Dear Editor:
We are entering a period of rapid change regarding energy. Big economic players will try to forestall the changes. Remember recently politicians were trying to save the incandescent light bulb. They claimed the Obama administration was trying to limit the freedom of buying energy-wasting light bulbs. It was called an assault on American freedoms.
Suddenly, America has taken itself off the world stage as a leader in new technologies. When the current president proclaimed we would not participate with the world community to limit carbon emissions, America ceded world leadership to Europe and China. Other countries are running with this mandate.
This week, Chevrolet announced it was bringing 20 electric cars to the market by 2023. These are vehicles across the market spectrum from small cars to SUVs and trucks. Why you ask? Because China, Europe and California (the world's ninth largest economy) demand it. Chevrolet, Ford and others must sell into these markets to be profitable. China is now the largest producer and consumer of automobiles in the world. American companies will meet their demands to be profitable.
We have all seen pictures of pollution in China from carbon emissions. China is not a democracy, and they are turning their plight around immediately. They are now the world leader in solar panels and are demanding clean electric cars in their cities. This revolution in clean energy cannot happen fast enough. Blue states in America and Europe will add to this demand. The next 10 years will be a period of amazing transformation.
Meanwhile, American politicians are trying to revive a 19th century reliance on coal. Since the Reagan administration, coal mining has been on the decline. Jobs in the coal industry are a very small part of the economy. The reasons are: 1. Surface mining replaced coal mines. 2. Surface mining technology has replaced much coal mining labor. 3. Today natural gas and renewables are replacing coal as low-cost alternative energies.
Coal does not have a future in a free market economy. Only political intervention can help coal survive. Ameren is moving ahead by announcing a large Missouri solar project to bring 700 megawatts of solar to market by 2020.
On Oct 16th at the Missouri River Regional Library art gallery at 6:30 p.m., a documentary on coal will be shown. "From the Ashes" will review the history of coal in America and its problems.