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The end of carbon based fuels is in sight

Will regressive Minnesota legislators leave Minnesota in the energy Dark Ages.

The end of the age of non-renewable carbon based fuels is near. It is, as my brother Patrick suggests, like a cornered beast thrashing about and causing great damage, before its final demise. But its end is inevitable and not that distant.

The strongest evidence for the truth of this is that, in spite of the destructive thrashing about in the American White House, one hundred and thirteen towns and cities in the United States have committed to converting to 100% renewable energy within the next fifteen to thirty years, according to a count being kept by the Sierra Club (https://www.sierraclub.org/ready-for-100/commitments). In addition this group, there are already six communities that have made the transition.

Georgetown Texas, a city of more than 60,000, has been powered by 100% renewables since last year and tiny Greensburg Kansas, which was leveled by an EF5 tornado in 2007, got off the grid way back in 2013. 

Among those cities that have committed to transitioning to 100% renewables are Atlanta, which plans on achieving 100% renewable electricity by 2035 and St. Louis Park Minnesota, which is aiming to get there by 2030.

It’s not just towns and cities that are switching to renewable.  Legislatures in New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and California, along with the District of Columbia, have all voted to unplug from the fossil fuel powered grid.

Minnesota is not included in that auspicious list.

Private utilities are starting to line up alongside side municipal, county, and state governments as they give the cold shoulder to fossil fuels.

At the end of March Idaho Power announced its “Clean Today, Cleaner Tomorrow” initiative which will have the Boise based company providing 100% renewable electricity from solar, wind, and hydro by 2045.

“Providing 100-percent clean energy is an important goal for Idaho Power. More and more customers are telling us it is important to them, too,” Idaho Power President and CEO Darrel Anderson told Inside Climate News.

Xcel Energy has committed to a larger carbon free plan, although their plan may include some nuclear generated electricity. Xcel has committed to reducing its carbon output by 80% by 2030 and one-hundred percent by 2050.

“This is an extraordinary time to work in the energy industry, as we’re providing customers more low-cost clean energy than we could have imagined a decade ago,” Ben Fowke, chairman, president and CEO, Xcel Energy, told Conservation Minnesota. “We’re accelerating our carbon reduction goals because we’re encouraged by advances in technology, motivated by customers who are asking for it and committed to working with partners to make it happen.”

So, if the cost, technology, and customer demand to transition to 100% renewables exists from tiny Kansas towns to the corporate board rooms of one of the nations largest private electric utilities, why can’t the Minnesota legislature act to go to 100% renewables?

These cities, towns, states, and corporations have a vision for the future. Will the Minnesota Legislature, and in particular the Minnesota Senate, deny us a place in that future?

 Tim
Central Minnesota Political

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