Both Minnesota and Germany have pushed expensive green energy policies, but have they actually accomplished anything besides raising electricity prices?...
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Minnesota has a long history of mining iron ore, which continues to this day. In fact, nearly 75 percent of the iron ore produced in the United States is mined in Minnesota. However, many people may not be aware of the fact that Minnesota has some of the largest undeveloped copper and nickel deposits in the world. These massive deposits hold an estimated 4 billion tons of copper, nickel, and other precious minerals. These minerals are valued at more than $40 billion, according to Antofagasta PLC, a Chilean mining company that is seeking to develop these deposits. Developing these resources will create...
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Minnesotans' electric bills have soared in the last decade, due to aggressive renewable energy mandates forcing a massive build-out of wind generation capacity. Yet no one did a comprehensive analysis of the actual impact of the feel-good policy until American Experiment's ground-breaking report "Energy Policy in Minnesota: The High Cost of Failure." Our report revealed at least $15 billion has been spent on wind turbines and transmission lines, while failing to achieve environmentalists' goal of meaningful CO2 reductions. At the same time, nobody was looking out for consumers with green zealotry trumping ratepayer protection at the Minnesota Department of Commerce and Minnesota...
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Hard to believe that's it's already been about a year since the Dakota Access Pipeline protests petered out next door in North Dakota. Instead of coddling activists who trashed the land like his predecessor, President Trump ordered the US Army Corps of Engineers to expedite DAPL, a $3.8 billion project destined to bring the country to the brink of energy self-sufficiency with Bakken crude. So how's it going? An update in the Bismarck Tribune reveals the pipeline currently runs at an estimated 86 percent capacity with plans to expand shipments on what's called the Bakken Pipeline System. The company that built the...
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The reevaluation of wind energy in the light of its high costs and low benefits in comparison to natural gas in particular continues to spread from state to state. One of the hotbeds of the renewable reappraisal underway is down I-35 in Oklahoma, according to the Christian Science Monitor. First the wind came sweeping down the plain, then the dollars, and now the controversy. With ever more spiky wind turbines cropping up across its open lands, Oklahoma has just become the No. 2 state in the country for wind energy production, the American Wind Energy Association announced Tuesday. That has been a boon...
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Wind turbines at a Freeborn County wind farm were shut down this week, due to safety concerns. A longtime American Experiment source got wind of an incident on Thursday involving a livestock truck that was struck by "ice throw" that may have come from a wind turbine at Bent Tree Wind Farm. I got a call that a semi-truck had been damaged by ice throw from a wind turbine on Highway 13, south of Hartland. Law enforcement was on the scene. The truck was southbound and the ice hit the driver’s side, so I guess that means it had to come from...
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[caption id="attachment_9435" align="alignleft" width="300"] Tom Rukavina, St. Louis Co. Commissioner[/caption] How about Iron County? That's the latest suggested name for the huge swath of St. Louis County that Commissioner Tom Rukavina would like to split off from the rest of the northeastern Minnesota county. It could be a big deal in more ways than one. St. Louis County is not only the largest county in Minnesota, but the largest county east of the Mississippi. But that's not why Rukavina wants a divorce. The split in the DFL family is all about the lack of respect and support for the mining industry the...
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The media finally appears to be picking up on the growing backlash against the proliferation of gigantic wind turbines over huge swaths of farmland. A national AP story just out focuses on the fierce opposition to a proposed wind farm in Freeborn County in southern Minnesota. But when a developer sought to put up dozens more of the 400-foot towers in southern Minnesota, hundreds of people in the heart of wind country didn't celebrate. They fought back, going door-to-door to alert neighbors and circulating petitions to try to kill the project. They packed county board meetings, hired a lawyer and pleaded...
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Minnesotans' power bills keep heading in the wrong direction. As American Experiment's report, Minnesota Energy Policy: The High Cost of Failure, recently revealed, it's no secret why. At least $15 billion in Minnesota has been squandered on wind turbines and transmission lines with little to show for it--except for jacked up utility bills. Green energy mandates have cost state consumers billions without achieving environmentalists' goal of significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Last year for the first time, Minnesotans spent more than the national average on their power bills, wiping out what used to be an 18 to 20 percent price advantage before...
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Solar power farms generally get built in rural areas, due to aesthetic and property value considerations. So Blaine residents were caught off guard last fall when Connexus Energy and city planners hyped a huge solar installation proposed next to their suburban subdivision as “the country’s first certified green neighborhood.” “If the project proceeds, the entire Sanctuary neighborhood will be powered by clean, renewable solar energy. That will be a first!” Connexus Energy Vice President Brian Burandt said in a November 30 letter to residents. “How will this benefit you? Your home will be served by 100 percent green energy for 25...
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