Ice storms routinely knock out electric power on American Indian reservations often resulting in lost lives and the inevitable cyber attacks on the US will take down the grid for days, even months causing food shortages and mayhem.
Black Hills State University was recognized nationally for its sustainability achievements as it was included on the annual listing of “Cool Schools.” BHSU is the only South Dakota school included in the listing. Each ranking includes stats from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s (AASHE) STARS system, a self-reporting framework for colleges to measure their sustainability performance, and Sierra Club Cool School Points awarded. STARS stands for Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System. [Sierra Club includes BHSU in ‘Cool Schools 2018’ listing]Utilities are not your friends.
South Dakota suffers the highest breast cancer rates in America due in large part to emissions from coal-fired electricity generating plants in Montana and Wyoming. The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission is staffed by Republicans so they're pushovers for rate increases by companies who bankroll the elections to the posts they hold. Xcel Energy enjoyed a 4 percent rate hike from the South Dakota Public Utility Cartel (SDPUC) but reduced its request in Colorado. Commissioner Kristie Fiegen herself is circling the drain wracked with cancer caused by Attorney General Marty Jackley's partisanship and conflicts of interest.
No corporate taxes, a compliant regulator and cheap labor make South Dakota the perfect dumping ground for earth killers like coal. Jackley got campaign cash from NWE last cycle; so did a bunch of other South Dakota Republicans. In 2014, Xcel gave $10,000 to Mike Rounds, $2,500 to John Thune and $4,250 to Kristi Noem. In 2016 Black Hills Corp. gave Thune and Noem wads of cash, too. Basin Electric doled out $270,000 in 2016 alone. Oil and gas found Mike Rounds' zerk, too. Noem has received $5,500 from electric utilities so far in the 2018 election cycle.
If South Dakota had a Democratic attorney general she might be compelled to sue Montana and Wyoming for the toxic legacy created by Colstrip, Basin Electric and Black Hills Energy.
The cost of subsidizing, manufacturing, transporting, erecting and maintaining just one wind farm turbine bat and bird killer would take a thousand subscribers to energy self-reliance. Microgrid technologies are destined to enhance tribal sovereignty, free communities from electric monopolies and net-metering only gives control back to utilities enabled by moral hazard.
Leaving the grid has never been easier so anyone who can afford to it should do it now and with Trump still in the White House it's never been more urgent.
1 comment:
Black Hills State University is the only school in the chemical toilet to make the list. "Of all the categories, BHSU achieved its highest ranking in the waste category, reflecting the university’s commitment to waste reduction and recycling. BHSU recycles over 50 tons of material every year." BHSU named a “Cool School” by Sierra magazine
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