Op-Ed Columns

It's time for meaningful dialogue to take place that shines the light on a proud nation of innovative residents who are ready to move forward with solutions. Climate change and energy solution naysayers in Alabama can play catch-up while the rest of us pick the ball up and run together with it.

Carbon regulations are on the way. The bad news: these regulations will be expensive for our current economy. The good news: they will stimulate the green economy. Studies have shown that green jobs will be created when we hire people to build the infrastructure necessary in order to put non-polluting, diversified energy portfolios in place.

You can Google green jobs versus fossil-based jobs to see Senate testimony that shows wind and solar energy can produce almost three times as many jobs as fossil-based jobs. Twenty-three states already have enacted renewable-energy portfolio standards, and there is debate in the Senate and House regarding climate-change regulations.

Alabama can lead the way or we will be following and trying to catch up. We would hope that Alabama industries would invest in research and development of renewable technologies. If they don't, then when the carbon regulations are put in place, it will be even more costly for them to retrofit their plants.

Our elected officials and many residents repeatedly claim that solar and wind energy will not work for Alabama, but the fact of the matter is if you put photovoltaics on your home and offset some of your energy usage from Alabama Power Co. or the Tennessee Valley Authority's coal-burning power plants, then you've helped move us towards a solution-based approach to today's problems. We know this to be true, because many Alabamians are doing exactly that today.

Industries should be working toward clean and secure energy infrastructure that takes advantage of innovative technologies available to us as a way to create profits in the future. Florida Power and Light Energy Co. is the largest generator of solar power in the nation through its connection to solar collectors in the Mojave Dessert. If our Southeastern sister state can figure it out — why can't Alabama?

One example of an untapped natural resource is the tri-state wind regime of North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas — with enough badlands, wild lands, scrublands and otherwise unused land mass to place four windmills per acre and generate all of the nation's power. We could generate all of America's power needs in addition to shutting down all of our polluting power plants — including nuclear, fossil and hydro. Why drill off the white sands of our coast or in some of our best and last wild places in our country if we don't have to?

Once upon a time, Thomas Edison said that burning fossil fuels for power production is like burning your front door for heat. We're a proud nation of inventors and we've seen an amazing advancement in our fuel sources. The economics of coal is shifting. Is Alabama going to continue to drag its feet?

Gov. Bob Riley has an opportunity to be a knight in shining armor for Alabama — by creating thousands of jobs while protecting our environment and our national security. Will he do it? Or will Alabama maintain its spot at the top of so many "worst-in-the-nation" lists?

We need a commitment to clean and secure energy. We must decrease Alabama's dependence on coal-based energy that pollutes our air by working toward a diversified energy portfolio that will implement some of the innovative technologies available. It is the patriotic duty of our time.

The children of Alabama will inherit the legacy of the choices we make. What kind of natural health and heritage will we leave for them?

Jenny Dorgan is the program coordinator of the Alabama Environmental Council. On the Web: www.aeconline.org. E-mail: Jenny@aeconline.org.