The newsletter highlights relevant analysis done by the JLF and other think tanks as well as items in the news.
1. More on the high cost of wind
The UK’s Daily Mail is reporting on a study from Edinburgh University which claims that the British government’s plans to expand wind power in that country will "cost consumers 120 billion pounds by 2020 through higher bills…almost ten times more than the 13 billion pounds it would cost to generate the same amount of electricity from efficient gas-fired power stations," And what is generating this massively wasteful use of resources, as is the case in the United States, its government subsidies. According to the Mail "A wind turbine generating 150,000 pounds of electricity a year is eligible for ‘monstrous subsidies’ of 250,000 pounds a year."
The Mail article also notes that, according to Professor Gordon Hughes, the study’s author, the program "will — at best — reduce [CO2] emissions by 2.8 per cent. He said the figure is so low because any investment in wind farms will have to be backed up with the building of gas turbine power stations to ensure the lights stay on when there is no wind."
2. Greensboro to "go green" on Fed’s dime (well actually $0.75 million)
The city of Greensboro is about enjoy a cool $750 thousand wealth transfer from taxpayers around the country via the Environmental Protection Agency. The grant will be coming through an EPA program called "Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities." According to the EPA,
Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities seeks to provide quick, targeted technical assistance to communities using a variety of tools that have demonstrated results and widespread application. This technical assistance will help selected local and/or tribal governments to implement development approaches that protect the environment, improve public health, create jobs, expand economic opportunity, and improve overall quality of life. The purpose of delivering these tools is to stimulate a discussion about growth and development, strengthen local capacity to implement sustainable communities approaches, and provide ideas on how to change local policies and procedures to make communities more economically and environmentally sustainable.
What does all of the this mean in terms of clearly defined goals and real benefits to real human beings associated with those goals? Well your guess is as good as mine. The one thing that is for sure, when it comes to "sustainable growth," "sustainable development," "sustainable communities," or sustainable whatever, is that its advocates both inside and outside of government do not want to be pinned down to such mundane considerations as clear, meaningful, and operational definitions, where actual costs and benefits to human welfare can be measured.
This author and the JLF have been looking at the issue sustainability for a number of years. Our analysis can be found here andhere.
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