California’s Environmental Sleight Of Hand
Max Schulz, writing in The Wall Street Journal, points out California's dishonesty. Activists and politicians there brag about how great a job they have done on environmental issues, Except that they really have not. All they have really done is export their pollution.
His words are in keeping with the state's self-perception. Politicians, business titans, academics and environmental activists proudly point to four decades of environmentally conscious public policy – while maintaining a dynamic economy, arguably the eighth-largest on the planet, with a gross state product of more than $1.6 trillion.
In truth, the state's energy leadership is a mirage. Decades of environmental policies have made it heavily dependent on other states for power; generated crippling costs; and left the state vulnerable to periodic electricity shortages. Its economic growth has occurred not because of, but despite, those policies.
Since the early 1970s, California has instituted new efficiency standards for appliances and the construction of new buildings. It mandated aggressive conservation programs and required a certain percentage of the state's electricity to come from renewable sources like wind and solar, which it has subsidized. It implemented far-reaching regulations on emissions from car tailpipes and from stationary sources like factories. And it has moved to shut down the state's nuclear facilities.
For a time, it worked. Since the mid-1970s, California's economy has grown while per-capita energy consumption stayed flat – an astounding fact, considering that such consumption has increased by roughly 50% elsewhere in the country over the same period.
But consider the story of the Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station. Opened in 1975, it was capable of generating over 900 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to power upward of 900,000 homes. Fourteen years after powering up, the nuclear reactor shut down, thanks to fierce antinuclear opposition. Eventually, the facility was converted to solar power, and today generates a measly four MW of electricity. After millions of dollars in subsidies and other support, the entire state has less than 250 MW of solar capacity.
The cracks in the energy infrastructure are showing more and more these days. Many companies refuse to build facilities - especially manufacturing - because of high energy prices and an unreliable energy supply. I remember when they shut down Rancho Seco, thinking at the time that they were making a dreadful decision.
At this point, something like 20% of California's energy is imported. Virtually all of their state-mandated super energy-efficient technology is made elsewhere - and the pollution required to manufacture that high-tech stuff is deposited elsewhere. California brags that is has worked magic. But magic is nothing but misdirection.
Energy, Environment | Gaius Saturday, 3 May , 2008
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By Anthony (Los Angeles), Saturday, 3 May , 2008 @ 7:46 pm
I lived in Sacramento for many years (I consider it my home town), and shutting Rancho Seco was indeed a big mistake. That area is and has been growing by leaps and bounds because of people fleeing the high prices of the Bay Area, and they just can’t keep up with the power demands — as we’ve seen."Shortsighted" just doesn’t cover it.
By Steev, Saturday, 3 May , 2008 @ 11:07 pm
I live within sight of Rancho Seco. The defunct cooling towers stand as stark reminder of the money we waste in the name of misdirected environmental causes.
Not to mention the energy wasted in long distance transmission because we import so much electricity.
If you catch Dr. Bill Watenburg’s show on KGO, he has some eye opening things to say about Ca. EPA, CARB and the CA Forestry dept.
From google earth you can look right down into Rancho Seco’s cooling towers. Pretty cool.
By sam, Monday, 5 May , 2008 @ 1:54 pm
Here in Utah there is a large coal-fired power plant that sends most of its output to southern California. Recently, it was proposed to add another unit to the station, but the California utilities that are partners in the station were unwilling or unable to participate due to CO2 concerns. So the additional unit idea has been shelved. All the utilities in the Western interconnection want to sell into California. The selling prices are much better there than elsewhere in the region.