Wind Power in Nebraska

photography by - e http://www.erineppenbaugh.tumblr.com

“I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”  - Jimmy Dean, country singer and sausage king.

If you've lived in Nebraska for more than say three minutes, it doesn't come as a surprise that the state holds vast potential for wind power.  In fact, depending on who you believe, Nebraska ranks either 4th (according to Senator Ben Nelson) or 6th (Official Nebraska Website) in states with Wind Power potential.  Which is great, but the problem is we currently rank 24th in the nation for wind power production.  So we've got to play a little catch-up.

It's hard to say where wind power will go in the future, but I've been nearly blown away numerous times when I shop at the Target store on Sorensen Parkway in Omaha.  It's not difficult for me to envision a scenario where that wind power is tapped and at a minimum used to power that massive shopping complex.  And the cool thing is that they can sell any excess power back to the grid to be used elsewhere.  If we ever did get a national grid off of the ground, Nebraska would be buying wind power from other states if we don't start producing our own at higher levels.

At this time in Nebraska, we are far from tapping our wind power potential.  It's about as bad as losing to Texas again and again really.  To create power in Nebraska, we currently use a mix that primarily includes coal at 64.9%, nuclear at 25.7%, and renewables coming in at third with 7.2%, with estimates that wind power makes up 1% of the total mix.  Anyone who has made the trip from Omaha to Lincoln or vice versa has probably seen those two windmills just off of the interstate as you enter/leave Lincoln- well, they generate enough power to supply power to 350 households every year.  So not a massive amount, but consider that is only two windmills in a state that has room for thousands and thousands.  With the 167 windmills we do have currently, "The average annual output could power about 91,500 homes (link)".  So we could basically power the population of Memorial Stadium on a Husker Saturday through the use of wind power.  
 

Another benefit to wind power is that you can still farm the land used for windmills- I'd like to see you try to do that at a nuclear site.  In many cases, the land owner will get a stipend for the use of his space (similar to an easement for a cell phone tower), so it's extra income to our farmers as well- and likely a heck of a lot better then ethanol subsidies, which is a topic for another day.  One of the sacred cows for politicians is the American farmer, so this would be a way to put a little meat behind their typical lip service.

One of the arguments against wind power is that it's not particularly cheap to build a wind farm at this time, with the thought that nuclear power is a cheaper option.  But this ignores that nuclear is a heavily subsidized industry and is hardly self-sufficient- they can't even insure one without the government stepping in to cover things.  We actually pay at least three times for a nuclear power plant- through our electric bills, through the bonds that pay for the plant, and through government subsidies.

The only drawback to wind power is that birds can and do get massacred in these things, which is very unfortunate and I don't really see a way around it.  But otherwise if a windmill falls, nobody cares- we're all seeing first-hand what happens when a nuclear plant goes under.  I'm not necessarily anti-nuclear on every level, but it's clear that their safeness has been greatly overstated and we can't afford to rely on it much more then we do now.  As far as coal, it's arguably our most dangerous pollutant, and if you hear a politician talk about "clean coal" rest assured you are being sold a bill of goods.

In doing research on wind power and power in general- especially coming on the heels of this awful tragedy in Japan- a few things become clear.  Number one, and not too get too preachy, but we as a people use too much power.  The first step we need to take is to cut our power use.  I know I've waged thermostat battles with my wife but it's a necessary step to reducing our footprint not to mention the expense on my wallet.  The insane thing is that appliances are becoming more and more efficient- for example, a refrigerator built 25 years ago often uses 75% more power then one built today- yet our personal usage continues to go up.  Part of this is due to our obsession with gadgets, and another part of this is because we're lazy- lights are left on, TVs are still running, the computer stays on all day.  Couple that with the use of wind power as well as solar, we can change the face of our state and country.

I did not factor in the side benefit a refrigerator provides as a nuclear bomb shelter.

Before looking into this article, I was unaware that the fridge is the second biggest user of power in the household, just behind the air conditioner (which granted is typically only in heavy use for four or so months a year).  When I read that, I promptly turned up the settings in our house- I can't say I've ever had a problem with things not staying cool so there's not really a point to keeping things as cold as I did.

I know this has been a preachy little article, but wind power to me is fascinating and is something that we as a state need to start investing in as soon as possible.   

Repealing the Death Penalty in Nebraska

A bill sponsored by former Omaha mayoral candidate and current State Senator Brenda Council made it out of committee the other day. LB 276 would repeal Nebraska’s death penalty, which would be replaced with a life sentence without the possibility of parole. This is a bill I want to throw my full support behind, which will consist of this blog post and probably another post when this bill comes up for vote in the legislature some time next year (truly my influence knows no bounds). I’m not going to cover every argument for and against the death penalty, but as this is a blog about Omaha I thought I would remind everyone of a case involving a local man that demonstrates one of the major problems with the death penalty. That man is the ignominious David Kofoed.

For those who don’t know the story of David Kofoed let me fill you in. Kofoed is a former Douglas County Crime Lab Manager. He was convicted for evidence tampering in a case that nearly sent two men, Matthew Livers and Nicholas Sampson, to prison for a double homicide. Kofoed took it upon himself to plant blood evidence in a car linked to one of the suspects. With that evidence along with a false confession by Livers (something that happens more than we would like to believe), the two suspects according to Special Prosecutor Mock of the case against Kofoed, “may very well be on death row right now.” Let’s focus on that for a second. Without the subsequent finding of exculpatory evidence, these two perfectly innocent men could be on death row right now, and death penalty advocates would not object to them paying the ultimate price for a crime they in fact did not commit. That happened right here in Nebraska. It would be naïve to think this is the one and only time something like this has ever happened. Law enforcement officers are under pressure to produce results in their investigations and under that pressure they are capable of making mistakes and unfortunately some investigators even decide to cross ethical boundaries in pursuit of those results.

Our criminal justice system is not perfect and in fact it is not expected to be. In criminal cases guilt only has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. It is understood and accepted that rarely can a case against a defendant be made with absolute certainty. The difference between life without parole and the death penalty is that if exculpatory evidence is discovered, then that mistaken conviction can be rectified in the case where a defendant was sent to life without parole, not so if that person was put to death. In the unfortunate event that exculpatory evidence never comes to light, at least that innocent suspect will have been able to live out the remainder of his or her life, even if not in ideal conditions, and at least innocent blood won’t be on our hands.