The Push for Renewable Energy in Wyoming - Is it all that it’s cracked up to be?

by Wyoming Liberty Group

There's hype. And then there's jargon. Combine the two, and you have quite the mess. That's certainly the case with the latest push to expand renewable energy in Wyoming.

In its latest incarnation, our own Senator John Barrasso, along with Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, sponsored a bill recently that ostensibly intends to speed up the federal process of permitting and reviewing various energy projects. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the bill. So, we should pay attention, folks. It's being touted as a compromise bill that reduces the time it takes the feds to approve projects involving such important Wyoming industries as coal, oil and natural gas. But, if you're not paying attention, the bill also pushes renewable energy projects.

Which is another way of saying that the bill is a dressed-up package to look nice but it's leaning into such renewable energy as wind and solar power. And those sources of energy can be decidedly unreliable and costly. Let's not forget, in our Wyoming winters, we want our heating working, right?

But there's more. Barrasso, with our Congresswoman Harriett Hageman, have advanced companion bills that would transfer a dormant hydroelectric power plant so that it could be used as another source of renewable energy, using water for power. For what it's worth, the Native American tribes where that plant is situated are not happy about it, saying they were never consulted, and the bill has already passed the U.S House of Representatives.

What's going on with all of these moves into renewable energy in Wyoming—and why should we care?

Well, let's back up a sec. This can sound like complicated stuff. Renewable energy, of course, includes such things as sunlight and wind. That contrasts with fossil fuels, a big part of Wyoming industry, which includes coal, oil and gas, and they are not renewable because they take a long time to form and they are burned to create energy, emitting greenhouse gases, which can be a problem. There's also the growing development of nuclear energy, another complicated field. You get the idea.

But renewable energy isn't always what it's cracked up to be by its proponents. For instance, while solar energy, which harnesses sunlight, is abundantly available, it can be expensive to purchase and install, and it's dependent on sunlight, which, as we all know, can come and go. So, solar power is not the most efficient source of energy. Solar energy storage can also be costly, and then there's this: Solar farms can take up a lot of space, not to mention harm wildlife, another staple of our beautiful state.

Now, let's take wind energy, which harnesses moving air. Wind turbines, as you've surely seen, are massive in size and take up a huge amount of land, so it's not surprising that they can be dangerous to wildlife, including birds. Wind turbines can also be quite noisy, and given their enormous size, they can often interfere with the beauty of our Wyoming landscape. You should know, too, that wind power needs to be placed only where the wind blows regularly and the strongest, so turbines are limited by where they can be constructed. What's more, wind turbines last for about twenty years, and they can be costly to recycle.

And we haven't even talked about transmission lines yet. Renewable energy sources need networks of power lines to get the energy from solar power or wind turbines or storage facilities to where lots of people live and use power on a daily basis. Thousands of such transmission lines will have to be built, cutting through communities and mountains, over the next several years if the feds keep pushing renewable energy as the sole solution to our needs. No one disputes the need for the construction of these extensive networks—not the feds, nor the scientists, nor the policymakers.

So, there's a lot to consider before we rush headlong into renewable energy as the panacea to all of our problems. Let's not be taken in by the hype or distracted by the jargon. And there's plenty of both.