A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.

13 January 2015

Flathead H2O compact, senior center costs, GOP science fiction

Flathead Water Compact. Last night in Helena, the Montana Reserved Water Rights Commission unanimously approved the renegotiated Flathead Water Compact. Now the legislature must approve the compact, or there will be years and years of ugly litigation. I hope the Republicans who opposed the compact two years ago will recognize that the changes in the renegotiated agreement make this a good deal, and will approve it as a practical matter instead of opposing it as an idealogical imperative.

Flathead County senior center. Commissioner Phil Mitchell wants a special meeting on Friday, 16 January, to discuss ways of reducing the cost of the building. One way of reducing the capital investment, reports the InterLake, is using cheaper but less efficient heating and cooling equipment:

During the process of awarding the contract, David Mitchell of CTA Architects Engineers told the commissioners the heating and cooling system could be downgraded to a less costly but less efficient rooftop model.

That’s like buying gas guzzling automobile to save on the purchase price, then spending the “saved” money and more on gasoline. It’s not a good bargain. The county should insist on a super-insulated building, super-efficient heating and cooling equipment, and a roof strong enough to support photovoltaic panels for a net metering connection. Fossil fuel prices are low now because an economic turndown abroad has reduced demand, but that demand will return. Over the long term, fossil fuel prices will rise.

Homeowners and businesses use life cycle cost analysis to determine whether they can afford a building, accounting for both construction and operational costs. Governments do not, but should. Governments subordinate energy efficiency to maximizing square footage, thus ensuring that future taxpayers will be burdened with expensive retrofits and high energy consumption and costs.

Republicans believe a legislator can be in two places at the same time. Montana Streetfighter infers this amazing belief from its discovery that:

…the TEA party Republican leadership in the Montana Senate have stacked some of the chamber’s most important committees with the same few far right-wing legislators. The only problem? Many committees meet at the same time, meaning these senators will necessarily have to miss their committee meetings.

There’s more. Republicans may not be all that enthused with science, but it appears they’re really into science fiction.