Weighing clean air with clean income.
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Looking out over a Wind River Range
valley of trees, a meadow and a stream, we
can see that people all over the world are
busy burning fossil fuels, because there is
a thick haze obscuring the mountains. No
matter which “sovereign nation” creates air
pollution, there’s still just one sky. Wyoming’s
politicians aspire to send more coal
to Asia, but they will in return only send us
money for the “One Percenters” and more
smog for the rest of us.
Given that Wyoming’s coal miners are
continually given the shaft with each coal
mine bankruptcy, at what point do we ask,
“Are these good jobs?” Also, why are Wyoming’s
politicians not making a big noise
to defend Wyoming workers? Our Washington
Congressional delegation, the undynamic
trio of Sens. Mike Enzi and John
Barrasso, and Rep. Liz Cheney, do not support
legislation to protect health care and
retirement benefits for coal miners.
Workers in gas and oil do no better. With
drilling’s booms and busts, can we ask,
“When will we see stability, and a diverse
economy?” With drilling notoriously not
helping workers injured on the job, when
do we ask, “Could we hold employers accountable?”
Our state has some $21 billion invested
elsewhere, so we have lots of money but
no economy. That money should be intelligently
invested within this state, not put
into the risky stock market. Our former
State Treasurer, and current governor, Mark
Gordon, is upholding economic conditions
common in the third world. A first world
economy is partly defined by an equitable
distribution of wealth, great infrastructure
and strong social institutions and steadily
improving conditions for everyone.
Wyoming needs, and can afford, a kind
of “State New Deal,” and make it green, so
that we can see un-hazy mountains again.
For this to occur: First, we have to stop fossil-
fuel companies from running roughshod
over us; second, we must elect candidates
who share this vision. The right people
would not necessarily be Democrats or Republicans;
Wyomingites are sick of these
naughty children. We need to elect Independent
candidates, partly Libertarian and
partly moderate, depending on the issue.
We really must do this, because our repeatedly
elected politicians absolutely refuse
to look at our energy and economic
prospects with clear eyes. As time passes,
another fossil-fuel boom is less and less
likely. If demand for fossil fuels spikes because
of a major war or something, these
suddenly more expensive fuels will only
serve to make solar and wind that much
more competitive, because they will not go
up in price.
Fossil fuels are commodities that must
be paid for. On the other hand, energy derived
from solar and wind do not require
the input of any kind of commodity. The
energy these create is produced by physics
married to technology. It’s all about scale,
design and mechanical setup. Many Wyomingites
excel at these things, but most of
our creative and working efforts are still focused
on fossil fuels. This is bad because
they are becoming globally odious and
their economic marginalization is just over
the horizon.
Some interesting questions are, if coal
sold for a nickel a ton, oil for a buck a barrel
and natural gas for a dime per cubic foot,
could they outcompete solar and wind? Ridiculously,
today’s answer is, “Probably.”
As solar and wind prices continue to fall,
however, tomorrow’s answer is, “No.” This
is the sort of situation that political leaders
are supposed to give a little thought to, but
in Wyoming they clearly don’t understand,
or believe, any of this. Instead, they are
prevaricating with a fairytale about a vegetative
paradise we will soon be enjoying
because of all the wonderful carbon being
pumped into the atmosphere.
Crazily, Gov. Gordon said on May 7,
“We can burn it (coal) better … than anywhere
in the world and be part of the climate
solution … We will have a strong coal
industry moving forward …”
What planet is he on?
Though this is just anecdotal, in the 36
years that I have lived in Colorado and
Wyoming, and according to several “oletymers”
who have lived in the Rockies
double that time, the sky is hazier than it
was three decades ago. This is borne out
scientifically, too, as is the case almost universally
(Britain excepted). We have, after
all, just one sky. This should concern anyone
worried about respiratory illnesses, like
asthma, as well as those of us who just like
an un-hazy view of the mountains.