After Gutenberg

San Francisco Treehugger Dan Kessler reports that, at the Southern Governors’ Association’s annual meeting near Williamsburg, VA, “outgoing chair Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia said his goal was to see how the South can increase its use of renewable energy technologies while increasing efficiency and reducing greenhouse gases.” Nice words, in the spirit of the Bush Administration’s successful war on the environment, spoken to appreciative sponsors (and polluters), including the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Dominion Resources Inc., and Exxon Mobil Corp.

I doubt whether many (and hopefully no AG readers) were fooled by the nice words. When it comes to energy policy, this blog has harped on the disingenuous nature (read “coal zombie” stupidity) of the Southeast region of the United States here and here.

Union of Concerned Scientists graphic
“Twenty-eight states, plus Washington, D.C., have renewable energy portfolios that require each state to produce a minimum percentage of renewable energy. Only North Carolina in the Southeast has a renewable energy portfolio.”

To get the most recalcitrant to put on their RES (Renewable Energy Sources) “thinking hats”, the current strategy is to play the national security card.

Retired military officials told the governors that climate change will have major impacts on their states. Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard Engel, who directs the Climate Change and State Stability program of the National Intelligence Council, told the governors that global warming will cause drought, floods, and storm damage.

Whereas I have great respect for the energy policy advocated by former CIA director Admiral James Woolsey, and believe it takes all sorts to get a true policy shift to occur, there would seem to be two significant risks to “throwing in” with the National Security crowd: 1) lack of transparency, which at present is endemic in this country — “I’m sorry Senator, you can’t talk about those coal ash impoundments, National Security, doncha kno; and 2) nuclear power, as in, “Hey I’ve got a boffo idea, let’s move from fossil fooled to nuke duped!”

It should be noted that the lack of renewable energy portfolios is other than unique to the Southeast, rather a map that shows states lacking in current or pending legislation shows where coal remains king, a.k.a., a Map of Stupid. OTOH, the Southeast is unique in having fewer existing options for sustainable energy. Thus, a renewed emphasis upon the lack of carbon emissions from nuclear power plants, ignoring the other critical disadvantages to this particular fuel from Hell.

As this blog plaintively queried, “Why do almost all Senators and many members of the House of Representatives* choose to ignore their official responsibility to respond to degradation of the atmosphere brought about by anthropogenic emissions and the dangers of radioactive waste?” The answer, of course, is that we live in dark times, when BAUAAAE (Business As Usual And Above All Else) prevails.

* Note: As the Map of Stupid shows, a fair share of state governments, also.