Environmentalists Offer Energy Assessment at ConocoPhillips Forum

Representatives of two environmental organizations were given their say at a recent energy forum in Rochester, Minn. Loren Abraham of the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society and Chuck Laszewski of the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy joined Edward Garvey of the Minnesota Department of Commerce and two representatives from ConocoPhillips at the event sponsored by the oil giant. (See related story.)

While all members of the panel agreed that new initiatives on energy and the environment are common goals, the two environmentalists called for far more radical solutions.

Laszewski of the MCEA implied that energy companies and governments were late-comers to realizing that energy and the environment were issues of national security, which has been a reality since 1973. New energy sources must be pursued, he said, but unless carbon dioxide emissions are also cut 80 percent by 2050, the planet faces dire consequences

more insideCoal must be phased out unless technology can make it a carbon neutral resource, he said, noting that the MCEA has been fighting the proposed expansion of the Big Stone coal-fired power plant in Milbank, S.D. The utilities don’t need the energy, he argued, and conservation and wind power offer cheaper alternatives. Proponents of the Big Stone expansion say that the project will create new jobs, yet Laszewski noted that an MCEA plan stressing conservation and renewable resources will supply five times as many jobs.

Ethanol has its place “but must be done right,” he said. Too many ethanol plants are coal-fired, which negates any environmental benefits, and corn should only be considered an interim source for ethanol because of its environmental impacts.

Abraham of the MRES began his remarks by saying that in 2006 oil company profits soared to $72 billion, twice what they were in 2003, and that ConocoPhillips’ profits in the 1st quarter of 2007 alone reached $3.5 billion. Contrast this, he said, to Sir Richard Branson’s recent commitment to invest $3 billion in renewable energy technologies.

Echoing Laszewski’s comments on the impacts of global climate change, Abraham said the recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Working Group II predicted “catastrophic” consequences within 50 to 100 years unless major steps were taken immediately to limit carbon emissions. Unless action is taken within the next 10 years, the melting of the polar ice cap and the Greenland ice shelf would be “irreversible,” resulting in an eventual sea rise of 18 to 25 feet. “We have very little time to be debating,” he said.

Of the 100 quadrillion BTUs of U.S. energy consumption, Abraham, who is an architect, said half is used in the construction and operation of buildings. That’s why the American Institute of Architects and the U.S. Conference of Mayors have teamed up on the 2030 Challenge to make the U.S. carbon neutral by 2030.

The world must shift its energy production to at least 40 percent renewable sources, he said. Currently, 63 percent of U.S. energy comes from oil and gas, 23 percent from coal. “We do not lack the technology,” he said, “only the will to do it.”