We are our own worst enemies on energy issues
James
Bishop Jr.
My Turn
Nov. 9, 2005 12:00 AM
SEDONA
Like a rerun of the film Groundhog Day, fuel prices area once again erupting. Arizonans feel victimized by Big Oil, the utilities, the local gasoline station, so we shake our fists, write letters - and go back to burning fossil fuels again.
Sometimes, however, glimpses of the real villain are visible in the bathroom mirror. "We have met the enemy," admitted Walt Kelly's Pogo when lost in a swamp, "and he is us."
It is "us" because so few of us behave like the cheap-fossil-energy party is really over. To be fair, denial is understandable because we have treated fossil fuels as income, not as capital - refusing to acknowledge their finiteness and climate-changing impact.
Despite strong evidence that our energy future isn't what it used to be, it is also "us" because similar to viewers of the film The Matrix, we choose to believe in illusion. Stewart Udall says that we're blind to act because we are conditioned to believe that "humankind is perpetually on the threshold of discoveries that will magically solve our dilemmas."
The word crisis in Mandarin means both danger and opportunity. Once again, amidst crisis opportunity looms. Many polls reveal that the members of the public favor sustainable energy such as wind, solar and biomass, yet few walk their talk.
"What an irony," observes Amanda Ormond, an energy policy expert in Tempe. "People think there is nothing they can do, so they don't demand action to move to a more sustainable energy future. Meantime, utility companies are making our choices for us - and returning to coal-fired plants. Where is the voice of the public?"
Kendall Arey of Camp Verde, a clean-energy activist agrees: "It we don't communicate that we want clean, efficient, affordable energy, the only voices heard are old-world lobbyists with their own agendas."
Declares John Neville, president of Sustainable Arizona: "The public needs to know that with current technology, the sunlight falling on just one-half of Maricopa County alone could produce enough energy to meet the needs of the U.S. So why does Arizona use solar power for just a tiny fraction of its energy needs?"
A good question for our elected representatives as elections near.
Along the way, awakened citizens had best be leery of disingenuous ads. Arizona Public Service Co. and the Salt River Project offer marketing campaigns promoting renewable energy. Truth be known, however, only a tiny fraction of their power sales, less than half of a percent, comes from clean sources of energy.
Nonetheless, the possibility of real change looms at the Arizona Corporation Commission, the body that sets rates for electric and water utilities. A vote is near. Now is the time to lobby the commission to require utilities to build or purchase at least 2.5 percent of retail electric sales from renewable energy by 2010, 5 percent by 2015 and 15 percent by 2025. (The ACC's number is (602) 542-2237.)
Furthermore, APS customers have every right to request energy-efficiency services to reduce their electricity bills. Because of a rate settlement, APS will spend about $20 million on energy-efficiency upgrades for businesses and homes (that number is 1-800-253-9405).
Another phone call could be to the Western Governors' Association (1-(303)-623-9378), which has established a goal to develop 30,000 megawatts of clean energy in the West by 2015 from resources such as energy efficiency, solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and advanced natural-gas technologies.
The U.S. government may be docile, but momentous changes at the state, local and regional level are occurring under the radar. California's Public Utility Commission will impose new standards for carbon dioxide emissions for investor-owned utilities that buy electricity from generating plants in Arizona, Utah and the West. Future power must come from sources at least as clean as natural gas - in other words, not coal. What if California refuses to buy power from 18 coal-fired plants on the Colorado Plateau?
Clean-energy advocates dream of windmills, efficient buildings and solar homes. Should the public awaken, a safer energy future could be near.
The writer lives in Sedona. He was energy editor at Newsweek magazine during the 1970s.
azcentral.com |
