The New Astroturf Movement

The oil companies, still wishing it was 1968, are organizing supposed "grassroots" protests against the emissions bill. Big oil moves with the subtlety of Stalinist architecture, so everyone can see who is organizing these protests, but nonetheless, it seems that massive, loud, and potentially violent right-wing rallies against any kind of reform is the order of the day. Centered in Texas, these protests are incredibly stupid because they are so short-sighted. Everyone is claiming that such a bill would undermine Houston's economy as a center of the energy industry. Other than the facts that people are still going to use energy, that oil is running out anyway, and that the future of the human race depends upon stringent restrictions on burning fossil fuels, what is really galling is that Texas still stands to be the center of American energy production because of wind. I drove through west Texas twice in the past two weeks on different routes. Both ways, west Texas has turned into a giant wind farm, one that will likely be greatly expanded in coming years. That is a limitless resource and will bring Texas a lot of money. Yet because it's different and because it's associated with hippies and Europe and other things un-American and certainly un-Texan, the oil companies see it as a giant threat. Meanwhile, if they were smart, they could simply invest in wind, diversify their companies, and continue to be huge corporate juggernauts in the next generation. Why they are so blind to these obvious possiblities is completely beyond me.

NIMBYism and Clean Energy

I am not surprised that wind farms are causing a massive attack of NIMBYism. We have become so separated from our energy sources that we have no understanding that there are actual side effects to them. Any kind of energy has a price. That includes the cleanest energy. Hydroelectric displaces people and destroys ecosystems. Solar uses horrendous chemicals to make the panels. Wind means you might live near turbines. The impact of these turbines is still debated. Frankly, a lot of these "symptoms" sound questionable to me. Do turbines really cause insomnia? Or do people just not want them to cloud their view from their picture window?

We have no problem destroying the lives of indigenous people in Ecuador or turning Saudi Arabia into a giant oil well. We don't mind that poor people in southeast Texas and Louisiana have high rates of cancer from living near refineries. But god forbid if we have to deal with even the most minor inconvenience related to wind energy! It's gotten to the point that the wealthy white people who live near some wind farms are becoming wind energy deniers, sublimating science to their own desires. Any sense of justice would lead one to believe that we should all share in the costs of energy production. Why should poor people, and especially people of color, bear this burden while rich whites can build 10,000 square foot houses and drive Hummers? Our desperate need for alternative energy, combined with a White House interested in clean energy, might lead to the protests of rich people being overridden in the name of national interest. I hope so.

Decline in Green Energy Investment

One of the clearest long-term solutions for our economic and environmental problems is to invest heavily in wind and solar energy. It means more independence from oil-producing companies, less coal mining, and long-term energy stability. But because renewable energy doesn't have powerful political allies or senators and congresspeople beholden to it because of manufacturing jobs or corn production, it gets shorted in the stimulus and other bills. Now we see that the last several months has seen green energy investment fall off a cliff, largely because of a lack of credit.

This is exactly the kind of thing the Obama administration can invest in. It can put thousands of people to work in a variety of jobs, including manufacturing, research and development, construction, and infrastructure. It could lend the money directly to the energy companies, which would be a step toward nationalizing energy, something that would benefit the nation in the long run.

Eventually these wind farms are going up because it is in the nation's interest to make it happen. But it's not a top priority for a lot of people and this only hurts our environment, economy, and national security.

The Big Move

Well, here I am in Redlands-- once again back in Southern California. We had an earthquake today and I saw three Hummers at one stoplight. This place is really weird.

Moving was an experience. We had some great Southern New Mexico-style Green Chile enchiladas in Deming, NM, and enjoyed seeing the many, many NM truckstops that offered volume discounts on fireworks. I listened to Rush Limbaugh for 15 minutes outside of El Paso, and turned it off when some dumbass redneck was ridiculing alternative energy proposals and oinking for more drilling. Arizona was an interesting state to traverse, and I even got hooked into a progressive talk radio station in Phoenix (after seeing the station's anti-McSame billboard right on the interstate-- gutsy!). The wind farm in the Coachella Valley, California was by far the most awesome sight on the trip. On I-10, you slowly come around the mountain and down into a valley that is just packed with large windmills. There are 4,000 windmills in the San Gorgonio Pass in the San Bernadino Mountains, which produce enough electricity to power Palm Springs and the entire Coachella Valley. I can't describe what it feels like to be looking at that many windmills all at once, up and down and on top of every mountain and hill-- very crazy. I felt like I was in a Mario Brothers game or something.

My Texas to California move now being over, I will be posting regularly again.

And I know he's off the campaign and all, but Phil Gramm is still a dickweed.

Greensburg

Last May, a tornado completely destroyed the town of Greensburg, Kansas. One known for having the world's largest hand-dug well, it briefly became known for being a site of utter chaos. Last June, I was driving from Denver to Texas on back roads. By sheer coincidence I drove through Greensburg. It was one of the most shocking things I had ever seen. The city was gone. A few of the old brick Victorian Era buildings were sort of standing. Then, like a line was drawn through the eastern side of the town, everything was standing, as if nothing had ever happened. Remarkable. I thought about taking pictures but I felt it was immoral to be a tourist in someone's space of suffering.

I did have to wonder about the future of a destroyed town in western Kansas. The western Plains have been losing population for 90 years now. Greensburg isn't on the interstate. There's no real reason for people to move back there. It's a county seat but that's about the biggest economic engine in the area from what I can tell.

But Greensburg is rebuilding. What's more, it is doing so in an environmentally friendly way. I'm surprised that a small Kansas town is taking such a radical step, but as the linked article suggests, this is an opportunity to rejuvenate the town based upon the independence that locally created wind energy can provide. That they are moving into LEED certified buildings and connecting the region's farms to an environmentally based economy is even more surprising and suggests that forced into a crisis, even leaders in the nation's most conservative areas can think creatively about environmental issues.

It's a fascinating story and perhaps a model for keeping people on the Plains.