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Has there been a corporate wide effort to educate employees and the public on externalities associated with power production? The reason power is so cheap in the first place is often these externalities – air pollution and ground contamination, mountain-top removal, coal sludge containment – aren’t taken into place. Society eventually has to pay for these externalities in medical bills, federal clean up programs, and loss of national treasures (Appalachian Mountains).
Another perception of Good ol’ boys is that the only reason for renewable energy is to slow global warming, a concept many Southerners haven’t fully embraced. Southerners who are heavily resistant to renewable energy would rather make fun of Al Gore and his hippie liberal cohorts than admit that:
- Many of their cities are choked by Air Pollution (of which Coal power is a significant contributor)
- The Appalachian mountains are being blown up to get at their veins of Coal
- Coal sludge actually exists
Until the perception of renewable energy changes from mocking the efforts of mitigating CO2 emissions to one of realizing that the fossil fueled status-quo is detrimental to the to bucolic vision of Dixie that so many Southerners hold dear, renewable energy has an uphill struggle.
And I went on to say…
In order for those perceptions to begin to shift, the Southeast needs to have an honest discussion about external costs of existing methods of generating electricity (pollution from fossil fuel generation and risks associated with storing nuclear waste) and projects currently underway (like FPL’s solar site) should be highlighted and applauded.
Southerners who favor a renewable energy future need to help Good ol’ boys see that renewable energy doesn’t mean higher energy costs and saving polar bears. It means less “red-alert” smog days so kids with asthma can actually play outside, no more coal sludge spills polluting the land and water, an Appalachian mountain range that is actually intact, and the potential for a cleaner, more prosperous future.
It’s time for utilities and the public to have an honest discussion about the value of clean energy, and why it is truly worth more than cheap energy.
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Very good point, Chris. What was the reply to your question?
You hit the nail square on the head with this post. I have a utility connection and attest to the complete disreguard for enviromental issues. Other than for those enviromental issues that are regulated or mandated. I would say this is true today for 98% of utilities. There is a lot of complaining about regulation and almost a wonder as to why it is necessary.
The great thing and the leveling force is the rise in electricity costs. Because this will elevate renewable energy as an alternative. Customer choice will move the market while many utilities sleep at the wheel.
Check my tweets out at http://www.twitter.com/feckalona/
The reply to my question was basically: “No, we dont really discuss externalities”. Basically the Utility doesn’t want ratepayers to have any idea of any environmental ills associated with producing power. Again, they’re not evil, they just want to keep shareholders happy.