Renewable Energy vs fossil fuels.

There are a couple of good reasons to use renewable energy rather than fossil fuels.  I do not even plan on mentioning Climate Change.  This is all about money.

Even though gas and oil prices dropped over the last 2 years, solar and wind sources are growing. Recent solar and wind auctions in Mexico and Morocco ended with winning bids from companies that promised to produce electricity at the cheapest rate, from any source, anywhere in the world, said Michael Liebreich, chairman of the advisory board for Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).  Clean energy investment is now outpacing gas and coal 2 to 1.

According to the Bloomberg web site the profitability of oil has dropped.  Many wells have become insolvent.

Coal is being phased out all over the world. This chart from Bloomberg shows that developed countries are using coal less and less and in developing countries, demand is lessening. This will become more true as time goes on.

The second item is the danger of pipelines and the cost of cleanup.  As of October of last year there were over 220 major pipeline leaks. That is 220 major leaks in 2016! The Santa Barbara spill cost taxpayers $62 million dollars.  This is supposed to be paid by the polluter, but this generally takes years and lawyer costs to litigate.

If there were a leak in the Mackinaw Strait it could cost over a billion dollars and in best case be  $426 million. This is stated by the Republican Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette

Also, instead of subsidizing oil companies, we could subsidize the insulation and sealing of homes and buildings.  This would drop the total energy needs and add jobs.  Jobs we need in Minnesota and across the country.

There is also the problem of train safety. If you are interested in what this costs us see http://earthjustice.org/features/map-crude-by-rail

Well, this is about the all time I should spend on an article.  I hope I gave you some valuable information.

John