Guest Columnist : Arkansans need better energy choices
Posted on Monday, August 25, 2008
President Bush said it best: America is addicted to oil. We currently spend more than $ 1 trillion a year on our fossil fuel addiction, and if we are to believe the rhetoric of Big Oil, the answer to kicking the habit is to drill for more.
But if you're trying to quit smoking, you don't ask the Marlboro Man for advice on kicking the habit, and if you're serious about quitting your oil addiction, you don't ask Big Oil for advice. What America really needs is better energy choices. We deserve energy that is cheaper and cleaner than fossil fuels. The good news is we can and we will end our addiction and create better energy choices while creating new economic opportunities right here in Arkansas. Just this summer, LM Glasfiber started making the first hires for its brand-new $ 150 million wind turbine manufacturing plant at the Port of Little Rock that will create 1, 000 new jobs.
But as things stand now, those wind turbines will be shipped out of state to capture clean energy somewhere else. Arkansas gets most of its electricity by burning coal - all of it imported from another state or another country.
We could generate thousands of megawatts of power right here in Arkansas and in the process create good jobs, save millions of gallons of water, and slash our global warming pollution.
We're not there yet because we lack a national energy policy that requires more and better choices. That's why this nation still runs on 1950 s-era fossil fuel power. That and because Big Oil largely has been running the show and dictating our "choices. "And the strategy has paid off nicely - last year, the five biggest oil companies made $ 123 billion in profits. All while our energy prices just kept going up.
We now stand at a crossroads in this country - we can continue to drill ourselves deeper into a hole or we can demand better choices. And with inaction comes risk not just to Arkansas' environment, but to our economy as well. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that in the lifetime of children born today, average annual temperatures in the state could increase more than 6 degrees Fahrenheit if global warming continues unabated. The next century is also likely to bring more extreme floods, droughts and tornadoes adding more stress to the already over-tapped groundwater supply. Changes in water and air temperatures have already altered bird migration patterns. In 2001, Arkansas experienced a greatly reduced number of waterfowl over the winter season due to warmer temperatures up north. In a state where $ 118. 3 million is spent on migratory bird hunting each year, this is a dangerous trend to let continue. The technology exists today for renewable wind, solar, and geothermal resources to provide large-scale energy generation. And the technology solutions that help families reduce their forced dependency on fossil fuels are the same technologies that will solve the climate crisis, clean the air, and help protect America's natural resources for our children's future. With a few incentives that Congress has the ability to create now, large increases in renewable energy production could be brought online in the very near future, giving Americans real energy choices. Congress should help lead a clean energy revolution and develop "Made-in-America"solutions. Instead of handing billions of dollars in subsidies to the oil and gas industry over the next 10 years, Congress should use that money to promote clean, renewable energy and extend clean energy tax credits to the wind and solar industries. These tax credits would help build an industry that in 2006 generated 8. 5 million jobs and nearly $ 970 billion in revenue in America. Most importantly, Congress must pass comprehensive, cap-and-trade-based climate change legislation. The Climate Security Act, which gained 54 supporters in the Senate this past spring, would reduce our oil imports four times more than we could by drilling in the Arctic Refuge, off our beaches, and in the Rocky Mountains combined. And it would save Americans $ 180 billion through the year 2030 on foreign oil expenditures alone, according to the Department of Energy. Instead of chasing the last barrel of oil, we need to be chasing a new energy economy that reduces dependency on expensive fossil fuels. American families deserve a consumer-friendly, clean energy policy that invests in renewable energy and energy conservation. The choice is really quite simple.
• • • Bob Apple is a former staff member of the National Wildlife Federation, former executive director of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, presently First Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors and editor of Arkansas Out-Of-Doors.
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