Washington residents seem conflicted about energy, AWB President Don Brunell writes in his weekly column. On the one hand, they want more clean energy and narrowly approved Initiative 937, which requires utilities to buy more renewables.
But I-937 does not count hydropower - a clean, renewable and affordable source of 70 percent of our electricty - and it severely restricts where utilities can buy wind, solar and biomass energy.
Likewise, while we claim to support development of clean fossil fuel technology even as we block its development, Brunell writes.
"Sometimes I think Americans are Dorothy looking for the Wizard of Oz. We are traipsing down the yellow brick road in search of a simple solution to our energy problems. In reality, there is no Wizard and there are no magical ways to avoid tradeoffs. The simple fact is we have become an increasingly energy dependent world."
