Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
There's a lot to the argument. Advocates for clean energy are fond
of (correctly) pointing out that that there has never been a wind spill
and that no one has ever accused solar power of poisoning aquifer
water supply. But the fact that fossil fuels and clean energy pose dif-
ferent environmental challenges doesn't mean local resistance won't
remain a common theme. The residents of Meredith, where Israel
made her documentary, certainly didn't seem sympathetic to claims
that gas drilling was worse than wind development. To them, the
sound of the turbines, and the intrusion on their community, made
wind development intolerable. Faced with a choice between wind
turbines and fracking, their answer was simple: they didn't want
either. Whether they are right or wrong is ultimately something that
can't be resolved by analysis; it is more spiritual than rational in
many ways. What really matters is what people who might stand in
the way of development, and be directly affected by it, believe. Many
people feel just as intensely about renewable energy development
in their own backyard as others do about fracking in theirs. For
most people who are passionate about the environment, though, the
case for renewable energy development still outweighs most local
concerns.
A
lternative energy advocates are ultimately right that renewables
have made remarkable strides, are on solid ground when defend-
ing them against claims that they will destroy massive numbers of jobs,
and are correct that natural gas alone can't solve the climate problem.
But their opponents are right to be skeptical of overwrought eco-
nomic promises, and to insist that, most of the time, renewable energy
needs help from government to compete with other fuels. For at least
a decade or so, natural gas can do a lot of the heavy lit ing when it
comes to cut ing carbon dioxide emissions from U.S. power plants; in
fact curbing natural gas would do more to help coal than renewables.
But gas can't do the job forever. h e primary immediate opportunity
in renewable energy is to bring down costs through technology innova-
tion, including by creating bigger markets for alternative power, both
things that can be done without radical government intervention in
the U.S. economy. Doing this could make it increasingly less expensive
Search WWH ::
Custom Search