Idaho's Legislature has been handed the most intellectually and politically challenging opportunity in recent history—a thoughtful new peer-produced report urging a broadening of industrial and consumer energy sources to reduce reli-ance on narrow choices for supplies.
The study by the Idaho Legislative Council Interim Committee on Energy, Environment and Technology also con-cludes that increasing the mix of recyclable fuels to meet exploding energy de-mands will reap environmental benefits.
In implementing the study's findings, lawmakers face obstacles in overcoming political cronyism with corporations that dominate Idaho's energy supplies.
Numbers tell the story. Hydroelectric power provides 48 percent of the state's energy, while coal-generated power from outside the state provides 42 percent; 8 percent comes from natural gas and 1.4 percent from distant nuclear operations. A paltry 1 percent comes from non-hydro renewables.
Put simply, the very mention of reducing dependence on traditional energy sources likely will stir up a hornet's nest of corporate lobbyists.
Courageous legislators, however, will see beyond arm-twisting. Developing clean new energy sources—geothermal, wind and solar—would create jobs, spread out energy generation and make it less vulnerable to overload blackouts or sabotage.
The legislative study notes that conven-tional sources face production limitations—new regulations for hydro dams to protect salmon and coal-powered plants targeted for new restrictions because of pollution.
In an example that should inspire legis-lators, the small city of Sun Valley has become a signatory to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, aligning itself with other communities pledged to reduce energy consumption and pollution. Idaho's sunlight, untapped geothermal steam power and vast open spaces with unrelenting winds offer unmistakable new energy opportunities.
All that's needed is a portfolio of state policies and incentives to power up the entrepreneurial spirit of visionary indus-tries.
