Category: Opinions

As we collectively adjust to a new normal amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to also celebrate good news in Iowa. As a member of the Iowa Conservative Energy Forum, I’d like to congratulate all the stakeholders that met over the past year to find a compromise on solar energy policy that works for all Iowans. Senate File 583 was recently signed into law by Governor Reynolds after passing unanimously in both the state House and Senate. This important legislation provides consistency, reliability and the opportunity for solar energy to continue to grow in Iowa.

A new Texas energy source is figuratively (and literally) just over the horizon.

We are all too familiar with the hot Texas sun that can easily fry an egg on the sidewalk and sends us running into air conditioning. But that heat is energy, and with it comes the ability to generate the same electricity needed to drive those air conditioners we rely on to stay sane. And Texas sure has a lot of heat.

Last month, I proudly joined Conservatives for Clean Energy as their new Florida Director. Our group was founded in North Carolina in 2014 to educate the public and decision-makers on the economic benefits of clean energy and advocate for continued investments across the Southeast.

Many have probably now seen the picture, shared widely on social media, of wind turbine blades being buried in a landfill in Wyoming. The picture highlights a legitimate challenge to wind energy, especially as costs continue to fall and deployment of wind increases across the country. Importantly those challenges, one of them highlighted here, are not a reason to walk away from the table.

In our highly charged political environment, the question of whether to incorporate more renewable energy resources as part of our overall energy infrastructure is—as with most issues—often viewed in the prism of being either “left” or “right.”  Unfortunately, this simplistic view distorts an increasingly important issue, and one that has much deeper significance than whether, from a political perspective, conservatives or liberals perceive renewable energy positively or negatively. In fact, transitioning to a more robust renewable energy portfolio has important implications for air quality, water supply, economic development, and national security.

If you believe some politicians and media pundits, the way we produce energy in the United States is extremely controversial.

To hear them tell it, some people are wedded to fossil fuels and other people only want renewables. The two sides are locked in vicious political combat and the idea of them ever working together is impossible, according to the political and media elite.

Ohio is an agriculture state. Family farms often span generations. In places like Paulding County, farmland sustains soybeans, corn, hogs, cattle and wheat. In recent years, a new cash crop has taken root alongside this more traditional harvest: clean energy.