John Neville
By John Neville, contributing Sedona Times guest writer – Thanks to the wonderful work by Arizona Republic reporter Shaun McKinnon, many people do know that pumping water around this desert state uses enormous amounts of energy. The fact that the Central Arizona Project (CAP) is the single largest user of electricity in Arizona should not be a claim to fame. It should be a somewhat shameful confession.
The source of most of the electricity used by the CAP is the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station. Yes, that is the same plant that adds to the brown haze that sometimes obscures the views across the Grand Canyon. In addition, the plant uses 28,000 acre feet or 9,124,108,000 gallons of water each year. That’s more water than is used by a city of 165,000 people.
This same power station contributes tons of hazardous and global warming pollution to our atmosphere every year. So the fact that the EPA is seeking to improve the control systems on the power plant is a good thing for the health of everyone in the Southwest.
Now, despite the outrageous amount of energy needed by the CAP, the people of Arizona still pay some of the lowest prices for water in the country. According to a study by the Austin Water Utility, people living in the desert of Phoenix pay far less for water than people in Portland, Oregon, for example…where it has been known to rain quite a bit.
So, imagine my surprise when I read that the head of the CAP Board of Directors and a few others want Arizonans to try to discourage the EPA from their effort to reduce air pollution in order to keep the cost of water artificially low. I am still trying to understand the rationale for this request. Is it more important to maintain an outdated and wasteful means for transporting water across the desert or to try to protect human health and reduce our contributions to climate change?
Here, in Arizona, we are finally moving to reduce our dependence on polluting fossil fuels. The Arizona Corporation Commission and the utilities are encouraging conservation and the use of clean renewable energy sources.
We are doing this for two primary reasons. First, the use of fossil fuels is costly in terms of the damage their use causes to human health and the natural environment. In this particular situation, the very power plants that generate the electricity to move the water to Phoenix and Tucson contribute to the climate change that seriously threatens our water resources.
Over the past five years, the average temperatures in Arizona have risen 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit. That temperature rise is impacting the snow falls in Northern Arizona. The shorter, drier winters are reducing the flows to the rivers and aquifers from which we draw our water. So, it is very much in the interest of all water utilities, including the CAP, to do whatever is necessary to eliminate the use of polluting coal-fired plants as their energy suppliers.
Second, conservation and renewable energy make economic sense. The costs of fossil fuels will continue to rise, while their use in energy production generates little real benefit to our economy. Meanwhile, the sun falling on one half of Maricopa County on any given day is enough to provide electricity to the entire USA. Yet we remain years behind other regions in the adoption of solar technologies; this despite the fact that Arizona has more days of sun than almost anywhere else.
If large energy users, such as the CAP, demanded that all of their energy come from clean, renewable resources, that would lead to a dramatic expansion solar, geothermal, wind and other beneficial energy sources. It would also lead to more green collar jobs in the state and help create a lasting economic recovery.
So, it would be prudent for CAP water customers and everyone in Arizona to send comments to the EPA about their proposed emission controls. It would also be good to contact our representatives in Washington, DC about the cap-and-trade legislation. They need to hear from us how important it is to reduce toxic and global warming pollution in all of our power plants. They need to understand that coal-fired power plants threaten our water resources. They need to know that we want a green economy with local, clean energy generation.
Meanwhile, if a rise in water rates by a few cents a gallon is a concern, try a little conservation. If every CAP customer reduced their water use to below 100 gallons per person per day, think of how much energy and money the CAP would save.
Navajo Generating Stations uses more than 9 billion gallons of water and emits nearly 20 million tons of greenhouse and toxic pollution each year to pump Colorado River water to central and southern Arizona.
John Neville is president of Sustainable Arizona and on the board of the Sustainable Economic Development Initiative for Coconino County.
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This green eye radical view of the world is brought to you by a complete utopia nutcase.
He wants a perfect world according to his view of it.
What other private property owners want is not respected by Neviell.
The reason no one does what he suggests IS it costs too much to make the world perfect and balanced the way he wants.
He’s kooky and UN balanced. You should not invite him to your meeting. He might hurt someone he’s so unstable.
Mr. Neville seems to have a forum with VVT. I find his lack of facts and insight on Global Warming to be appalling not only to those who actually understand the cycle that the earth naturally goes through, and has been going through long before us puny humans came into the picture but to anyone who has actually studied the history of this planet. The earth warms; it cools, and does so all by itself thank you very much. One volcano belch puts more “undesirable” natural pollutants into the air than 500 coal fired plants do in a year. Nature is always in balance, and takes care of it. More and more fraud is uncovered every day by “Climate Change” alarmists. And when you “follow the money”, you usually will find out that if these “experts” were not sounding the “man made” climate change alarm, their funding would dry up. Not to mention the scientists who now speak the truth when their funding HAS dried up. Mr. Neville just likes to rant. I read his article, wait, not “his” article, but a strewn together set of “facts” copied from the “Union of Concerned Scientists”.
I saw no alternative suggestions from Mr. Neville. I saw no mention that China is turning on a coal plant a week. Not to mention what India is doing. I was curious about this “Union”. Not much substance at their web site either, just what they don’t like. Let’s go “green”. Whatever that means. They don’t like Nukes, they do not even talk about renewable nuclear energy with 50 year half life waste (not 50,000 yrs – yes, there is such a thing), they downplay the technology. We would probably have more breeder reactors right now if that energy wizard Jimmy Carter hadn’t killed the research that would reconstitute spent nuclear fuel because it was “too expensive”. Yes, we do have a 2 CENTURY supply of fuel in “waste” sitting around today that can be reconstituted. During the centuries when dinosaurs roamed the earth CO2 was 2 ½ to 3 times higher than it is today. Hey Mr. Neville – PLANTS LOVE CO2! Makes them grow, increases production, AND – as a bonus, gives us oxygen to breath. Mother Earth does a pretty good balancing act.
We see a little less ice in the Arctic, but a big increase in the Antarctic. Sorry, inconvenient truth, too bad we have satellites now that monitor this stuff; you just can’t spout your man made garbage anymore. Too many people looking over your shoulder with FACTS.
This country is in enough trouble. We have a President that says go nukes, let’s drill off shore, go after oil shale, and use our OWN resources (by the way, Mother Earth is STILL making oil). Then stops every effort to follow through with his “promises” after he gets elected. Thanks Mr. Salazar, Obama’s boy. The US can build coal gasification plants to use our energy that we have in abundance. We can drill in ANWR in the marsh tundra, and not bother the wildlife, and build a 75 mile pipeline to connect with the existing pipeline to bring oil to our citizens. Arnold could drill offshore and solve California’s money crisis. We could be drilling off of Florida instead of watching China slant drill in international waters into our reserves. God forbid we would have an administration with an energy policy. In fact, I can’t remember an administration recently that has had ANY energy policy.
The United States is the most powerful country on the planet. And our economic and military engine aids in backing up the rest of the world. You don’t make others equal by tearing us down. That is idiotic and we have a fistful in the nation’s capital it this time. This country is what it is because of three reasons: 1) We are Free, 2) We are governed by the rule of law, and 3) we have ALWAYS had CHEAP and PLENTIFUL energy.
Mr. Neville, you just don’t get it. Guys like you will take this country down a couple of notches, and the next time there is a tsunami on the other side of the planet, or an earthquake, you can call in the Swedish, or the Norwegians, or the German navy to pull the weight to save the folks. Because our greatness will have been diminished by people like you.
Been in need of this type of info for quite a while now and finally found it here. Very good stuff you have got here, finally someone who gets it.
Tell the Sedona City Council you do not want smart meters in Sedona. Call APS and get on the smart meter opt out list. Google stop smart meters and get educated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=fvwp&v=9WeDtQ7sXHU