My hat is off to Georgia Power following its recent announcement to significantly boost the amount of solar-generated electricity it distributes to customers, 10 times the amount it currently buys and sells.
Given what we’ve seen this year with corn-killing drought and record-setting temperatures, any efforts to shift toward clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions is extremely welcome. Georgia could benefit from reduced air pollution, since there are about 10,000 hospitalizations for asthma yearly at a cost of more than $130 million. Less soot and other irritants from coal-fired power plants would help asthma sufferers – especially our kids – breathe easier and cut down on trips to the emergency room.
Failure to curtail carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases could also cost Georgia dearly in the future from the effects of climate change:
• Sea-level rise will inundate Georgia’s coastal communities as storm surges become increasingly destructive, causing billions of dollars in property damage (good-bye, Jekyll Island vacations).
• Hotter temperatures and prolonged droughts will damage the agricultural industry.
• Remember the $500 million of flood damage in metro Atlanta from September 2009 when 10 inches of rain fell in less than two days? Expect more of that.
So, what will it take to avoid such a grim scenario? Simply put, we have to stop burning things that make the Earth warmer. That’s why getting more electricity from solar energy is important. But as ambitious and laudable as Georgia Power’s solar plan is, it will still account for only 2 percent of the utility’s electrical output.
We can do much better. An Arizona State University study ranked Georgia third in potential to generate solar energy.
What’s holding us back? Georgia Power is justifiably concerned that producing more than 2 percent of its electricity from solar energy will mean having to boost rates for consumers. I share that concern. Georgia families shouldn’t bear the economic burden of our conversion to clean energy. Compared to coal – where Georgia Power derives most of its generating capacity – solar power is more expensive. Rates will have to increase to make the switch.
But the only reason coal is cheaper than solar is because the hidden costs of its use – health, effects of climate change – are not included in its price. Conservative economist Art Laffer, adviser to President Reagan, makes the case that the federal government should tax the things we want less of – carbon pollution – and cut taxes on the things we want more of – income.
A consumer-friendly carbon tax, with revenue returned to the public, would allow Georgia Power to significantly increase its clean-energy portfolio without sticking customers with the bill. Consumers would have the additional income, either through tax cuts or direct payments, to cover the increased costs of clean energy.
With Georgia’s potential to produce energy from the sun, a price signal on carbon would spur job creation in the solar sector and speed the state’s economic recovery.
