It Won’t Do Any Good, But Let’s Do It Anyway
18th January 2016
Oregon has a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by forcing electric companies to stop burning coal and to get half their energy from renewable resources. It sounds like a great plan, but like so many government plans, it has a few flaws.
First, it won’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Second, it will increase energy prices, thus reducing the viability of Oregon’s economy.
At least, that’s the conclusion of Oregon’s Public Utility Commission, the three-member board that is supposed to regulate electric utilities. The only problem is that the commission was never consulted about the energy plan, suggesting that the state is listening only to groups who are already true believers.
“We have some deep concerns about these negotiations because we think they will not be effective in reducing carbon emissions,” wrote commission chair Susan Ackerman in an email to the governor’s staff, “but they will be expensive to consumers.”
That never stopped them before.