Letter: Key benefits of alternative energy are to people - Morris Sun Tribune

By Clement Loo from Morris, Minn. on Apr 3, 2015 at 3:57 p.m.

The conversation about alternative and renewable energy has for the most part been focused on benefits for the environment. When people argue for the shifting the energy landscape towards obtaining more of our energy from solar and wind, the cited benefits often are reduced pollution, slowing or limiting of climate change, and things of that nature. But, this is a really limited way of thinking. While there’s no doubt that alternative energy is good for the environment, its key benefits are to people. These benefits include independence, economic growth, and â€" perhaps most importantly â€" lowering energy costs over the long run.

Minnesota does not have fossil fuel resources â€" within our state we have no significant deposits of coal, oil, or natural gas. That being the case when we rely on fossil fuels â€" such as coal and natural gas â€" to generate our electricity, we become reliant and dependent upon other states for those fuels. That means, in essence, that we give up a fair amount of control of our energy availability and cost to regulators from other states â€" regulators that we have no ability to influence or control. Moreover, in addition to allowing out of state regulators to have such an impact on our energy costs, having 60 percent of our electricity being generated by burning coal mined in Montana and Wyoming means that a substantial portion of each dollar we pay for electricity leaves our state.

On the other hand, within Minnesota we have a great deal of sunshine and, especially out here in Morris, we have more wind than we know what to do with. If we turned that sun and that wind into electricity that means that we wouldn’t have to buy nearly as much coal we do now. That would mean that far more of our energy would be under our own control. Moreover, the expansion of our renewable energy capacity could be carried out through investment in Minnesota companies and support job and economic growth within Minnesota. From 2000 to 2014, renewable energy employment grew by 78 percent and already more than 15,000 Minnesotans are now employed in the clean energy sector where wages average around $71,000 a year.

The standard concern that is voiced against shifting to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar is that wind and solar are more expensive than the fossil fuels and so switching to renewables would lead to higher energy costs. However, that concern is becoming less pressing by the day. According to the Financial Times, at present wind energy only costs 5 cents more per MWH in comparison to coal. And, in early March, the U.S. Department of Energy reported that wind energy is going to be “cheaper than electricity produced from natural gas within a decade, even without a federal tax incentive.”

In the long run with improvements in technology wind and solar can only get cheaper while coal, natural gas, and oil prices can only increase. That being the case, this is the time for Minnesotans to have a conversation and seriously think about our energy strategy. We have the opportunity to invest in a growing green energy sector that could result in Minnesota becoming a pioneer and a leader in tomorrow’s energy sources. We should take that opportunity before it’s too late.