It seems that Montana is in trouble.
Her glaciers are melting into oblivion; apocalyptic forest fires ravage her vast forests every summer; bark beetles threaten to eviscerate her natural forest ecosystems (the result of a more hospitable, warmer climate for these critters) and agricultural output is faltering due to prolonged drought conditions. As for the rest of the nation, the Tufts community and the world at large, energy reform is an increasingly pressing issue in Montana.
While it is difficult to find feasible, creative and effective ways to address such a complex issue, with the help of its trusty governor, Brian Schweitzer, Montana is rising admirably to the challenge.
Namely, nestled between two dramatic mountain ranges lies the Judith Gap Wind Farm in central Montana — a visual, technological and energy−production wonder. With over 90 turbines, this single wind farm produces over 135 megawatts, enough to power a small city and equivalent in production output to a large coal−fired power plant.
But most importantly, this solar farm is located in Montana — a state that contains vast coal and petroleum reserves, and a state frequently associated with the dirtier, more environmentally destructive forms of energy. For smaller, less resource−rich states, it is easy to write off states like Montana — saying that it is not in our economic interest to pursue progressive policies, but regardless of this preconception, the state is witnessing an energy revolution that stands as a remarkable testament to the evolution of energy production in the United States.
The Tufts Energy Conference, organized and administered by the Institute for Global Leadership’s Tufts Energy Forum, will be delving into this precise universe of topics during its annual conference on April 16 and 17. The keynote speaker, Michael T. Eckhart, founding president of the American Council on Renewable Energy, in addition to a wide array of expert panelists and speakers, will flesh out the complex realities of energy in the United States in the 21st century.
Specifically, the conference will focus upon such things as evolving fossil fuels, green energy, urban design and a number of practical economic concerns — all in an attempt to characterize the long history of energy evolution in the United States, and in an effort to answer many pressing questions brought up by this evolution.
Montana is slowly embracing the challenges of the green movement and hammering out the kinks inherent in any evolutionary process. Under Governor Schweitzer, Montana has been gradually decoupling the state’s electric utility monopolies, making alternative, greener options more feasible. Early deregulation efforts to move away from the inefficient steam turbine that have historically been the primary source of the state’s electricity has sparked a state−wide wave of technological innovation.
This concept of distributed generation — the process of decentralizing and diffusing energy production into local communities — pioneered to a large extent in Montana, has been a boon not only to the environment but also influential in preserving reasonable energy costs in a time of great uncertainty.
Another initiative that Schweitzer has undertaken involves creating incentives for renewable energy, in the form of a rebate, on an individual level. While a two−kilowatt−hour photovoltaic cell normally runs for $9,000, these rebates, in addition to the Obama administration’s national energy program, work toward making such investments feasible for average Americans.
In addition to rebates, the U.S. Department of Energy has also taken steps to foster the creation of “green−collar” jobs through a number of tax incentives aimed at rewarding individuals, small businesses and even corporate America for their green efficiency−minded consciousness. Moreover, the administration has provided some $500 million for “green−collar” training programs that endeavor to promote such things as home weatherization and the installment of renewable resources in a distributed generation spirit.
While as native Montanans we are a bit biased and profuse in our Montana−promoting rhetoric, we believe that issues such as Montana’s changing energy policies are objectively important to us as global citizens. For ecosystems the world over, Montana is not only the proverbial canary in the coal mine of environmental integrity, but an excellent example of how change can be affected on the energy front to alter our destructive ways.
The key to changing the gluttonous, selfish attitudes most Americans have adopted toward energy consumption is education. As intellectually curious students, we should engage with experts and professionals in energy industries as well as politicians to fully embrace the economic and moral future of this nation — we can halt the deterioration of our environment and rout our nation’s current economic woes.
As citizens of a state battered by environmental perils, citizens of Tufts and of the United States, we urge you to attend the Tufts Energy Conference to further your engagement with our generation’s most important issue.
