As the population steadily increases and the price of non-renewable energy countinuse to yo-yo, searching for newer more cost effective altenatives to energy has become a hot topic on all the news sources. Global warming was once considered a word that drew more speculation rather than consideration, although now it appears in the papers daily. This counrty is slowly transitioning from centralized macropower fed power plants to more decentralized micropower systems in which electrcity is produced by a larger number of dispersed and local energy sources. Embedded within the fate of non-renwable resources lies millions of jobs and families. Towns and cities that rely on these industries to fuel the local economy. Coal-burning power plants are the number one emitter of CO2 in this country. Entrenched in this industry are the thousnads of miners who risk losing their jobs in the future. How can an effective transition to an environmentally concious economy take place in a small rural midwestern town? The industry will be facing a slow phazeing out, especially if the Supreme Court rules that carbon dioxide is considered a pollutant under the Clean Air Act.
So what can we do for the miners? Trying to find ways to re-train thousands of workers can prove to be expensive and takes a long time leavin many still left unemployed. Among other renewable energies, Ethanol has become a popular solution for easing the dependence on oil. In the midwest ethanol sold for $1.27 a gallon making its vehicle fuel, ethohol, competitive with gasoline. Is there potential for employment through this kind of industry? This is a potential solution for people such as miners and other refinery workers to transition into. Especially if there is help through tax breaks and government subsidies for alternative energies such as ethanol. A study by the Rand Corp. was issued in November which stated that the if cost of alternative forms of energy continue to fall, by 2005, about 25 percent of energy produce in the U.S. can be from non-renewable sources without any additional cost to the overall economy. It'll be interesting to see what happens over the next two years.
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