In the Minot Daily News over the weekend was a remarkable letter from a leader in the North Dakota Democratic-NPL which derided our state’s coal industry. Brad Magnuson, chairman of his party’s Renewable Energy Caucus, says “Long term, coal is not a viable source of energy.” “Short term, until renewables become exclusive in North Dakota, coal is…
Print Column: Xcel’s Coal-Free Plan Is Politics Not Reality
MINOT, N.D. — “Xcel Energy plans to shutter its two remaining coal plants in the Upper Midwest a decade earlier than scheduled — a move that will make the utility coal-free in the region by 2030,” Mary Divine reported for the St. Paul Pioneer Press this week. That’s big news. All the more so because it’s…
Environmental Activists Promote Fake News About Coal Ash
This week a headline about coal ash contaminating groundwater in North Dakota and other states probably caught your attention. And for good reason. Even the most ardent supporter of coal mining and coal-fired energy is no doubt opposed to a byproduct of that process contaminating our water. But one didn’t need to read too far…
Jason Bohrer: Coal Kept the Heat and Lights on During the Polar Vortex
This guest post was submitted by Jason Bohrer, President and CEO of the Lignite Energy Council. During the Polar Vortex 2019, otherwise known in North Dakota as a “cold snap”, it’s a great time to talk about three concepts: reliability, dispatchability and resilience. Reliability is related to the ability of a power source to be…
Trump Replaces Obama’s Ideological Attack on Coal Power With Something More Pragmatic
The Obama administration hated coal power. The former president’s detractors referred to his policy agenda in this policy area as a “war on coal,” and that wasn’t an exaggeration. The so-called Clean Power Plan, among other policies, seemed organized more around an ideological objection to coal energy from coal than any desire for workable regulations…
Air Pollution in North Dakota, an Oil and Coal State, Is Down 25 Percent Over the Last Five Years
To hear some environmental activists put it, you’d think North Dakota were an industrial wasteland where energy industry titans are allowed to pollute the land and air with impunity. Those of us who actually live here can see that lie for what it is with our own eyes. Our state has a proud tradition, stretching…
Jason Bohrer: The Clean Power Plan No Longer Threatens North Dakota’s Economy
Scott Pruitt, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, did a big favor for states like ours that use coal to generate electricity. His recent decision to repeal the Clean Power Plan lifted a massive regulation from our state’s economy, sparing our industries and households the effects from a weakened power grid, higher power prices and the…
Audio: Berkeley Scholar Calls Wind Energy Subsidies “Completely Perverse”
Steven Hayward, a Senior Resident Scholar at Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies, has produced a report for Minnesota’s Center of the American Experiment which finds that power sources like wind and solar aren’t really accomplishing what their supporters say they are. This despite what Hayward described as “completely perverse” subsidies so massive they sometimes allow renewable…
Shortages Are What Happens When the Government Tries to Dictate Outcomes in the Marketplace
The politicians always think they know best. Energy policy is no departure from this simple truth. The politicians use all manner of policy – from tariffs to regulatory red tape to subsidies and mandates – to dictate where we get our power. In Australia, much like here in America, public policy aimed at pushing that…
Stenehjem Joins North Dakota to Group of 13 States Threatening to Sue California Over Coal Divestment Initiative
UPDATE: ND Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread has signed on to a similar effort opposing California’s push. You can read his press release here, and the letter here. In California, Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has begun what he’s calling the Climate Risk Carbon Initiative. Arguing that because of climate change investments in fossil fuel energy production are…