Steve's Stand on Energy
and The Environment
"We have everything we need to begin solving the
climate crisis-- save, perhaps, political will. But in
America, political will is a renewable
resource."--Former Vice President Al Gore, "An
Inconvenient Truth"
"In our every deliberation, we must consider the
impact of our decisions on the next seven
generations."--The Great Law of the Iroquois
Confederacy
Global Warming
In scientific circles, there is no real debate on the
existence or cause of global warming. With carbon
dioxide (CO2) in the air now at 381 parts per million
(ppm), we are producing far more CO2 than exists
naturally. Over the last 650,000 years, CO2 ranged
from slightly over 200 ppm in the Ice Ages and 260-300
ppm in warmer periods. The growth has been almost
exponential, with measurements of 315 ppm in 1958 and
355 ppm in 1990, with the level projected to increase
to over 600 ppm by 2050 if nothing is done. For anyone
to pretend this isn't happening or to tell people that
it is a good thing is a moral failure of the highest
degree, because it is mortgaging our future and the
future of the next generations for a little bit of
temporary indulgence.
The world's average temperature has increased by one
degree Celsius in the last century. While this may
seem small, it was a change of only nine degrees that
ushered in the last Ice Age. With the increased
hurricanes over the last few years and the first ever
South Atlantic hurricane in 2004, not to mention the
stunning retreat of glaciers and the West Antarctic
Ice Shelf, we are already seeing just some of the
catastrophic effects of global warming.
A Time for Action
This is a very serious threat, and there are bound to
be those who will throw up their hands in despair,
saying that there is nothing that can be done, but
this couldn't be farther from the truth. If human
activity is the cause of global warming, it can also
be the solution to global warming. The technology is
already in place to counteract this, and the time to
act is now.
Renewable, Clean Energy
The time is long past due to rely on renewable, clean
sources of energy to meet our fueling needs. For
automobiles, there are many options available:
hybrids, plug-in hybrids (which run fully on
electricity for short trips of 30-40 miles or less),
electric cars, hydrogen fuel cells, flex fuel,
corn-based ethanol, sugar-based ethanol, cellulosic
ethanol (which is the most efficient ethanol) and
biodiesel (vegetable oil, which includes such pioneers
as Biowillie, founded by music legend Willie Nelson).
Each of these will lead to cleaner emissions, and most
will increase fuel efficiency, saving valuable dollars
at the pump.
For electricity, there are many options, often based
on the geographic conditions of the area. For Jackson
County, there are two particularly promising sources:
wind and tidal energy. Wind energy has been tried many
times before, with a proven history dating back to the
windmill. We can supply more than enough energy for
Jackson County from only 50 two-megawatt wind
turbines. This is something that has the most
potential on mountaintops, and the mountains of
northern and southern Jackson County are ideal for
this. Tidal energy, which uses turbines powered by the
daily patterns of major bodies of water, have been
used to great success in Scotland, and we can do this
with the Ohio River. By building these forms of
renewable energy, we can help our environment and even
bring money into the area by becoming a net exporter
of energy.
Public Transportation
With the increasing traffic and fuel prices, the need
exists for a viable, statewide mass transit system.
The places to start are in our state's biggest
metropolitan areas, so I will propose connecting the
Charleston-Huntington and Charleston-Parkersburg areas
through and electric rail system with local and
express routes. This will connect three of the four
largest cities in West Virginia and, if successful,
will reduce pollution and traffic congestion, which
any commuter will tell you is only getting worse. Once
this proves successful, we can begin the expansion of
this program across the state. Doing so will improve
our economy and create jobs, first through direct work
in construction and then through the improved economy
due to improved infrastructure.
The Jobs vs. Environment Myth
A common refrain from the do-nothing crowd is that we
must choose between the environment and the economy.
This has been proven false time and time again.
Portland, Oregon, made a commitment to reducing
pollution in 1992, and recently decided to implement
the Kyoto Protocol, with or without the federal
government. In the process, Co2 emissions have fallen
by 13% with an increase in jobs of 16% over the last
14 years. This is fueled because of the money saved on
more efficient energy though such simple solutions as
timers on appliances and harnessing excess heat from
things like oven and using them to heat homes and
offices, as well as building energy co-ops in
neighborhoods to avoid waste and increase savings. If
the state government does some of these things, we can
use that money for other needs and make our government
more responsive and more efficient.
Where There's a Will
Through a few simple steps, such as energy efficiency
and cleaner sources, we can reduce our CO2 emissions
by half over the next 50 years (reducing them to 1970
levels) if only we show a will to do so. (Doing
nothing will see our emissions increase by 45%).
Brazil is already completely independent of foreign
oil and working to rely solely on renewable resources.
The developing world already has an average fuel
economy of up to 40% higher than what we receive in
the US, with our auto companies unable to sell in
China for failure to meet efficiency standards. Japan
gets roughly double our fuel efficiency and is eating
into the US share of the market. The time to act is
now. As someone who will turn 27 in October, these
problems will occur in my lifetime if nothing is done,
but I will do the key work needed to help West
Virginia lead the way to a better tomorrow.
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