The column below was published in the Long Prairie Leader this week. We also handed a few copies of it out at the Todd County Fair booth last weekend.
While I was writing this New York State adapted a very strong 100% renewables goal (https://tinyurl.com/yyx49msp) as did Maine. At the same time The Sierra Club reports that well over 100 cities, towns, and counties have adapted 100% renewable energy plans and a number of communities have accomplished their goals already (https://www.sierraclub.org/ready-for-100/commitments).
As I think about how much progress has been made in the face of the bull headed opposition of politicians such as Paul Gazelka and Donald Trump I am also thinking about my, and our, responsibility to be imaginative. Why could not band together a form a strong 100% renewable plan for our township, town, school district, or County.
Indeed, we want to dis-elect Gazelka and Trump and their cronies but meanwhile we should get together and be imaginative.
Here's the Leader column.
In 2007, only twelve years ago, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty signed off on a visionary plan to put Minnesota on a path to a clean energy future. Pawlenty, working with the Minnesota Senate and House, signed legislation that mandated that all of Minnesota’s electrical utilities produce twenty-five percent of their electricity using renewable sources, such as wind and solar, by 2025. The Republican governor’s mandate, known as The Next Generation Energy Act, set the bar higher for Xcel Energy. Because they are allowed to operate the State’s only nuclear generators, their renewable standard was set at thirty percent.
Governor Pawlenty showed vision and he showed leadership and ninety-seven percent of Minnesota legislators agreed with him and signed The Next Generation Energy Act.
A lot of small minded people said it couldn’t be done. Generating that much electricity was too difficult, a minority of Minnesotans whined. Besides, government shouldn’t tell business what to do. Business should tell government officials what to do, they said, wringing their sweaty hands.
But Minnesotans were ready to follow the lead of their elected Governor and Legislature. We were ready for a challenge. We wanted big ideas. Over the next decade Minnesotans set to work installing wind generators and solar panels across the landscape. All that work required people with new skills and we created training centers and new employment opportunities. Pretty soon there were thousands of new jobs in the green energy economy and they paid really well.
Tim Pawlenty’s mandate helped create a vibrant and growing new economy based on clean and renewable energy. And do you know what? Those visionary standards set by Minnesota’s leaders were a cake walk. We met them early and then we exceeded them. And the amount of renewable energy capacity in Minnesota just keeps increasing.
Because of Minnesota’s capacity to accept and meet a challenge, business and government leaders set a new challenge for us earlier this year.
Xcel Energy set a goal of getting 100 percent of its energy from carbon-free sources by 2050. Major corporations in the state, like 3M, have also committed to eliminate fossil fuels for electricity. Xcel has also committed to getting out of the nuclear power generating business by 2040.
While leaders in Minnesota’s corporate board rooms were making plans to usher in an era of clean, locally produced electricity, governmental leaders in St. Paul were crafting their own visionary to do list.
Early in the recent legislative session Minneapolis State Representative Jamie Long introduced legislation that would have mirrored Xcel’s plan. Representative Long’s legislation would have mandated all Minnesota utilities to produce 100% of their electricity from renewables by 2050.
Long’s legislation received deep and wide support following Governor Walz’ February announcement of support for 100% percent renewables.
“The governor's office said this proposal would strengthen existing law and allow for fossil fuel power only if required to ensure reliable, affordable electricity,” according to Minnesota Public Radio.
Walz and Long both recognize that electricity from renewables has become less expensive than dirty power from coal and even gas. They also recognize, like Governor Pawlenty before them, that Minnesotans love a good challenge and that we know how to profit from them.
Unfortunately Senator Paul Gazelka is not the visionary that Tim Pawlenty was. Gazelka told Public Television that he was against the Long - Walz 100% legislation. “We don’t want any new mandates,” Gazelka, who is the leader of the Minnesota Senate, said.
Gazelka didn’t explain why he was against a new mandate but history shows that certain mandates benefit all of us. Children are mandated to attend school and we all benefit from their education. Drivers are mandated to drive at safe speeds and we all benefit. And, of course, Minnesota’s first renewable energy mandate benefited all of us with a stronger economy and cleaner air.
So what, exactly, is Gazelka’s problem with this particular mandate?
Gazelka said that he had a technical problem with an electrical system based strictly on renewables. It’s not reliable, he said. Then he pointed to last winter’s extended cold spell to support his claim.
But he was wrong. The electrical system performed admirably during the cold spell. There was plenty of electricity. What nearly failed was the natural gas delivery system. You may recall that Xcel asked their gas customers to turn their thermometers down because they couldn’t keep up with supply.
But, just for fun, lets imagine that there are technical problems with having 100% of our electricity supplied by renewables. That’s today. Right!? Does Senator Gazelka not believe that we have the intelligence to solve that problem over the next thirty years? Why does Senator Gazelka have so little faith in Minnesotans? Why does he have so little imagination?
Tim
Central Minnesota Political
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