Peter Boogaart: The sun also rises — as a top energy source
"Apparently, the future of American civilization depends upon our winning the global competition to master AI," columnist Peter Boogaart writes.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The views and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not of Ottawa News Network.
On July 10 of this year, in a New York Post column titled "Break Obama’s energy shackles — and free America’s future," Steve Forbes, chairman and CEO of Forbes Media, put his chips on the table. Apparently, the future of American civilization depends upon our winning the global competition to master AI.
He believes that the U.S. can win this battle, but in order to do so, we must overcome one big hurdle. What’s holding us back, he says, is anemic growth in power production, the cause of which traces back to “outdated and misguided Obama-era rules.”
Set aside for the moment, the subliminal racial and political posturing of that statement. It’s his contention that the U.S. has trillions of dollars’ worth of reliable coal reserves, enough to easily carry the surging AI energy demand. And why are we being denied this abundant resource? It’s all due to the “notorious endangerment finding for greenhouse gases,” which “… declared fossil-fuel emissions to be dangerous to public health, opening the door to federal regulation.”
Absent from Mr. Forbes' analysis is any recognition of the climate crisis, the trajectory of which is driven by fossil fuel pollution. Absent from his awareness too are the billions of dollars in medically related suffering caused by that same carbon pollution. But hey, focus on the real issue; there are “trillions” of dollars of profit on the line! How ironic that just five days after his opinion piece published, Michiganders were experiencing the worst air quality in the world due to climate-accelerated wildfire smoke.
Forbes suggests that the issue is easily resolved; rescind “… the Obama power-plant regulations … removing one of the most significant barriers to American energy dominance — and Trump and Zeldin could do it immediately.” Apparently in his view, there’s no need for informed debate and strategic planning — the big boys will take care of everything. History, however, shows that Soviet-style centralized decision-making never turns out well.
What does work out well is competition on a level playing field. Were there to be fair play, clean energy sources would be ascending. It is already the case that wind, solar, and battery backup are cheaper than fossil fuels and faster to deploy. That they are not more prominent is due to the federal administration’s market manipulation.
Forbes would do well to recognize the fact that market interference in favor of a more expensive alternative will lock utility customers into higher electric bills for decades to come, and this at a time when billings are already outpacing the rate of inflation.
Were he to scan the horizon more carefully, Forbes would see that the world’s energy direction has already been set. Globally, 90% of new grid energy is from clean energy sources. Nationally, states like Texas, California, and Florida are accelerating their clean energy buildout.
He can have what he wants; he just has to look for it in the right place.
— Peter Boogaart is a resident of Zeeland.
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