How Will Energy Independence Impact Our Lives?
By Cylvia Hayes, 3EStrategies
In order to decide the value of becoming energy
independent, it’s helpful to get a clear picture of our
current energy situation.
Fossil Fuel Economics
During the “energy crisis” of the 1970s, the United States imported 34% of our oil. Now, we are importing 60% and climbing. The politically unstable countries of the Middle East and Africa are our biggest sources. Our national debt is a staggering $9 trillion, funded in large part by China who recently became the world’s second largest importer of oil, right behind us.
Nearly 50% of the total energy (electricity and fuel) used in Oregon is petroleum-based. With virtually none of our own oil, coal or natural gas reserves, we import 100% of these resources. Four refineries in Washington produce 90% of Oregon’s refined petroleum products. These have been operating at above 90% capacity for a decade.
As for electricity, while our hydro system supplies 44%, fossil fuels provide nearly 50%, most of it from coal burning plants in Wyoming.
This year Oregonians will spend approximately $10 billion on energy -- 85% of which will leave the state. To put that in perspective, that means each year, we’re sending enough energy-related dollars out of state to equal more than twice what we spend on K-14 education.
In recent years electricity rates have risen over 30% and costs for heating oil, diesel and regular gasoline have increased dramatically. Coal prices have gone up 45%. Natural gas rates have tripled.
Fossil Fuel, The Environment and Our Health
Fossil fuel dependency weakens Oregon’s economic resiliency. It also pollutes our rivers, dirties our air, jeopardizes our drinking water and damages salmon and crab habitat.
Mercury Pollution:
Mercury is a toxin that can remain active in the environment for more than 10,000 years. It endangers pregnant women, fetuses, children, subsistence fishermen and recreational anglers. Several Oregon rivers, lakes and reservoirs currently have fish advisories because of high mercury content.
Major sources of mercury in Oregon include a coal–fired power plant, cement plants, and commercial or industrial boilers. The coal power plant in Boardman is one of the largest sources. In addition, it has been tied to high levels of acid rain, degradation of Native American rock art, and visibility impairment at more than 10 national parks and protected areas.
Benzene Pollution:
Benzene is a cancer-causing chemical, about which, according to the World Health Organization, “no safe level of exposure can be recommended.” Benzene is one of the primary air pollutants contributing to cancer risk in Oregon, which has some of the highest levels of benzene in the country. In the Portland area, residents are twice as likely than the national average to develop cancer from breathing benzene.
Benzene levels are high in Oregon because our gas comes from Northwest refineries that rely on crude oil naturally high in benzene. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently decided to cap benzene levels in our gasoline by 70%, but not until 2012.
Diesel Particulates:
EPA data indicates diesel is probably the main air pollutant contributing to Oregon's cancer risk. According to Kevin Downing, Clean Diesel coordinator for the Department of Environmental Quality, Oregonians spends approximately $2 billion per year treating illnesses caused by diesel particulates.
Climate Change:
Oregon’s environment is already being impacted by global climate change. All of our glaciers are receding, some by as much as 60%. Snow pack is down, making it increasingly difficulty to find enough water to irrigate farms and keep fish alive in the rivers. This is particularly damaging because our massive hydro system has cut off vast expanses of historic salmon spawning grounds. An oxygen depleted dead zone has developed off the Oregon coast, decimating crab and fish populations. Scientists suggest it may be due to rising ocean temperatures and shifting current patterns.
Given the economic and environmental toll taken by fossil fuel processing and consumption, it seems prudent to explore the option of creating a new way of doing things.
Energy Independent Energy Bills
Central Oregon has an unparalleled diversity of renewable energy resources including wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and even small hydro associated with our irrigation canal system. Our climate can grow biofuel feedstocks.
As a community we could choose to create community scale electricity grids and power our homes and businesses with locally controlled electricity generation. We could begin incorporating passive solar design into all buildings, reducing energy demand by up to 50% at no additional up front cost. We could use our downtown roof space as vast solar farms. We could stop shipping wood waste from the Knott Landfill to Washington and instead use it in local combined heat and power systems.
We could build biodiesel manufacturing facilities and convert restaurant grease and tallow into clean burning fuel. We could lead development of processes to turn woody waste into ethanol and power our gasoline engines with the vast piles of woody waste that are currently burned in our forests. We could plan a highly efficient transit system. We could install electric vehicle charging stations. With these steps we could gain control of our energy bills.
Energy Independence and Taxation
Conservation measures and the development of renewables will keep more of our money at home. Currently, farmers earn up to $7,000 per year for each wind turbine on their farms. In just one year, wind development in the Northwest brought in $1.38 billion in capital investment, $3 million in lease payments to land-owners, and $6.8 million in property tax revenue for rural counties.
Solar and geothermal development results in direct deposits to the community tax base via money spent by businesses and royalties from larger energy developments.
Energy Independent Jobs and Businesses
The world is already moving toward a sustainable energy economy. Wind is the fastest growing sector of the global energy industry; demand for turbines is expected to grow from $5.5 billion to $49 billion by 2012. Solar is projected to reach $27.5 billion. Sales for hybrid electric vehicles are mushrooming. Renewable energy in the U.S. alone is projected to grow to $180 billion annually by 2015. Energy efficiency products and biofuels will likely generate greater revenues.
Oregon has everything it takes to carve a powerful niche in this sector. We are already home to over 200 clean energy companies. Our small state is 10th in the nation for installed wind power and 9th in solar installations. We are producing one million gallons of biodiesel, with expansions already underway. Central Oregon is recognized as the heart of Oregon’s burgeoning clean energy industry.
Energy Independence and Our Responsibility
If we chart a course toward energy independence we will protect our rivers, lakes and estuaries from oil, mercury and benzene pollution and free our skies of soot, toxins and diesel particulates. We will provide solutions to help reduce the impacts of global climate change. We will lay the foundation for reducing the likelihood of oil wars and the exploitation of poor peoples in oil and coal rich regions.
Thomas Paine, American Founding Father, said, “We have it in our power to begin the world over again.” By becoming energy independent, we will exercise our patriotic pioneering spirit and create a chance for a brighter, more abundant, more secure future.
