WHITNEY ROYSTER Star-Tribune environmental reporter | Posted: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 12:00 am
GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK - Military expenses are siphoning federal dollars that could be used for research and development of domestic energy production that also addresses climate change, Gov. Dave Freudenthal said here Monday.
The Democrat suggested that a "war tax" might be needed to fund domestic needs, as overseas conflicts are consuming federal funding. He joked that he could make such a suggestion because he's not a candidate for the U.S. Senate.
Freudenthal said the responsibility for pursuing research on technologies such as carbon sequestration has fallen to the states, as the federal government is dealing with war costs. Those costs will likely continue into the future, he said.
"At some point, we have to recognize if we are going to pursue the foreign policy objectives we have, it's going to cost money," he said.
Freudenthal said people might have to pay a "war tax" to fund domestic needs, including energy research and development.
The governor made his comments at the 2007 annual meeting of the Council of State Governments-West, going on through Wednesday at Jackson Lake Lodge. He was part of a panel called "The Future of U.S. Energy? Let's Ask Those Who Know It," along with representatives of General Electric, British Petroleum, EnCana Corp. and the Idaho National Laboratory.
Freudenthal focused much of his 15-minute talk on the realities of carbon emissions and climate change.
"Every one of you has been lobbied by those saying it's a hoax," Freudenthal told the crowd.
"I do believe there are natural cycles," he said. But man's activities accelerate those natural climate cycles, and Wyoming is not a state that has taken the position that climate change is a "non-issue."
"The weight of the evidence is there's something going on in the climate," and the weight of the evidence suggests it has to do with carbon, he said.
Freudenthal said few energy sources are carbon free. He said California touts its use of "green energy" with natural gas, but that source - much of which comes from Wyoming - creates a lot of carbon emissions in its production.
"We need to be realistic about that," he said.
That sentiment was echoed by others during the lunch program, including John Grossenbacher of Idaho National Laboratory. He said nuclear energy can have a small carbon footprint, but the small amount of nuclear waste generated is highly toxic and lasts a long time.
Freudenthal also said getting at new power sources requires transmission lines. And people need to be "unbiased" about energy sources. Some people don't like nuclear power or wind power, but people need to avoid prejudices, as every source has negative and positive characteristics, he said.
A part of every energy discussion needs to include technology, cost, budgets and time, the governor said. Between now and the time new energy sources are tapped, leaders need to pick "low-hanging fruit," which most immediately is education about conservation and energy efficiency, he said.
"You can sell it as an environmental or cost matter," he said.
Regarding coal, Wyoming's most abundant resource, Freudenthal said the question is not how to quit using it, but how to start using it right, and carbon sequestration is a key component.
Freudenthal told the Western group it represents the set of people "most urgently" needed to be involved in discussions of energy and climate change.
"This is an issue," he said, "that is badly in need of rational discussion."
Environmental reporter Whitney Royster can be reached at (307) 734-0260 or at royster@tribcsp.com.