I have been dismayed and confused by the false or misleading statements that are made by people opposed to renewable energy. They evidently know nothing about renewable energy, so they use fabrications in an attempt to bolster their arguments.
A Hubbard County commissioner stated that a person with an electric car would need good luck to make it from Blackduck to International Falls. The distance is less than 90 miles. Many electric vehicles have driving ranges of 300 miles on a single charge.
I was told that after years of use, an entire wind generator would have to be taken down, dismantled and buried.
In a recent commentary in the Enterprise, the writer claimed thousands of experts have stated that man cannot, in a meaningful way, change the climate. I doubt that there is any list of such experts. There are numerous experts who claim otherwise. In fact, in some recently published research done by scientists working for Exxon/Mobil in the 1970s, they predicted that the use of petroleum would lead to the very climate issues that we are facing today.
State Sen. Steve Green, in a recently published commentary, stated that he would keep Minnesota reliant on nuclear energy, oil and coal for our energy requirements. Nothing was written about the use of renewable energy or searching for new energy sources.
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Green also claimed that there was clean coal. There is no such thing as clean coal. The burning of coal causes some pollution, such as acid rain.
His statements show a lack of knowledge and a lack of caring for the well-being of the people of his district and of the state. Not only are his policies environmentally damaging, but they would also be of no financial benefit to the state. Minnesota does not have any deposits of coal or crude oil.
Furthermore, the senator’s policies would serve to continue to place Minnesotans at the mercy of the oil producers.
Last year, a declared shortage saw gasoline prices rise to $5 a gallon. Enbridge’s new pipeline was supposed to help guarantee quantities of oil sufficient to meet our needs. It did not.
What it did do was bring tremendous profits to Enbridge. The profits were so gigantic that it meant a windfall to the province of Alberta. Alberta is the home base for Enbridge, and it made so much money from oil production that government leaders are contemplating cash payments to all citizens of Alberta. I guess it could be considered a rebate from our gasoline purchases.
We should not take into consideration baseless and foolish statements about the use of renewable energy. It is shameful to make such statements and to follow policies that are not in the best interest of the people of this state.
The Trust Project
