“Platitudes are being thrown around in the debate about how to slow down consumption of fossil fuels,” said Jeffrey Ball, the environmental columnist for The Wall Street Journal who recently spent three days on campus. “Our greatest challenge,” he told students, “is to transform the way we produce energy, but even renewable energy production has costs and brings its own set of problems. And it’s not just a technology problem — it’s a social and political problem.”
For example, to significantly increase renewable energy, solar panels and wind turbines would have to be installed in a vast industrial manner, using massive areas of land and creating a “not in my backyard” backlash. In Oregon and Washington, many who put their faith in wind power are opposed by others who say turbines will spoil views in the Columbia River Gorge.
Answers are complex, often pitting environmentalist against environmentalist. Some who believe hydropower offers a partial solution are opposed by those who say dams will hurt fish populations and recreational opportunities.
“There is no silver bullet,” Ball said, “but finding answers is your job as students. You are in college to ask hard questions. Don’t trust everything you hear. Challenge assumptions, and press for real answers.”
“There is only one sure-fire way to begin to address the problem,” he said. “Live life in a way that reduces your energy use. Tiny steps implemented broadly will have a huge impact.”
Ball writes The Journal’s Power Shift column, a biweekly chronicle of the changing energy and environmental landscape. He is also a host of ECOnomics, The Journal’s annual conference on energy and the environment, and helped create Environmental Capital, the paper’s daily blog on the subject. He has appeared on numerous television and radio networks, including PBS, NPR, CNN and the BBC.
Ball’s visit was sponsored by the President’s Office and the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows Program.
To read Ball’s Power Shift column, visit http://online.wsj.com/community/groups/power-shift-447/topics