AS AN economic geologist, I support solar and
wind power and believe they are in the overwhelming public interest. That might seem surprising coming from a guy who also strongly supports coal and the oil and gas industry, but it should not be.
Thanks to technological advances, the cost of solar and wind for electricity production has dropped dramatically, and it is continuing to fall. This zero-carbon power offers the potential to supply enormous amounts of clean energy from a diverse portfolio of generators.
But as we attempt to ramp up renewable power, the warning signs of crippling reliability problems are everywhere. A sustained effort to greatly expand the nationâs wind and solar generation to meet ambitious clean energy goals could leave the nation woefully short of generating capacity, especially during periods of extreme weather like those being experienced in large parts of the West.