The BP drilling disaster created handwringing – one answer is renewable energy

posted by Dave Allen, 1 Comment

I Googled ‘BP Oil Spill’ this morning and noticed that the very brief [0.21 of a second] search returned 419,000,000 results. As you might expect most of the linked articles are less than supportive of BP. As devastating as this accident will turn out to be for the surrounding beaches as well as the entire Gulf of Mexico ecosystem, the only positive thing that could possibly come from this disaster is that it will surely shine a spotlight on our over-indulgence in fossil fuels and what that means – not only for the environment but for the generations that will follow us.

Critics have pointed out, that as demand for petroleum products keep soaring while known oil field reserves keep shrinking, drilling companies in the Gulf such as BP have to take greater risks, drilling at far greater depths under more hostile conditions; in other words at depths that threaten the integrity of their rig’s technology and engineering capabilities, while creating safety hazards for the rig workers and the environment as they go about the business of supplying this insatiable demand.

Obviously we can’t continue along this path for ever. Something has to change.

For decades we have been warned by scientists, geologists and many others, that our dependence on fossil fuels would become a fool’s errand and we ought to have been paying more attention as oil resources become depleted. As our known oil reserves start to run dry more drilling is not the answer – we should have been pushing harder and much earlier for renewable energy. Even President Obama is pushing for change, and a cursory scan of Google using the term ‘renewables’ brings back 35 million results. Maybe the needle can now be moved that much faster toward a higher usage of renewable energy.

Here at North we are lucky to have as one of our clients, Portland General Electric, who have been working hard to push renewable energy resources and initiatives across Oregon for both residential and business customers. They also have a dedicated web site, Green Power Oregon, to educate residential and business customers on renewable energy resources.

The company’s efforts in the renewables arena are commendable and they are also winning awards for doing “good” in the community.

It is particularly important for all companies to understand that younger generations are looking to corporate America to lead the way in using some of their profits to aid and protect the environment, as well as supporting projects that benefit the well being of communities.

Portland General Electric was recently named winner of the 2010 Edison Award, the electric industry’s most prestigious honor. The award was for their partnership with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in creating a Selective Water Withdrawal (SWW) Structure, a 273-foot-tall intake facility that attracts fish traveling downstream, a fish intake and bypass project at its 465-MW Pelton Round Butte Hydroelectric Project dam that provides safe passage for the fish to be sorted and transferred.

The SWW is the only known floating surface fish collection facility coupled with power generation in the world. PGE also continues to explore wind and solar options across the state. Wind energy comes from these sources.
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