that Leucadia National Corp. and Daniels, or someone in his administration, have a financial relationship. Or perhaps Leucadia is Daniels' retirement plan after he steps down as governor.

[Indianademocrat91]

7. What the fuck is with him and these long ass deals?!

30 fucking years for natural gas when we dont need it
90 fucking years to a foreign company for toll roads we dont need
billions of dollars to ibm for fucking up our social welfare system

I swear if he becomes president then we might as well change our name to the "United States of America brought to you by (Insert Corporation here) in association with(Other Corporation)"

[lafayettelonewolf]

10. It's called karma.

Everything the GOP here in Indiana touches turns to lead, so to speak. Too bad that almost everyone here in this state is conservative. :(

[Indianademocrat91]

11. Well now with the whole state in GOP hands

I fear that we are going to be worse off then ever before especially with Bitch Daniels and his lackies "reforming education"

we also have that ridiculous law of only being allowed to buy Indiana coal even though it is more expensive and more toxic to the environment than any other coal out there...i really dont understand how Indiana is so backwards that they can't see the destruction of Daniels regime for what it is..

[pa28]

8. I wonder who got to him.

I'm with the gas companies and banks on this one. Gas is cheap and plentiful due to our *ahem* aggressive exploration, expansion and deregulation of that resource during the last ten years.

A costly extraction technique seems ridiculous.

[Scruffy1]

9. We spent years cleaning up the mess from our plant

There was one in Minneapolis from about 1900-1940's. It went through a lot of owners and led to a cleanup nightmare when the area was redeveloped as part of the River Plan. Toxic waste clean up took years and years and lots of litigation. There is just no way the conversion of coal to natural gas makes much sense in my opinion. One of the problems is keeping the btu content equivalent to natural gas that furnaces are designed for and the other is the inefficiency of the process. Then there is the pollution from burning coal.

With all the means to get clean energy out there I can think of only one reason for this project. Someone is being paid off.

[Vinnie From Indy]

12. Mitch Daniels will run for president

He is mean, vindictive and completely at ease with sticking it to the poor. Indiana is now completely in the clutches of the GOP. Hoosiers better buckle up for a very bumpy ride over the next two years.