In the years leading up to its 7 April 1964 launch, however, the 360 was one of the scariest dramas in American business. It took a nearly fanatical commitment at all levels of IBM to bring forth this remarkable collection of machines and software. While the technological innovations that went into the S/360 were important, how they were created and deployed bordered on disaster. The company experienced what science policy expert Keith Pavitt called “tribal warfare”: people clashing and collaborating in a rapidly growing company with unstable, and in some instances unknown, technologies, as uncertainty and ambiguity dogged all the protagonists.
Ultimately, IBM was big and diverse enough in talent, staffing, financing, and materiel to succeed. In an almost entrepreneurial fashion, it took advantage of emerging technologies, no matter where they were located within the enterprise. In hindsight, it seemed a sloppy and ill-advised endeavor, chaotic in execution and yet brilliantly successful. We live in an age that celebrates innovation, so examining cases of how innovation is done can only illuminate our understanding of the process.
This is a rather fascinating story about the history of the technology.
While the Phil Och's version of the Ballad of the Carpenter is far more known, Ewan MacColl was the original author of the song, and had a somewhat different take on the song. His wife, Peggy Seeger is the daughter of folk singer Pete Seeger.
However, that is not the case of the proposal at all. The bill, Senate Bill S4408, would do as the sponsors memo says:
“adds a new section 9-0508 to the environmental conservation law to allow the department to enter into agreements for the sole purpose of aiding in the interconnection of renewable energy installations which are located outside of reforestation lands and the transmission and distribution of electricity from those installations. Any agreement made for this purpose would be prohibited from interfering with the operation or use of the reforestation areas.”
In other words, it would allow power lines to cross state lands to assist in the movement of solar and wind power from nearby solar facilities across the state land. While it’s not completely clear if such a policy is prohibited currently – the state does from time to time permit the construction of power lines across reforestation areas – this explicitly makes it a permitted use on the state lands.
Here is the actual text of the proposed law.
§ 9-0508. AGREEMENTS AND EASEMENTS RELATED TO RENEWABLE ENERGY INTERCON-
NECTION.
NOTWITHSTANDING ANY PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE SEVEN OF THE PUBLIC LANDS
LAW TO THE CONTRARY, THE DEPARTMENT MAY, IN ANY LANDS ACQUIRED AS
REFORESTATION AREAS BY THE STATE IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 9-0501 OF
THIS TITLE, ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LEASES,
OR EASEMENTS, FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF AIDING IN THE INTERCONNECTION OF
RENEWABLE ENERGY INSTALLATIONS LOCATED OUTSIDE SUCH LANDS AND THE TRANS-
MISSION AND DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRICITY THEREFROM. SUCH INTERCONNECTION
RIGHTS SHALL NOT INTERFERE WITH THE OPERATION OF SUCH REFORESTATION
AREAS FOR THE PURPOSES FOR WHICH THEY WERE ACQUIRED AND AS DEFINED IN
SECTION THREE OF ARTICLE FOURTEEN OF THE NEW YORK STATE CONSTITUTION.
ANY AGREEMENT MADE AND ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION SHALL BE
RECORDED IN THE OFFICE OF GENERAL SERVICES AND BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE
PUBLIC ON THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF SUCH OFFICE.
Is this proposal a good one or a bad one? That’s up to you to considered. I will note that the concept of the Hewitt Act is explicitly multiple use, with forest products and mineral products like oil and gas production having always been part of state forest management, along with hunting, fishing, camping, and watershed production.
Legally, as an employee of the legislature, I can’t advocate for or against this measure. But I can say, look at the facts as a whole, and read what the measure does and not what the politicians say it does. Indeed, this bill should not have generated much controversy, as while power lines can require a forest cut or impact scenic resources, their is a public comment and administrative review proceedings to ensure such decisions serve the public benefit.
I am working on a map of how many New York State’s land mass you can fit into other states land mass. I will post later in the week. But in the mean time…
You can fit 12.1 states with the land area of New York in Alaska, 5.5 in Texas, 3.09 in Montana, 1.69 in Minnesota, 1.46 in Minnesota.
