Minnesota needs a new coal fired electrical plant

October 23, 8:11 PMWashington County Independent ExaminerDavid Dick

Previous Next

2 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Washington County Independent Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

               (image from www.morguefile.com)

We quit trying to build a new power plant and now, according to the Pioneer Press, a U.S. Department of Commerce study says Minnesota needs an additional 500 megawatts of baseload electrical power.

Just a little over a month ago, Minnesota-based Otter Tail Power Co. decided to abandon its plans for Big Stone II citing uncertainty about federal legislation to regulate carbon emissions as one of the determining factors. That is too bad,as Big Stone II was slated to generate 580 megawatts of power, more than filling the need suggested by the Department of Commerce report.

Now we're stuck. Minnesota needs more power generation - and don't kid yourself, wind power won't handle the demand -  but utility companies are afraid to undertake construction for fear that the pending Cap and Trade bill will make the resulting power plant impractical. And all because we are being told to be afraid of plant food.

Yes, plant food. After all, that is what CO₂ is – plant food. Plants like it. Plants suck CO₂ out of the atmosphere and use it to build roots, stalks, leaves, flowers and and all sorts of good things to eat. Plants like CO₂ so much that commercial growers inject additional CO₂ into the ir hot houses to increase production. The CO₂ concentrations inside many of these hot houses is three or more times that found outside naturally. The plants thrive.

We are told to fear the build up of CO₂ in the atmosphere because it will lead to catastrophic global warming. This warming is in evidence here in Washington County with snow on the ground for second time in October. It's obvious we need to do something to cool things down.

Now to be sure, carbon dioxide is a contributer to the greenhouse effect, that is it does lead to warmer temperatures on the planet. But it is a very weak player in this game. The number one greenhouse gas responsible for about 95% of the greenhouse effect is water vapor. CO₂ is a very poor second place gas having at most a 5% effect on the climate.

Understanding carbon dioxide's relative importance in the greenhouse effect gives cause to wonder why are we so afraid of it? Especially since it is relatively easy to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere – just plant more trees. Isn't it time we get serious about this non problem and concentrate instead on meeting our needs and that of future generations.

We need the power plant, lets build it.

Want to read more articles by the Washington County Independent Examiner?
Subscribe at the top of this column to receive e-mail updates.
Make a comment and add to the discussion, or send Dave an e-mail.