Cooling Minnesota - We've Got Wind!

By Patrick Hamilton, Director of Environmental Sciences and Earth-system Science at the Science Museum of Minnesota

Ahhh, sweet spring. The days lengthen, the air warms, life quickens, and memories of winter quickly fade. But looking back, it wasn't much of a Minnesota winter, which fits a pattern. Fourteen of the last 17 meteorological winters (the months of December, January, and February) have been warmer than normal, and four of the five warmest winters have occurred since 1980.

Minnesota winters can be brutal, so we can excuse ourselves the thought "if this is global warming, then bring it on!" But as our winters wane, when do we decide when a little warming is too much? When they become like those once associated with Des Moines, or St. Louis, or Memphis? And will we reach this consensus before climate change spirals from the subtle to the surreal?

Because of the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as we burn fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas, the lower atmosphere is retaining more heat energy. Atmospheric physics and climatology tells us to expect large changes in climate as a result.

If humans do not stem the growing emissions of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, it is only a matter of time before we set in motion large-scale disruptions in temperature and storm patterns. The longer we wait to address global warming, the more dramatic the climate changes will be and the more costly and difficult will be our efforts to cope with them.

So what do we do in the face of so overarching a problem? How do we fight the temptation to close our eyes to an issue that is so daunting? Well, we take collective action and we implement individual initiatives to reduce the negative impacts.

We have the technologies and the resources to combat global warming. What we lack is the political will to get those technologies in place. For example, contact your legislators and urge them to support a renewable electricity standard that requires all electric companies to get 20 percent of their electricity from clean, renewable sources by 2020. Seventeen other states already have enacted such standards. Minnesota is a national leader on so many social issues; we should exercise our leadership abilities on global warming as well.

As a consumer, you have the option right now to reduce considerably your household's contribution to global warming. You can purchase wind power from Xcel Energy's Windsource program. For an additional $2.00 for every 100 kilowatt-hour block of electrical energy, you can ensure that the equivalent of some or all of the electricity that runs your home or business comes from the wind. An independent auditor in February 2005 certified that the money you contribute to Windsource goes to develop new wind turbines on Minnesota farms, and not to any other purpose. Sign up for Windsource now and help Minnesota reduce its reliance on coal-fired electricity.

As a citizen and as a neighbor, you can get involved in a community-supported solar project. Installing solar photovoltaic systems on the roofs of single family homes is a high hurdle for most homeowners, so increasingly citizens are banding together to pool their financial resources and to volunteer their time to place solar systems on the rooftops of public gathering spaces. The first community-supported solar project was the Sunny Side Solar project at the Old Man River Cafe in West St. Paul. Izzy's Ice Cream in St. Paul has installed a community-supported solar system. And the Linden Hills Coop in Minneapolis now has a project in the works.

Although more expensive than wind energy, solar photovoltaics are the renewable energy technology best suited to urban areas. Wind turbines are difficult to site in dense urban settings, but many city roofs offer excellent solar exposures. Every community-supported solar project begets new ones. Work to bring solar power to your neighborhood and in so doing, help make the Twin Cities the community-supported solar capitol of the U.S.

Inherent in the drive to create more clean, renewable energy is the need to improve considerably the energy efficiency of our society. By reducing consumption, energy efficiency makes it possible for renewable energy to make more significant contributions to our energy mix. The previous owner of our house in St. Paul, for example, used around 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month. Through energy conservation and through the replacement of old appliances with Energy Star-rated energy-efficient ones, we have reduced our household use to about 100 kilowatt-hours a month. Because we invested in efficiency first, we are able to get the equivalent of 100 % of our electricity from Xcel's Windsource program for only $24 a year extra - the cost of two large pizzas.

To date, Minnesota has not seen the political will to fight climate change. Through our investments and actions, we will alter the dynamic on this issue. Contact your elected leaders and let them know that their inattention to global warming is not acceptable. Invest in Windsource, community-supported solar, and energy efficiency, and thereby reinforce your messages about global warming. Thanks for helping to keep Minnesota a cool place to live, this Earth Month and into the future.

Patrick Hamilton (Hamilton@smm.org) is Director of Environmental Sciences and Earth-system Science at the Science Museum of Minnesota and directed the development of the Museum's solar-powered Science House building. J. Drake Hamilton (Hamilton@me3.org) is Science Policy Director for Minnesotans for an Energy-Efficient Economy (www.me3.org) where she advocates for clean energy solutions.