Where does the state get rid of it’s waste heat from it’s downtown data center?
Where does the county get rid of it’s PFOAs in it’s sewage sludge?
$700 million to limp along old coal plants? 🏭
President Donald Trump is launching a nearly $700 million federal initiative aimed at reviving the declining U.S. coal industry by upgrading existing infrastructure, building new power plants, and expanding export capabilities. The administration frames this energy push as a national security priority to meet the massive electricity demands of artificial intelligence data centers, electric cars, and tech infrastructure, while reducing reliance on foreign supply chains. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Funding Breakdown
The plan utilizes wartime executive powers and targeted federal grants to inject capital into the fossil fuel sector: [1, 2]
- $425 Million for Upgrades: Allocated under the Cold War-era Defense Production Act (DPA) to modernize and support 13 existing coal-fired plants across the country. [1, 2]
- $185 Million for New and Reopened Plants: Department of Energy grants, matching corporate funds, to build two brand-new coal plants in Alaska and West Virginia (the first new U.S. coal plants since 2013) and restart a shuttered 200-MW plant in Maryland. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- $75 Million for Export Infrastructure: Sourced from the DPA to fund the long-delayed West Gateway export terminal in Oakland, California, establishing a direct shipping pipeline to foreign markets. [1, 2, 3]
Strategic Goals
- Powering Tech Growth: The Energy Department is using emergency directives to keep coal facilities operating past their scheduled retirement dates to withstand the historic energy surge driven by data centers and AI. [1]
- Job Creation: The White House projects the total funding package will create or protect over 14,000 jobs across the mining, rail, construction, and maritime shipping industries. [1]
- Grid Reliability: Energy Secretary Chris Wright notes that preventing the premature retirement of aging coal facilities acts as a critical safety net against grid blackouts during extreme winter weather. [1]
Pushed Backlash
The plan faces severe pushback from environmental advocates, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council. Critics condemn the use of taxpayer funds to prop up what they describe as an “extraordinarily uneconomic” and highly polluting energy source, warning that forcing aging plants to stay open will ultimately raise consumer utility bills and worsen air pollution. [1, 2]
Vanderwhacker Firetower Hike
The hike to the Vanderwhacker Mountain Fire Tower starts about a mile beyond where Moose Club Road crosses Vanderwhacker Brook, roughly 3.1 miles from NY 28N at Boreas River. The road is not maintained in the winter and can be very soft past Vanderwhacker Brook and Railroad Tracks.
The trail starts out following an ol logging road, that winds through birch, beech, and maple trees, crossing several small streams. There are some small wooden bridges, however this part of the trail can be muddy. Then as you start the first real ascent of trail, where you reach an old long abandoned Fire Observer Cabin and dump. There also is an a historical marker that reminds visitors of the wilderness rangers who once lived on the mountain full-time to safeguard the surrounding valley from forest fires. The trail switches back, the real mountain climb starts.
Over the course of the final mile, hikers must navigate a staircase of exposed tree roots, loose rocks, and large stone slabs that require careful footwork and steady pacing. As the elevation increases, the surrounding hardwood forest transitions into a dense boreal ecosystem dominated by fragrant balsam fir and red spruce. The air grows noticeably cooler, and the physical exertion intensifies, making the occasional flat ledge a welcome spot to pause, catch one’s breath, and glimpse the surrounding valleys through the thickening trees. You are close to the submit, with about a half mile gentle climb to the top.
When you emerge at the base of the tower, there are no views. But the short, relatively recently restored 35-foot tower is just high enough to get you an excellent view of the surrounding country. Outstanding views of the High Peaks are looming to the north, the sprawling Boreas Ponds tract below, and countless rolling green ridges fading into the blue horizon as you look to the rolling wild forest to the south and east.
Some news … 🗞️
I spoke to Andy Ruth’s secretary and she says next week she will be calling to schedule the appointment to install the truck cap. I should have the second solar panel on Saturday, I will drive in some other day next week to get the aluminum bar and some nuts, bolts, plastic conduit, and terry tape. When I get the truck cap, I’ll have to stop by Albany Walmart for a marine battery box for that other lead acid battery I’m pulling from the old rig. I have all of the other connectors, including “A” connectors for mounting bar for the second solar panel.
While I had figured at this point it was unlikely I would be getting the truck cap for this weekend, having not heard from Ruth”s yet, it still is likely that I’ll have things mostly set up for the Juneteenth Weekend. I mostly want to the have the solar wired to the batteries, the inverter hooked up, and a line run to the starting batteries/alternator. Who knows, maybe it will rain Juneteenth Weekend, there is still one more weekend in June to test out equipment and get ready for the big Independence 250 Weekend which I want to spend up at Moose River.
Thursday, dirsday day…. ☀️
Going to be a hot ol’ summer day, though again not too humid. We haven’t had too many real muggers of the day so far this summer, but I’m sure they are coming, even if I’m still waiting for the cap. I will make it a priority to call Andy Ruth this morning.
Today is the last scheduled day of the legislative session, 🏦 after which I feel fairly comfortable about wearing shorts and taking off whatever time is necessary for the rest of the summer. 🩳Next week will be a lot easier to take delivery of the truck cap 🚛 too. I really should call today, but I don’t want to hear the bad news that might be further delayed. Still if I get it next week, and get things mostly wired up the following weekend I’m hoping to be ready to head out of town for Juneteenth Weekend assuming the weather is decent. 🔌 Everything doesn’t have to be perfect but I want the solar and inverter wired up, and the ability to move power from the starting battery/alternator back and forth to the accessory batteries. 🪫
Last night after going to the store 🛒 and getting some supplies, I fried up some onion pancakes and with the heat and my exhaustion went to bed, 🛏️ though didn’t get to sleep until a little before 9 PM and awoke around six AM. ⏰ I’ve just been kind of tired lately, though not feeling like I have Lyme disease. Maybe it’s my impatience about the truck cap, 📆 watching as summer fades away as does the days I’ll be free to travel. Hoping the weather in two weeks will be good enough to take dad to the Gas Up. 🚜 He seems a bit better then Mom, but he turned 79 this year, and will be 80 next February. Things that keep me up at night. I know you can hire people to feed livestock, 🐐 but I also know I only have so many days to travel like I have in years past. I got to call 📱 Ruth’s today and make sure the cap hasn’t been sitting on their lot and they’ve not been able to reach me. I’d love to be able to make the appointment for early next week, hand over the cash, catch the bus downtown and bike the remaining way to work, 🚲 and have the cap ready to go. Getting the second solar panel on Saturday. ☀️ I want to be home to take delivery, but I also hope to get up to Thacher Park on the Nature Bus 🚏 for a while on Saturday to read and hang out. 🌧️ Still talking rain showers and clouds this weekend, but not as wet.
Well I need to get in the shower, 🚿 and then hop o the mountain bike 🚵♂️ and peddle to work. Chain started to sound a bit dry, it’s been a few days since I last greased it, so I should do that before I get into the office. Probably a pretty quiet day in the office, yesterday was, just updating and fixing little things in the database using the latest property tax rolls. Maybe this evening I’ll go out to Five Rivers, or I could go to the forum they are having at the local library on AI Data Centers. 🖥️ I sort of like playing with AI but I wish the models were more localized, smaller and more efficent that you could run them on your own computer without all this government and corporate censorship 😶. AI is really good for exploring ideas, getting summaries of various issues.
