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Current energy policies will cost us more for electric

4/10/2013

Our administration needs to rethink its EPA Green Energy mandates. Tougher compliance rules for coal-fired power plants will either put them out of business or pay massive fines that will be passed to the consumers. The reality is new coal-fired power plants are designed to work cleaner with greater efficiency.

New Carbon Capture and Storage technologies will further enhance the use of coal well into our future. The United States is the Saudi Arabia of coal. We need to utilize this abundance to our advantage. Iowa gets about 20 percent of its electric from wind turbines subsidized with our tax dollars. Wind energy accounts for about 3 to 4 percent for the rest of the country. This small portion can easily be replaced with cheaper, plentiful and more efficient existing sources without a burden on the taxpayers.

Proposed coal taxes will hurt our exports to other countries and further cost more jobs in mining and production adding more unemployment. We have a government hell-bent on taxing this reliable industry out of existence. Our electric rates will soar, as current EPA policies will kill jobs and our economy.

Iowa gets 37 percent of its electric power from coal. Wind Energy alone will not solve our problems. It must be backed up by traditional and reliable energy such as natural gas, nuclear, petroleum and coal. With concerns for green energy also come massive costs to implement it. Recent studies have shown wind turbines killing more than 400,000 migratory birds including American bald eagles annually. However, the wind industry isn’t held to the same standards as oil, gas or even rural landowners. Wildlife protection laws such as The Endangered Species Act, The Migratory Bird Treaty and the Golden Eagle Protection Act, to name a few, have not applied to the wind industry. Why are they exempt?

All sources of natural alternative energy should be recognized and used to fulfill our needs, but the question is, for how long must they be fueled by our tax dollars? If any successful business can’t stand on its own legs to survive, it will never be viable. The federal government should leave that to private investing and businesses where private money and resources will be more likely be put to their fullest potential.

CNA - Stop HIV Iowa
Tom Mazza
–Clive

 

Shame on you

(Opening Shot, March 28) was a terrible picture! Teaching a child to kill! Shame on him! And shame on you for showing it!

Patricia Garvin
–West Des Moines

Editor’s note: The “Happy (Easter Bunny) hunting” photo was doctored for an April Fool’s joke (hence the footer on every page and the note stating: “Does anyone believe this gibberish?” Guess we got our answer to that question.

 

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