Why not renewable energy now?
by Jane Dale Owen, August 2006
Texas has the highest potential of any state in the country to produce electricity from clean renewable energy sources, and energy efficiency could reduce the amount of electricity we need. So why is Governor Perry trying to fast track permitting the building of 17 new coal-fired power plants?
It is estimated that building these power plants will increase emissions of carbon dioxide to 115 million tons a year. That’s like fueling global warming with the emissions of 20 million more cars. More than half the country is trying to slow down global warming by reducing emissions or encouraging energy efficiency, and our governor wants to build more coal-fired power plants?
These plants also will spew more mercury into the air. Texas already has the worst record of any state in the country for emissions of mercury. If these plants are allowed to be built, the emission of this nerve poison will continue to rise, making fish from more Texas lakes and rivers unsafe to eat. Brain damage to children is one of the health hazards of mercury emissions. Even low levels of mercury exposure can cause severe neurological and developmental problems. Each year 600,000 newborns are at risk from exposure to mercury.
The main drawback to using wind power and other renewable energy sources for electricity is getting the energy from the location where it is produced to where it is needed. But if Governor Perry would fast-track the building of distribution systems, the state would have electricity from wind power available where it’s needed in about the same amount it would take for the polluting coal-fired plants to be built, if not sooner. And there are federal incentives for building distribution systems and producing more electricity from renewable sources instead of using fossil fuel.
There is no time to lose in making this change. The sooner we replace fossil fuels with carbon-free, renewable energy, and stop using so much energy, the better chance we have of slowing down climate change.
Security is another reason to switch to clean, renewable energy sooner rather than later. Refineries and power plants are vulnerable to natural disasters as we saw when Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast. These facilities, here and abroad, also are vulnerable to war and terrorism.
The cost of producing energy from fossil fuel is going up while renewable energy costs are coming down. The cost to produce wind power is falling, and the cost of technology for solar energy is expected drop dramatically in the next five years.
The State Conservation Office reports that the state has been a net energy importer since 1993. Texas could become an energy exporter and lead the country in making the shift from fossil fuels to clean renewal energy. Energy companies switching to clean energy alternatives could profit. Investment in wind power is expected to quadruple in the next 10 years in the United States. The solar industry is expected to grow at least that fast.
We have the technology and the resources that can move us from using a hazardous and increasingly scarce source of energy to a clean, unlimited source. Governor Perry needs to do what is best for the economy of Texas and the health of all Texans and support clean renewable energy rather than continuing to support building more power plants that use out-dated, polluting fossil fuel as an energy source.
Owen, a Houstonian, is president of Citizens League for Environmental Action Now (CLEAN). She is granddaughter of Robert Lee Blaffer, co-founder of Humble Oil, and the only nonscientist board member of the Federation of American Scientists.
