Project Energy: How Far We've Come
Don Shelby
Reporting
(WCCO) The United States is going through one of the most rapid makeovers in its history. It seems everyone is talking about energy, efficiency and the environment.
Monday marked a full year of "Project Energy" reports on WCCO-TV, with a pledge to keep telling the story of the fast-changing global landscape.
Something important to remember is how far we have come together.
"Like kids that found the cookie jar, we just pigged out," said Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md.
"When 90 percent of the world's leaders are concerned about global warming ... we believe the debate is over," said Shell Oil Company president John Hofmeister.
"And so the people are beginning to understand that there's a different bottom line," said Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman. "It's a moral bottom line."
The voices of Project Energy are helping us to know more and are putting energy and the environment on the tips of many tongues.
"When I hear the word energy, I really think of the next great challenge and the next great opportunity for America," said author and columnist Tom Friedman.
Just 12 months after Project Energy started, much of it seems obvious. Fossil fuels, petroleum, coal and natural gas are finite resources and burning too many of them warms the planet.
The United States, once the world's oil supplier, is now nearly bone dry. The bulk of oil is now coming from someplace else, including many countries unfriendly to us.
"This is a national security threat," said U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minnesota. "Dependence on foreign oil threatens to undermine the security of the United States of America today and certainly in the future."
Before "An Inconvenient Truth" was in theaters, before widespread knowledge of the United Nations dire reports on global warming, Project Energy reported what was known.
A light bulb went off all around Minnesota when WCCO-TV's Terri Gruca explained the energy savings just from replacing the old ones.
"If you instead replaced it with an energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulb, Xcel Energy would only need to burn 76 pounds of coal," Gruca explained. "That's one-fourth the amount of coal for the same amount of light."
Reporter David Schechter helped Minnesotans see consumption habits, by telling people how the world consumes an Olympic swimming pool full of oil every 15 seconds, which is almost 250 times an hours. The majority of it is used for transportation.
The information got people energized to make changes. Renewable energy legislation that didn't make it out of committee before, passed in a bipartisan effort.
Minnesota now has one of the most aggressive laws in the nation requiring renewable energy sources by 25 percent of our power by the year 2025, an even more rigorous standard for Xcel Energy.
"Fortunately we have reached a national consensus on the fact that we have to break our addiction to fossil fuels," Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said.
Together, we learned there is no silver bullet. There is no single solution to fulfill our energy needs. Instead, it is a future of silver BBs.
"Each little shot is capable of solving part of the problem," said Michael Noble, the executive director of Fresh Energy. "We're going to need a range of technologies and a range of solutions."
Many of the solutions are available today, including efficient cars that do more with less, power from the sun, wind and water and power from living things, like fuel from corn.
WCCO-TV put two SUVs to the test. One was fueled with E-85 and the other was fueled with regular unleaded gasoline. The result: the cost per mile was only a penny different.
Project Energy also found the effect of global climate change on some of Minnesota's most precious natural resources.
"The climate is getting warmer and red maple is starting to replace the boreal forest," said Lee Frelich.
There is good news. Many of the answers to questions about our energy future are being developed right here at our universities.
Minnesotans are also making changes, like changing light bulbs, which are little things that can make a global difference.
Project Energy also found an expectation Minnesotans would take the lead.
"My hope is that every person who lives in Minnesota will take on himself or herself a direct responsibility," said former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
wcco.com |
