How ironic it was to see the editorial headline, "Garrison's promises were empty," in the Tuesday, June 10, edition of The Forum, and then to see alongside the opinion piece a commentary to the editor (written by John Dwyer -- whose professional existence depends upon the burning of lignite coal), which implies that North Dakota's "economic future" hinges on a disagreement regarding sulfur dioxide emissions between the state and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Similar to past promoters of the Garrison Diversion Project, Dwyer and his ilk presently -- and repeatedly -- try to persuade North Dakotans that only the coal industry holds the key capable of unlocking the door behind which lies the state's brightest energy future. Dwyer, the ubiquitous "bottom line" people such as you prefer to use to extort profit at the expense of human health isn't a compelling enough reason to overlook reality this time.
Had Dwyer recalled a March 27 article appearing in his hometown newspaper, the Bismarck Tribune, he would know that North Dakota's sulfur dioxide emissions have increased about threefold since 1976. Yet, since 1973 the EPA says sulfur dioxide emissions have decreased nationally by more than a third. Imagine what this "discrepancy" -- which equates to millions of pounds of pollution annually -- means for North Dakotans trying to live with asthma in "coal country."
Conversely, all North Dakotans are missing out on greater economic opportunities. The organization Dwyer heads, the Lignite Energy Council, provides a map of "Lignite" counties on its Web site. According to Dwyer's own group, "coal country" is composed of six counties. What about the other 47 North Dakota counties?
What about wind power? An aggressive wind energy development strategy could benefit nearly every county in North Dakota -- both economically and environmentally. But because Dwyer's letter focused on environmental issues, so will I. The American Wind Energy Association offers the following scenario derived from data published in 1997 by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Electric Power Research Institute: A single 750-kilowatt wind turbine, operated for one year at a site with a Class 4 wind power density (winds averaging 12.5-13.4 mph 10 meters above ground level) could be expected to displace a total of 2.69 million pounds of carbon dioxide, 14,172 pounds of sulfur dioxide and 8,688 pounds of nitrogen oxides.
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A DOE initiative calls for at least 5 percent of U.S. electricity to come from wind power by 2020. North Dakota's proportional share of that benchmark would be about 10,000 megawatts of installed turbine capacity -- a level at which North Dakota's wind industry could displace about 35.8 billion pounds of carbon dioxide, 188.9 million pounds of sulfur dioxide and 115.8 million pounds of nitrogen oxides. Each year.
Hulse, Fargo, is chairman of the Energy Policy Committee of the Dakota Resource Council, a nonprofit environmental organization. The DRC plans to sue the EPA for failing to enforce the Clean Air Act. Hulse e-mail hulse@i29.net
