Climate and energy

Siemens proposes expansion of its wind turbine manufacturing facilities in Iowa. The $33 million project would add 287 jobs paying an average of $17.14 an hour (Des Moines Register, via the Domestic Fuel blog). Siemens seeks tax credits and sales tax refunds in order to do so, financed by the Iowa Economic Development Board. Also via Domestic Fuel, a South Dakota study showed that small wind generators were better options for rural areas that lacked adequate transmission lines to install commercial wind facilities (Daily Republic, SD).

What would that model of development also require? A meaningful net metering policy that includes wind – without this policy option, rural communities are severely limited in their ability to become more energy independent.

Led by Duke Energy, “U.S. utilities are focusing on energy efficiency to lessen the need to build new power plants while they await what they see as inevitable carbon regulation, executives said at the four-day CERA conference in Houston that ended on Friday” (Reuters). Quotable:

Uncertainty over the form and cost of regulation of carbon dioxide emissions has many utility executive hedging their bets on new power plants while consumer conservation programs are viewed as a safe way to give consumers more tools to control energy consumption in the face of rising costs.

Conservation programs are the “fifth fuel,” according to Duke Energy Chairman Jim Rogers, and “should be ‘job one’ while the politicians debate.”

I was unfortunately drinking tea over my keyboard when I read the following from columnist Kathy Moore in the Hutch News: “Take Aspirin Before Tackling Energy Information.” (My thoughts exactly.) Moore does a very good job of reviewing the morass of facts that one faces when figuring out climate and energy issues, and concludes:

If there is a bottom line in this informational abyss, it would be that all decisions must be made carefully, giving consideration to the far-reaching consequences they may invite. It is not a task to be taken lightly, so we must hope that our elected state representatives will exercise caution and wisdom while keeping an eye to a brighter future for Kansas.

— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org