URGENT for users who import large data files into MS ACCESS 2007 data base.

Microsoft admits a problem, "Access 2007 takes more time to import large [30 megabyte] .csv files than Access 2003 does," but claims slow import is fixed in MS Office 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1).   Read More »

John McCain's Florida problems may be growing: Democratic voters have out-registered Republicans by a nearly 7-to-1 margin since January.

State totals show Democrats gained a net of 106,508 voters from January through May, compared with 16,686 for the GOP -- a shift that could muddle any McCain campaign math that banks on a Florida win to gain the White House.

New Democratic registration outnumbered Republicans in six Central Florida counties -- even heavily Republican Seminole County. Orange County actually lost nearly 2,500 GOP voters and gained 11,800 Democrat voters so far.

"It's a clear sign that Democrats are re-surging in Florida," said political scientist Aubrey Jewett with the University of Central Florida. "I think the numbers certainly should worry the McCain campaign." * * *

Rest of Blog Entry
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/07/democrats-out-r.html

Orlando Sentinel News Story
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/orl-voters1208jul12,0,466937.story

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

We can safely redeploy our combat brigades at a pace that would remove them in 16 months. That would be the summer of 2010 �" two years from now, and more than seven years after the war began. After this redeployment, a residual force in Iraq would perform limited missions: going after any remnants of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, protecting American service members and, so long as the Iraqis make political progress, training Iraqi security forces. That would not be a precipitous withdrawal.

* * * I would consult with commanders on the ground and the Iraqi government to ensure that our troops were redeployed safely, and our interests protected. We would move them from secure areas first and volatile areas later. We would pursue a diplomatic offensive with every nation in the region on behalf of Iraq’s stability, and commit $2 billion to a new international effort to support Iraq’s refugees.

New York Times, Monday, July 14, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/opinion/14obama.html?th&emc=th

The poster child for the looming muni bond crisis is Jefferson County, Alabama which just replaced its financial advisers with just three weeks to go to an August 1st deadline.

The commissioners are also split over whether switching advisers would help the county avert the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in the nation's history, eclipsing Orange County's notable 1994 collapse.

The majority believes a new team would find a solution to the county's problems, while the minority believes a deal cannot be reached in three weeks and bankruptcy is inevitable.

The county faces an Aug. 1 deadline to come up with a plan to make a $100 million debt payment to Wall Street banks and creditors.

The commission voted 3-2 to hire a new team comprised of Birmingham investment firm Sterne, Agee & Leach; Wall Street firm The Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Keegan & Co., the investment banking arm of Birmingham-based Regions Financial Corp.

The meeting lasted 15 minutes, with 10 minutes spent on the resolution terminating contracts with Porter, White & Co.; Wall Street giant Merrill Lynch & Co.; and Birmingham law firm Bradley Arant Rose & White and hiring the new team.

The Jefferson County Commission could ask Wall Street banks and creditors for an extension beyond an Aug. 1 deadline to give a new team of financial advisers time to craft a restructuring plan for the county's $3.2 billion sewer debt and avert bankruptcy, Commissioner George Bowman said Tuesday.

Bowman, Commission President Bettye Fine Collins and Commissioner Shelia Smoot voted Tuesday to hire a new team after saying that the former advisers failed to make progress in reaching a solution to the county's sewer debt crisis.

That team of advisers extended payment deadlines three times since April 1.

The county faces an Aug. 1 deadline to come up with a plan to make a $100 million debt payment to Wall Street banks and creditors.

Bowman, who has emerged as the lead commissioner handling the crisis, said the new advisers are aware of what's at stake.

"I don't want to say they are miracle workers," Bowman said. "They know we have a deadline we are trying to meet and if they don't feel they can meet those deadlines, I'm sure they'll come back and ask for more time."

The Birmingham News, Wednesday, July 09, 2008
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1215591376104140.xml&coll=2

According to Bloomberg the new advisers may have ethical conflicts...   Read More »

Robert Wexler: Thank you Mister Chairman, thank you Mr. McClellan, for appearing before this committee today. Your book raises many questions about the administration that is incapable of telling the truth and, in your words, avoids accountability. I want to focus on how and why Scooter Libby came to reveal the identity of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson.
* * *
Wexler: So this suspicion leads you to believe that Vice President Cheney could have authorized Mr. Libby’s leak?

McClellan: I can’t rule it out, and I think that Scooter Libby in his, some testimony that he’s talked about, it’s possible that he could have first learned about her from, or that the Vice President could have even asked him to get that information out.

Wexler: Well, thank you for your candor, Mr. McClellan. Your suspicion or the doubts that you raise fit in very nicely to what it is we do know. We do know Mr. Cheney has been deeply involved in the efforts to cover up the leak and exonerate Mr. Libby. We know Mr. Cheney called you to have you unknowingly lie to the American people about Libby’s involvement. We know that the Vice President wrote a note where he starts to write and then crosses out the fact that the president himself asked Libby to stick his neck into a meat grinder to protect the administration. It is clear to me that Mr. Cheney is the only one left; the only likely suspect to have ordered the leak. If Mr. Cheney really thought Libby was innocent, then his note would have likely said something like “We need to protect this man who has done nothing wrong.” But that’s not what Mr. Cheney’s note said. The Vice President’s own hand betrays him and Libby, and implicates the President of the United States.

These facts and your testimony, Mr. McClellan, are more than enough in my view to open up impeachment hearings. Furthermore, the President’s use of the pardon power to deflect an investigation into his own wrongdoing by granting a commutation to the man who may have lied for him, would constitute an abuse and crime of the highest order. And we must determine on this committee conclusively whether or not this happened. Thank you, Mr. McClellan, for exposing some of the lies that were propagated by this White House. But unfortunately, as you have said, I believe as well, others in this White House have been blocking access to the truth. It’s time we sweep away the bogus claims of executive privilege and get Karl Rove, Andy Card, and others before this judiciary committee. We have the power of inhering contempt, and if need be, we should use it. Mr. McClellan, what you have provided today for the American people is enormously important. You are the first high official in this administration to come before this Congress and offer us a glimpse into the truth. I commend you for being here today.

McClellan: Thank you Congressman. I do believe it’s important for the American people to have the truth.

From a "Wexler for Congress" e-mail
"Update on McClellan, FISA, and Impeachment"
Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 5:43 PM

Almost a quarter of a million people (248,841 and counting) have signed up at the website "Wexler Wants Hearings" www.wexlerwantshearings.com
http://www.wexlerwantshearings.com/

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

There are some who argue that the US must stay in Iraq because of what would happen if we leave, but are they paying attention to what is happening as we stay? The website Iraq Body Count
www.iraqbodycount.org
tracks civilian casualties. Here is the entry for this past Sunday:

Sunday 6 July: 30 dead

Baghdad: car bomb kills 6, Shaab; 2 bodies.

Diyala
Qara Tabba: roadside bomb kills 8, including 3 children.
Baquba: 2 die during clashes between police and Sahwa members.
Kana'an: roadside bomb kills 1.

Ninewa
Mosul: gunmen kill 1.

Babil
Haswa: roadside bomb kills 1.
Iskandariya: Awakening Council Head is killed by bomb attached to his car.
Mussayab: body found.
Hilla: body found.

Basra
Zubair: child is blown up by landmine.

Anbar
Rawah: suicide bomber drives car at checkpoint, kills 5 policemen.

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/database/recent/

Stay or go, the deaths go on.
Landmines kill women and children without remorse...

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

"June was the second straight month with more than a quarter million properties nationwide receiving foreclosure filings," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. * * * Bank repossessions, or REOs, continue to increase at a much faster pace than default notices or auction notices. REOs in June were up 171 percent from a year ago, while default notices were up 38 percent and auction notices were up 22 percent over the same time period."

For the third month in a row, California and Florida cities accounted for nine out of the top 10 metropolitan foreclosure rates among the 230 metropolitan areas tracked in the report.

The foreclosure rate in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., ranked No. 9.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/foreclosure-activity-decreases-3-percent/story.aspx?guid={9BDD3E6B-A00E-43AC-ACDD-535152703528}&dist=hppr

Meanwhile, the Bush tax cuts are working...

Lauderdale Marine Center in Fort Lauderdale is expecting to open its new megayacht dockage and repair facility within 60 days, general manager Mark Pratt said.

The centerpiece of an 18-acre, $40 million expansion, the area has covered work space for yachts up to 185 feet and heavier lifts to pull them ashore for maintenance and repairs.

* * *

In 2006, megayacht repair and maintenance work in the area had an estimated economic impact of $219.8 million. The big boat visits also generated $152.6 million in brokerage and charter commissions.

West Palm Beach's Rybovich Marina is undergoing a $15 million upgrade that'll add 7,000 linear feet of new floating and fixed docks for yachts up to 300 feet long.

* * *

Last year, Rybovich completed the first part of the renovation, which included a new 40,000-square-foot repair center and service slips for yachts up to 275 feet.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-flzmarine0614sbjun14,0,4728001.story

Even non-foreclosed owners are in interesting times, Gov. Crist and FL House House Speaker Rubio deliver, "the largest tax cut in Florida History," though perhaps not in the way they expected.

With Friday's completion of the tax roll, homeowners can view their new tax values online at www.bcpa.net. * * *

The 4.8 percent decline in the tax base was slightly less than the 5.3 percent projected when the preliminary data was released in late May. It remains a dramatic departure from years of the tax base increasing by double-digit percentages.

Coconut Creek, Lazy Lake, Margate and Tamarac posted the largest percentage declines in their tax base, losing at least 9 percent of their value. The only cities posting an increase in their tax base were Southwest Ranches, Sea Ranch Lakes, Pembroke Park and Parkland.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbtax0628sbjun28,0,5478917.story

In Broward County, Florida, where the City of Ft Lauderdale is located, homes are being foreclosed, property values are declining and the yacht business is booming.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way" in short, the period was so far like the present period

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Tale_of_Two_Cities/Book_the_First/Chapter_I

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

Darcy Bruner(D) candidate for US Congress in Washington State's 8th Congressional District lost her home to an 7 AM fire on Tuesday. Later the same day the Seattle Times website published a photo of her standing outside and below her fire destroyed home in a t-shirt with "" (XML for "end war").

By Wednesday "Kos" (Markos Moulitsas) of Daily Kos was promoting a fund raising drive for Bruner on ActBlue.

The tragedy has obviously upended her life, and she's struggling right now to put all the pieces back together. As such, she now faces a dilemma -- the more time she dedicates to dealing with her personal affairs, the less time she has to campaign and raise money.

We can't help with the "campaign" side of things, but we can help with the money side of things. Darcy would have to raise about $150,000 in the month of July to keep up with her Republican opponent. Us bloggers are going to try and raise that for her.

Darcy is currently at $250,000 across all of ActBlue. We want to get that to $400,000. A tall order, but no one deserves the respite from the rigors of fundraising more than Darcy.

One last point: Darcy is a huge netroots sensation because she is truly one of us -- a former Microsoft exec who is a geek at heart, and someone who has been with us on the war and FISA since she first started running in 2005. Some politicians can put up a facade or say the right things for the right audience, but there's no faking it when you've just run out of your burning house, seeing all your worldly possessions go up in flames as you frantically try to ensure your family is safe. Look at the shirt she was wearing:

[Photograph of an unhappy Darcy standing in front of a two story house reduced to one story by a fire wearing a t-shirt with the symbol ""]

The blog continues with an update by "Goldy."

[...] that’s XML for “end war.” And the fact that this was the shirt that Darcy was wearing at 7AM when she and her family fled their burning house, tells us in the netroots all we need to know about Darcy Burner [...]

Darcy needs to raise about $150,000 this July to keep pace with Dave Reichert and her own 2006 fundraising, and everyday she takes off makes her campaign budget that much harder to hit. That’s about $5,000 a day. * * * Every $5,000 increment we raise represents a day that Darcy won’t have to dedicate to her own fundraising efforts. It is a gift more precious than money; it is a gift of time.

BLOG: Daily KOS
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/7/2/125223/3865/723/545400

NEWSPAPER: Seattle Times, July 1, 2008 updated 5:45 PM
"Fire destroys home of congressional candidate Darcy Burner"
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008027474_webfire01m.html

NEWSPAPER: Seattle Times, July 2, 2008 updated 6:48 PM
"Screams of Burner's son led to family's escape"
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008028822_burnerfire02m.html

ActBlue
http://www.actblue.com/page/orangetoblue?refcode=burnerfire

I was originally alerted to this story an email: TechPresident.com's "Daily Digest."

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

New databases are prone to coding errors, so preliminary results are to be taken with a grain of salt. A very odd result from a crosstab:

Looking only at Orange County, FL voters registered since January 1, 2008, in some African American precincts, the "Socialist of Florida" party (Party=9) appears to be out registering Republicans!!!

A very, very preliminary result subject to verification next week.

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

Now for some shameless promotion. A blogger on "AOL's Political Machine" is promoting the song "It's Your Life" by my friend Francesca Battistelli (FRAN-CHESS-KA BAT-TIS-TELL-LEE).

So if any of you Democratic or Republican convention planners need a good theme song this year, I've got one for you: "It's Your Life" by 23-year-old Francesca Battistelli.

"'It's Your Life' is about using your voice, your abilities, and your life to stand for what you believe in. Your vote could turn the tide of the election. One small step could change the course of your life. It's your life, what are you going to do?"

http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/07/02/election-2008-theme-song-republicans-democrats/

Listen to "It's Your Life" here (a promo video):
http://www.rhino.co.uk/rhino-videos,video-francesca-its-your-life-promo_1601740171.htm?pg=362&pgstart=361

In my (incredibly biased)opinion, Obama could do worse than featuring Francesca at his rallies to reach out to religious voters. Although Francesca's songs are inspired by her religious beliefs, they are songs of the heart and are gentle on the theology.

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

There was little good news for Americans hitting the road for the July Fourth holiday, as gas prices set their own record near $4.10 a gallon.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080703/oil_prices.html

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

If you didn't have reason enough to join an Obama voter registration drive this 4th of July, check out this PDF of a Republican Party of Florida(RPOF) voter registration flier posted on the Miami Herald "Naked Politics" blog.

Blog:
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2008/07/gop-voter-broch.html

Flyer PDF:
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/files/gop_voter_registration_flyer.pdf

nothing positive or warm and fuzzy about the GOP but, as a harbinger of the negative tone of this campaign season, the Republican Party mailer is a predicably filled with scare tactics. For example, if Obama wins the White House he will:

"put the safety and security of Americans at risk both abroad and here at home....businesses will face greater bureaucratic regulations...The tax and spend Democrat machine in Washington will continue spending at alarming rates...Floridians will be forced into a system of socialized medicine...and (liberals will be) creating special rights for special interest groups."

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

Onion News Network(ONN) video report on Bush tour of America to survey damage caused by his disastrous Presidency.

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/bush_tours_america_to_survey?utm_source=embedded_video

From coast to coast the lives of Americans turned upside down since 01/20/2001. Video from the political satirists at "The Onion."

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

In the New York Times today, Tuesday, July 1, 2008:

WASHINGTON �" The Pentagon has ordered electrical inspections of all buildings in Iraq maintained by KBR, a major military contractor, after the electrocutions of several United States service members.

General Petraeus’s written statement was made public on Monday afternoon by Senator Bob Casey, Democrat of Pennsylvania. The statement said that of the 13 Americans electrocuted, 10 were in the Army, 1 in the Marines, and 2 were contractors.

In addition to those killed, many more service members have received painful shocks, Army officials say.

Had enough of KBR? Check out Grayson for Congress
http://www.graysonforcongress.com/

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

The Obama Fellows (interns) are doing a major voter registration drive. Their efforts in addition to efforts of other groups such as ACORN are producing impressive results across the country, but particularly in Florida. It will take a special effort to stay in touch with these voters.

In Orange County as of mid-June are about 14,000 more Democrats than there were on January 29 resulting in a 43,000 registered voter advantage over the Republicans.

I discussed this in more detail on June 15:
http://www.democrats.org/page/community/post/JBCallahan/Cxbm

VOTER CONTACT
The DNC has produced a great national voter contact database, VoteBuilder (also known as VAN). But, we need to closely monitor the latest voter registration date in the database for a given state or county. In Florida, there is a three to four month lag in the monthly CDs we get from the Florida Division of Elections. If this lag carries over to VoteBuilder we will have a three to four month blindspot where we will be unable to contact newly registered Obama voters.

The campaign intends to remedy some of this problem by keeping track of the names of the people they register the limits of this approach is twofold:

#1 The Obama campaign will know its own voters, but it won't know who other organizations such as ACORN have registered and it can't just ask ACORN for its list because that would be illegal coordination and would jeopardize Project Votes' tax status.

#2 Keeping track of names before you turn you in doesn't tell you which eligible voters actually made it on the voter registration rolls (glitches could include that if the drivers license number or the last 4 digits of the social security number don't match their voter registration could fail). This is Florida! Strange things happen to the voter registration rolls! Trust, but verify.

To know all of the newly registered voters (not just the ones registered by Obama campaign) we have to rely on public records. Although by law the State of Florida maintains the official roll, in Orange County, Florida the Supervisor of Elections posts a monthly list of registered voters here:
http://www.ocfelections.com/Public%20Records/New%20Voters/New%20Voters%20Homepage.htm

The list is posted in the middle of one month for registrations through the end of the previous month. Using to posted list could reduce the reporting lag to two to four weeks.

The posted list has addresses, but does not have phone numbers or emails. To the extent that the Obama campaign has phone numbers and emails they could be added and the voter could be called to congratulate them on their successful voter registration. Yes, you are on the rolls and you can vote by mail or you vote at the elementary school (for example).

If we do not have phone numbers or emails for the voters (perhaps they were registered by ACORN/Project Vote) we add the voters to a special walk list and send volunteers to the door with lit and sign people up to receive email updates from Barrack Obama and other campaigns.

I hate for all the voter registration efforts to go to waste. Some optimists believe if a voter registers at a supermarket they will definitely turn out at a school, a firehouse or some other polling place to vote. Without further contact, the voter may not know how to vote by mail, vote early or on election day a polling place. Moreover, without further contact, they may vote for Obama and quit and not vote for the other Democrats on the ballot.

In conclusion, we need to follow through newly registered voters (whether registered by the Obama campaign or not) and it may take some additional data efforts (beyond VoteBuilder/VAN) to do so.

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

USAelectionPolls.com just admitted and corrected an error that may have influenced the weekend news reporting cycle. Obama is ahead in NJ. NJ is not like Pennsylvania -- it does not have a large rural hinterland resembling Alabama.

We had a couple of mistakes in our Rasmussen Reports poll results that we had to fix over this weekend (thanks to a caller who informed me of the mistakes!).

The New Jersey results were flipped between Obama and McCain -- mistakingly crowning McCain as the winner of the state. And the Virginia poll was just not updated to the latest June poll... I have fixed that.

http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/

As correct, the electoral math for Rasmussen shows Obama ahead in the electoral collage 249 to 210.

Quinnipiac University has ... focused exclusively on the battleground states. [Obama] is over 150 electoral votes ahead in the more contested states.

http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/


Specifically in Florida, the latest (June 18) Quinnipiac University shows Obama ahead 47 to 43.
http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/2008/general-election/florida.html

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

Over 4,000 events. Log in to my.barack.obama.com for events in your area.

If high gas prices, the foreclosure crisis and falling home prices were not enough.

ONE MORE REASON FOR CHANGE
Republicans favor privatizing Social Security and forcing people to risk their savings in the stock market.

John McCain promises more of the same -- tax and economic policies.

With one trading day left in the month, the Dow [Jones Industrial Average] is now down 10.2% in June, the worst performance for the month of June since 1930.

From "10% Correction" to "Bear Market" the 10% June decline on top of the previous decline from October highs means the market has fallen by almost 20% from the October highs.

A bear market starts when stocks begin what turns out to be a 20% decline. Its end is the bottom -- seen only in retrospect after stocks have recovered by 20%.

And unlike narrower declines, bear markets typically leave many people wanting nothing to do with whatever investment was most favored during the preceding the bull market.

It could get worse...

Since 1960, the average bear market has lasted about 14 months and has taken stocks down about 31% before they hit bottom, according to Ned Davis Research in Venice, Fla. The mildest bear market featured a 21% Dow decline in the early 1990s, and the worst, during the 1970s oil crisis, a 45% drop.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121460787893112069.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

We need hope.
We need Barack Obama.
Attend a "Unite for Change" event TODAY!

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

The City of Orlando, which owns the Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) has a choice on how to generate electricity in the future. Under the Bush administration it pursued so called "clean coal" with a proposed coal gasification plant feeding a gas turbine generator.

Not surprisingly, the Bush/Cheney administrations' Energy Department was enthusiastic about so called "Clean Coal" plant which would be built by former Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) and use coal from Wyoming's Powder River Basin.

Finally, OUC came to its senses and axed the coal portion and plans to build a natural gas powered plant. With the rising cost of fossil fuels, a better alternative may be wind energy.

Much of the electricity along the east coast of Florida is provided by Florida Power and Light (FPL). The parent company of the FPL Utility, FPL Group is a large investor in wind energy around the United States.

This year, FPL Group proposed an wind power farm in Florida near its St. Lucie nuclear plant. Although much of inland Florida is not suitable for wind energy coastal Florida is.

A similar wind farm, if constructed at the Kennedy Space Center and Patrick Air Force base could help meet the energy needs of Orlando, without burning fossil fuels.

At one time, OUC owned an oil fired power plant along the Indian River (one fo the bodies fo water that separates Cape Canaveral from the mainland). High voltage transmission line capacity between the former OUC Indian River Plant and the City of Orlando. Thus, the existing transmission line capacity could be used to transmit the power from the Kennedy wind farm to Orlando.

As a sea level state, Florida has to do all it can to prevent climate change and the resulting sea level rise.

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

PS At one time I was an economic forecaster in the Strategic Planning Department of OUC.

McCain wants oil companies to be able to drill of the coast of Florida and thanks to the US Supreme Court Exxon -Mobil will have $2.5 Billion more with which to do so.

That is $2.5 Billion dollars that Exxon-Mobil won't have to pay for Alaskans for spilling 11 million gallons of oil and fouling 1,200 miles of Alaskan coastline.

Florida has 1,197 miles of coastline including 600 miles of beaches.
http://www.stateofflorida.com/Portal/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=95

Thanks to the US Supreme Court (thanks, again US Supreme Court, I remember 2000) Exxon can afford to foul every mile of Florida's coastline AND increase its dividend and share price.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jxdGO6WXM4Q5uj72dxpmbpl5JrzgD91H5BQO3

http://finance.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AXOM&hl=en

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=XOM&t=5y&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=

Florida's coastline, priceless,
fouling it, just a cost of doing business
for Exxon!

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

New York - June 19, 2008 - The American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) and Euromoney Energy Events (EEE) * * * report on * * * this year's 5th annual Renewable Energy Finance Forum that was held on June 18-19th at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

Over 600 Senior executives from the renewable energy and financial community gathered at REFF-Wall Street to partake in the leading forum for analysis and discussion around the current and future state of the renewable energy markets.
* * *
Key findings unveiled at the event include:

* The US Department of Energy estimates that wind energy could produce 20 percent of our electricity by 2030, if annual wind capacity additions increase more than threefold and transmission capabilities are expanded.
* According to New Energy Finance, investment levels from venture capital and private equity investments worldwide experienced a downturn for Q1 2008 ($2.5 billion investment worldwide) but has bounced back for Q2 2008 to ($4.7 billion worldwide).
* Despite a solid 2nd quarter, strong anecdotal evidence has shown that US business transactions are slowing due to uncertainty around the status of the Investment Tax Credit and the Production Tax Credit.
* The US Government could do more to create a stable investment climate and put renewable energy on an even playing field with traditional energy sources such as coal, natural gas and nuclear energy which all enjoy stable long-term investment incentives. According to a report by GE Financial Services, since 1999 in each of the three years the PTC was allowed to lapse additions of wind power capacity were down 75%-90% the following year. Furthermore, the report found the PTC to be revenue positive showing that wind farms built in 2007 will contribute a net present value of $250 million to the US Treasury.

http://info.acore.org/g/?FGS7DNY543:FGS7DNY543=ssID:245200391,email:gerholdt@acore.org,mode:test

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL
"Columbus', Magellan's and Darwin's ships all used wind power. A new world was discovered, the earth circumnavigated and evolutionary biology founded all with wind power."