Deming Leads: Let’s Follow Up
By: Eddy Moore, AR Business Leaders for a Clean Energy Economy
Former Murphy Oil Chairman Claiborne Deming showed the capacity for leadership that endeared him to Arkansans when he established the “El Dorado Promise” college scholarship program. Months before, he had come to the Clinton School in Little Rock to criticize Congressional energy and climate proposals. To his credit, he did not simply throw rocks and walk away. Earlier this month, he brought back a list of solutions that are critical to national security and economic growth.
Those next steps enjoy broad support. They are (1) aggressive pursuit of energy efficiency and conservation, wherever cost-effective (2) increased use of wind power, when cost effective (3) increased use of natural gas to produce electricity and (4) nuclear power.
Frankly, almost any thoughtful clean energy or climate policy leans heavily on these four elements.
Two further points merit discussion:
First, how would these policies affect the Arkansas economy?
Wind: Arkansas is among the 20 windiest states in the nation. We newly host a significant share of the nation’s windmill manufacturing base. Factories are spreading across the state, from Fort Smith, to Little Rock, to Jonesboro. Nationally, the wind industry is growing nearly 40% per year. Our technical colleges have begun training programs to supply the workers. And, Arkansas hosts the headquarters for the multi-state agency that will plan the needed transmission upgrades.
Gas: There is nothing remotely like the Fayetteville Shale in California or Massachusetts. We have a multi-billion-dollar resource that will supply the shift to less carbon-intensive fuels. Cake icing: Arkansas is home to the largest highly-efficient natural gas electricity generating plant in the nation.
Efficiency: Arkansas has such a huge potential for energy efficiency cost savings that detailed estimates say this element alone could outweigh the costs in Arkansas of any climate legislation. More than anything else, efficiency creates jobs, because it requires paying construction workers, electricians, plumbers, teachers and other kinds of service providers, instead of buying huge equipment to mine coal.
Nuclear: Arkansas is ahead of the game and our largest utilities are looking towards more nuclear power anyway. The real question is not if, but when is it more cost effective than efficiency, wind and natural gas, or other clean technologies?
The truth is that clean energy policies play to Arkansas’ strengths. Sky-falling predictions generally ignore efficiency savings and focus only on distant energy price estimates rather than tangible job creation. We cannot let status-quo lobbying kill our clean energy economic potential.
Second critical point: Establishing limits on carbon emissions and pricing carbon will boost Arkansas’ economy. It would send market signals to every corner of the economy to increase the value of our energy efficiency, wind and gas resources rather than letting inside influence and top-down government regulation strangle these Arkansas strengths. Done right, carbon pricing would point major capital investment decisions towards Razorback territory, not Riyahd, towards Conway, not Carracas, towards . . . you get the picture.
When Claiborne Deming and Al Gore agree on most of the solutions, and when Arkansas is positioned to benefit, why are other business and political “leaders” holding us back? Let’s get past the politics and start creating clean energy jobs.
Eddy Moore is coordinator of Arkansas Business Leaders for a Clean Energy Economy, an informal network of businesses that supports a transition to a low-carbon clean energy economy in Arkansas and nationally. Its goal is to empower the Arkansas business community to influence public policy that helps get us there.
For more information on Arkansas Business Leaders for A Clean Energy Economy visit: http://www.arkcleaneconomy.biz/
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