NATURAL PERSPECTIVE -- VIC LEIPZIG AND LOU MURRAY

There’s an energy crisis all right, but it may not be the one you’re

thinking of.

We hear stories of power producers manipulating the market. They

deliberately go offline to create a power deficit. Then they go back on

line when prices go up. Meanwhile, electric bills will rise for about 60%

to 70% of residential consumers. Most of us will suffer this summer from

random power blackouts. But this isn’t the worst part of the crisis.

Of course, we’re concerned about the rapidly escalating cost of energy

and rapacious attempts by the energy producers to gouge us. But what

concerns us more is that people might be so wedded to their life of

energy consumption, and be so upset by the increase of a few dollars in

their electric bills, that they’ll start screaming for more power at a

lower price without regard to environmental cost.

That’s the real energy crisis. And that’s what some of the energy

producers are counting on. They’re hoping that if we have to pay a little

more for the luxuries we’ve become accustomed to, that we’ll clamor to

drill in our national parks, that we’ll be happy to see more oil derricks

off our coast, and that we’ll tolerate more nuclear reactors and

radioactive waste dumps.

The energy producers also are hoping that we won’t care about the

inevitable increase in global warming, air pollution and respiratory

illnesses such as asthma that increased burning of fossil fuels means.

They’re hoping that we won’t notice the huge profits that they’re raking

in. They’re hoping that we won’t see beyond our pocketbooks and that

we’ll miss the big picture.

Americans are not that blind, nor that shortsighted. Reduction of

environmental protections to save a few dollars is simply not acceptable.

Most of our electricity comes from generating stations that boil water

to make steam, which turns turbines, which makes electricity. Water can

be boiled by burning coal, oil, or natural gas or by using the heat

generated by nuclear reactors. All of these forms of power generation

carry the burden of pollution, with gas-fired plants being the cleanest.

Hydroelectric power is relatively cheap and nonpolluting. But dams

destroy riparian habitat upstream, flood scenic canyons, wreak havoc with

fisheries downstream, and are very expensive to build. Hydroelectric

power is no panacea.

Green energy such as wind, solar, geothermal and fuel cell power is

our best bet for reducing pollution. Unfortunately, it’s more expensive

to produce in the short run than electricity from natural gas-fueled

power plants. A decrease in the quality of our wild areas and in the

quality of the air we breathe will be the true cost of increased energy

production if we simply build more conventional power plants. When the

hidden health costs caused by pollution from conventional energy sources

are factored in, green energy looks more inviting.

What this country needs is more alternative energy, not more drilling

for oil or more burning of coal and natural gas. Right now, renewable

sources such as hydroelectric power, wood, wind, solar, geothermal energy

and fuel cells make up only 6% of the total U.S. energy pool. Of this

tiny fraction of renewable energy, 51% comes from wood and waste and 42%

comes from hydroelectric power. These energy sources are both fraught

with drawbacks. Green energy from geothermal, solar and wind power makes

up a piddling proportion of renewable energy and a mere 0.42% of the

total US energy mix. We need a dramatic shift in this balance.

Twenty-five years ago, California was an international leader in

development of alternative energy. Now Japan generates 15 times more

solar energy than sunny California. Although we’re still the leading

state in the United State in the production of alternative energy, its

contribution to our power grid declined over the past decade, while use

of fossil fuels increased. This is the wrong direction.

We not only need more alternative energy production, we also need to

maintain a tight grip on pollution caused by conventional energy sources.

Conservative lawmakers argue that we need to relax rules regarding

construction of new plants. They claim that few plants are being built in

California because of environmental restrictions. But an informed power

company source said this is not the reason why few plants were proposed

in recent years. Investors simply didn’t think they could make a profit

before deregulation. Now that the financial picture looks brighter to

producers, 20 new plants have been approved in California, with two to

six expected to go on line this summer.

But burning more coal, drilling more in the coastal zone, trampling

more wildlife refuges, building more plutonium-producing nuclear power

plants and damming more rivers aren’t the right answers. We must demand

more incentives for alternative green energy.

Meanwhile, let’s show this nation what we Californians are made of.

Don’t take this trumped up energy crisis sitting down. Get out of the hot

tub, turn off the big screen TV and stand up for environmental

protection.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at o7 [email protected] .