Energy Independence?

Let's be clear about this: our current energy consumption is much too great to allow energy independence to become a reality without significant reductions in energy use. It will take many changes in the way we work, play, and travel before true energy independence will be within reach. That said, there is much we can do to produce more energy right here in our region. Farms and farmers will be a key part of the solution.

Recent fuel price spikes and world events have raised awareness of our reliance on energy sources from outside our region. We're used to having plenty of renewable hydropower, and more and more of our electricity comes from wind power, but gasoline, diesel, and natural gas all come from sources outside of our bio-geographical area. There's great potential to use agriculture to convert solar energy into fuel, but the transition to an energy agriculture will take careful management and good understanding of what can be done and what should be avoided.

The Northwest is virtually unique in the world for our hydropower development. In many ways, our access to hydropower is a byproduct of our agricultural development. Grand Coulee Dam was conceived as a way to provide irrigation water for Washington State, for example. The dams on the Snake River were built to transport agricultural products from as far inland as Lewiston, Idaho, to markets downstream. Hydropower has had obvious environmental impacts, but Washington-grown biofuels can actually prevent some serious environmental impacts from happening.