Doubling Down on Clean Energy

On a day when the Denver Post was reporting:

Estimates that Xcel Energy will cut off utilities for some 47,000 delinquent Colorado customers is an indicator of tough economic times and a harbinger of trouble to come.

We hope the distressing uptick in disconnections — which are expected to rise by 84 percent over 2005 — also are a call to action for those in a position to help struggling residents.

And was also reporting that:

But it doesn't mean the state is unaffected. In May of this year, the unemployment rate in Colorado was 4.9 percent, up from 3.7 percent a year earlier, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And Colorado's Office of State Planning and Budgeting predicts escalating consumer prices in the state through 2009. Economist Tucker Hart Adams said she doesn't see housing construction and sales reviving in the state until perhaps 2010.

Not to mention:

For the average customer, Xcel electric bills have increased nearly 28 percent since February, according to company spokesman Tom Henley. Gas bills have gone up 11 percent in the same time frame.

On a day when the Gazette was reporting:

Not only do Colorado Springs' residents face an 18.6 percent bump in water rates in September, but Colorado Springs Utilities also proposes to increase the typical residential utility bill by another 18 percent on April 1.

On a day when CBS News was reporting that 70% of Americans now favor more domestic drilling but Pelosi won't let the issue come to the floor of the house.

Al Gore, ever the dreamer, wants electricity to increase in cost by a factor of ten times within ten years and believes that Americans are ready to make that sacrifice:

The former vice-president credited with rejuvenating America's environmental movement today issued a challenge to its people: End the use of fossil fuels for electricity within 10 years.

But nuclear power has no place in the Al Gore nightmare:

To meet his 10-year goal, Gore said nuclear energy output would continue at current levels while the U.S. dramatically increases its use of solar, wind, geothermal and clean coal energy.

Al Gore is playing a losing hand but he is doubling down.  People don't want to pay so much for "clean" energy that they can't afford anything else in life.

One wonders where Mark Udall comes down in this new environment.  Is he willing to see hundreds of thousands of Colorado residents unable to afford their electricity?  The longer that this problem persists, the more obviously out of touch his policies will seem.

Comments

[Allen]

"Al Gore, ever the dreamer, wants electricity to increase in cost by a factor of ten times within ten years and believes that Americans are ready to make that sacrifice:"

Funny how Al Gore doesn't just go ahead and make these sacrifices himself.