New energy and politics coming to Wyoming

Tom Gagnon
Posted 6/21/19

Weighing clean air with clean income.

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New energy and politics coming to Wyoming

Posted

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.