Sometimes I walk around the city choking on the exhaust from the cars, smelling gas fumes in the streets, or sweating through the thick air on my bike. Why is that we pay so much for high-resolution television and top-of-the-line speakers, but we don't do the same thing for clean air? Perhaps people have felt like they couldn't do much about it, but now alternatives are coming to fruition like never before. Solar panels are popping up everywhere (particularly in Arlington, Virginia) to grab whatever energy they can from the hot summer sun to reduce our emissions and our energy bills. New geothermal plants and wind farms are collecting mass amounts of clean energy to provide power to millions of customers.
If elected, Tim Kaine would support renewable energy development in Virginia. He recognizes that the benefits of emissions reduction and infrastructure development fit perfectly with his desire for a cleaner environment, greater job growth, and economic development in rural areas.
Today, Virginia gets about 5% of its electric power from renewable sources, but that is in danger of decline. Our current sources (hydro-electric and biomass) are not growing. With our population increasing and energy demand going up, a governor like Jerry Kilgore would likely increase our reliance on coal, nuclear energy, petroleum, and natural gas.
Natural gas is cleaner than most fossil fuels, but was subject to one of the worst price spikes in history over the summer of 2000 when prices more than tripled, contributing to the California energy crisis and the oncoming recession. Natural gas, like oil, is a volatile source of energy, and with the future of education and job growth resting on sound budget decisions, we can't take a chance anymore of growing our energy demand with these rotten tomatoes.
Tim Kaine foresees these kinds of problems and doesn't want them to cripple Virginia in the future. Like many forward-thinking leaders, he realizes that we can clean up our environment while providing jobs at the same time. In fact, studies have shown that renewable energy produces more jobs per development capacity than coal plants or natural gas plants. For example, it is estimated that one megawatt of installed wind capacity (enough to power 300 homes) creates 22 new jobs, which is quite impressive when you consider that 2,500 megawatts of new wind capacity are expected to be installed in the United States this year alone!
Sure, people criticize renewable energy for being too expensive, but prices for renewable energy are constantly going down, while prices for coal, petroleum and natural gas are on the rise. Others criticize renewable energy for being too reliant on government subsidies, but in the recent Energy legislation, subsidies for fossil fuel technologies were more generous and extended for longer than subsidies for renewable energy (which were extended only through December 31st, 2007).
Billions of dollars are being invested right now in renewable energy, creating jobs, and providing tax revenues to pay for schools and policemen in towns all across the country. Technological innovation makes renewable energy more efficient each and every year. For example, nanotechnology and large-scale dish technology have the capability to more than double the efficiency of traditional solar power collectors, and improvements in modern wind turbines have already reduced the cost of wind energy by 80% in the last two decades.
Virginia has a great opportunity to utilize its wind resources, particularly offshore the Atlantic Coast, and on its many windy ridge-tops in the western part of the state. Wind development in Virginia has been contentious so far, but the Highland County Board of Supervisors recently approved what will hopefully be Virginia's first industrial scale wind farm, which is expected to generate enough electricity for nearly 10,000 homes.
We must continue to encourage renewable energy in Virginia, and Tim Kaine will be the type of leader to do that. Jerry Kilgore will continue to subsidize fossil fuels and nuclear power, while they pollute our air, our water, and suck more money out of our pockets!
Don't let the Kilgore campaign tell you it has a vision for Virginia, because that vision is clouded with smoke. Republicans in Congress scoffed at the idea that all utilities should be at least 10% renewable by 2020. They have no vision for the future and are in the pockets of those who wish to promote inferior and dangerous technology, when the solution is right there in front of them. Renewable energy is the ticket to a better future, so don't fight it - join Tim Kaine for a cleaner tomorrow!
*Note that unless otherwise mentioned, factual quantitative information on renewable energy comes from the U.S. Department of Energy.
**Jerry Kilgore isn't too keen about controlling pollution either. As Attorney General, Jerry Kilgore led a battle to retain looser EPA rules making it easier for older power plants, refineries and manufacturers to make upgrades without having to install more pollution controls.
Jerry Ki(countertop - 4/4/2006 11:27:53 PM)
Jerry Kilgore isn?t too keen about controlling pollution either. As Attorney General, Jerry Kilgore led a battle to retain looser EPA rules making it easier for older power plants, refineries and manufacturers to make upgrades without having to install more pollution controls.
Uh, that would be Jerry Kilgore wanted to obey the law.
Regardless of what you think of Bush, there is a reason the federal government has failed to win a single New Source Review enforcement action in court. Even the Clinton judges are striking down the Clinton rules cause the NSR provisions of the Clean Air Act don't do what the enviros would like them to do. Perhaps they should, but that requires redrafting the act.
To criticize Kilgore for simply wanting to obey the law seems a bit absurd.