OPINION|
As I venture down the crunchy hobbit trail, ornate cobwebs slap my face, ruining hours of work by industrious arachnids. I unfold my chair and carefully remove the hitchhiking Spanish Needles stuck in my socks. I wait for her.
The Oracle speaks, channeling a universal field of consciousness like all living things. She won’t reveal how she forms words in my mind, but I suspect it has something to do with those wily fungi—everywhere, meddling in everyone’s business.
The dry trees of August closed the valves on the underside of their leaves to prevent water loss, closing off respiration. This meant they didn’t photosynthesize, which resulted in a state of starvation.
When the rains came in September, soaring temperatures in October became a universal stressor, reminding us that the planet is warming.
Read previous columns from The Oracle.
The Oracle explains the stakes: higher temperatures disrupt eons of partnerships between plants and animals that depend on precise cycles of temperature, nutrients, and sunlight to survive. The sources of food I take for granted are no exception.
She informs me the cost of our energy and food will rise at the same time we increase carbon emissions. I mention a story I saw in the Springfield Daily Citizen: Springfield City Utilities will spend $230 million in ratepayer dollars to build a new natural gas electrical generation plant.
Southwest Power Pool requiring carbon-based generation
We’re told that the transmission authority we partner with, the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), mandates that new generation must be carbon-based. Tragically, in a region abundant with renewable energy sources, this forces us to invest heavily in phased-out practices instead of embracing sustainable alternatives.
City Utilities is instead allotting massive funds (and potentially raising rates) for a facility that burns natural gas amidst surging demands for energy and climate changes that scream for innovation.
The Oracle predicts that the cheap domestic price for natural gas will inevitably rise, further straining our budgets. “Does it really matter how much you pay for a razor?” she asks. “The real cost over time is in the blades.” Similarly, a $230 million capital cost pales in comparison to the pollution produced by the natural gas combustion needed to meet the energy needs of a growing population.
I point out that globally, solar energy is the fastest growing, cheapest, and most reliable form of new energy. Coupled with battery storage, it can meet base load demands reliably. While City Utilities announced 36 megawatts of new batteries, the addition of carbon-emitting generators contradicts their commitment to renewable energy and low rates.
Let’s hope we never use it
As utility bills spike across the country, the best outcome for Springfield would be this: we bought a $230 million mistake but never put it to use. The Oracle, with her wisdom of the elements, knows that linking our utility bills and the future of our region to ongoing global conflicts is a fool’s errand.
I observe her busy with the Fall transition: leaves changing color, turtles burrowing into mud, wild bees finishing their nests before dying, fur coats thickening, and seeds dropping to rest under soil blankets.
“Come again…” she whispers, as she drops a coterie of crimson maple leaves on my path to the warming world above.
