Energy
The economics of wind. The role of coal in the energy economies of the U.S. and Illinois. Whether and how to support emerging technologies to burn coal more cleanly. The environmental costs of mining and consuming coal for power generation. Whether and how to effect a transition to renewables and away from fossil fuels. How to make public transit a viable alternative and conservation through efficiency a widespread private habit.
Today's readers will recognize these as very current issues—as they also were in the 1970s and early 1980s when I started writing about energy. The nation was then being in hock, in effect, to the oil sheiks, and when they shut off imports in 1973 it caused a shock that the U.S. would not feel again until 9-11, when Saudis led a different kind of attack on America.
The panic then was how to achieve energy independence. The panic today is about how to avoid rendering the planet inhospitable to humans because of the heedless combustion of fossil fuels. But while the ends of policy have shifted, the means are mind-numbingly familiar. Everything that had to be explained, over and over, in the 1970s has to be explained again 30 years later. No one learned. Not much changed, and even what did change didn't change for the right reasons.
Which means, perhaps, that these pieces will strike younger readers today as fresh and relevant. I hope so.
Note: The City of Springfield owns its own power generation facility, a legacy of the public power socialists of the 1920s, so energy is a matter of local policy in Springfield. That made it an appropriate subject for Illinois Times columns, links to which appear below.
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The Battles Over the Ground and Behind the Doors
Healing damaged farmland in Illinois
Illinois Issues January 1985
The (Energetic) Ambition of Frank Beal
The thinking bureaucrat's sort of bureaucrat
Illinois Issues April 1980
Transportation and the Government's Uneven Hand
State intervention in the transportation marketplace
Illinois Issues October 1981
Illinois coal series (six parts)
Illinois Issues July-December 1979
The UMW Battlefield Moves Beyond the Coal Field
A feature article about one of Illinois labor's lost causes
Illinois Issues April 1980
On converting Illinois corn to motor fuel
Illinois Issues January 1981
Mined Land Reclamation: Ends and Means
Healing damaged farmland in Illinois
Illinois Issues December 1984
The dilemmas of public power on a warming planet
“Dyspepsiana” Illinois Times July 27, 2017
Springfield City Water, Light & Power
The newest energy crop from Illinois fields
“Dyspepsiana” Illinois Times January 21, 2010
It’s Not the Heat But the Stupidity
Our summer cooling technologies remain unevolved
“Dyspepsiana” Illinois Times July 29, 2010
Mayor Davlin wants to make Springfield the No. 1 green city
“Dyspepsiana” Illinois Times September 16, 2010
Can CWLP be managed for the people’s benefit?
“Dyspepsiana” Illinois Times December 20, 2012
Will CWLP not have to clean up its act?
“Dyspepsiana” Illinois Times October 5, 2017
‘Great Refrigerator Roundup’ Is a Bad Bargain
City Water, Light & Power’s efficiency rebates are inefficient
“Dyspepsiana” Illinois Times October 8, 2009
Trading coal today for corn forever
“Prejudices” Illinois Times January 18, 1980
Illinois institutions try to keep the heat in
“Prejudices” Illinois Times January 12, 1984
“A Little More Dirt in Your Lungs”
An Illinois governor preaches pollution
Illinois Times August 3, 1979
In which the author’s energy dreams do not come true
“Prejudices” Illinois Times May 30, 1980
Just the facts, ma’am: Illinois and acid rain
“Prejudices” Illinois Times December 3, 1987
Harvesting Electricity
The newest energy crop from Illinois fields
"Dyspepsiana" Illinois Times January. 21, 2010
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Not all gas emitted by CWLP comes out its chimneys
“Prejudices” Illinois Times October 20, 1983
