This is not only a blog for treehuggers. I don’t intend to write about why you should choose paper over plastic at the grocery store. Instead, I will analyze hard news stories on the energy industry, specifically the various forms of alternative energy sources.
Illinois is home to many of the largest and most influential companies in the industry, including Exelon Corp., which is headquartered right here in Chicago and has the nation’s largest fleet of nuclear reactors. This will be key after NRG Energy Inc. filed the first application for a new nuclear reactor in the U.S. in almost three decades, reviving the country’s stagnant nuclear activity. Then last week, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it will guarantee up to 80 percent of the total construction cost for new nuclear reactors.
Illinois also is the second largest producer of corn and a leader in ethonal production. Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Illinois 6th District, successfully passed an amendment on the House of Representatives floor advancing the development of alternative energy, which he says could save taxpayers millions of dollars. The amendment was added to H.R. 547, the Advanced Fuels Infrastructure Research and Development Act. The legislation passed the House 400-3. The last action on the bill took place in February when it was referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. But, as a recent New York Times op-ed piece states the economic demand for ethanol is not quite as rosy as political fodder makes it seem.
Speaking of political fodder . . . With a presidential election campaign well underway, the volatile energy industry is sure to be on every candidates’ platform. At the top of that agenda is global warming. This week United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon held a special debate on the topic and in Washington the Bush administration gathered the 15 largest economies to discuss ways to tackle climate change.
And of course, there is the oil industry, which has forced millions of Americans to dig deeper and deeper into their pockets as gasoline prices soared above $3 a gallon. Unfortunately, recent reports say consumers should not expect to stop digging anytime soon. The Wall Street Journal today published an article on the decline in local oil storage, saying the market’s concern that fuel storage could hit and all-time low by year’s end drove prices to a record high of nearly $84 a barrel last month. On Friday, oil closed just below the high at $81.22 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 33% this year.
