So You Want Wind Turbines But Don’t Want Copper Mines?
Windmills require copper, and lots of it....
Continue readingWindmills require copper, and lots of it....
Continue readingThe Minnesota Conservative Energy Forum may use conservative-sounding language and have pictures of Ronald Reagan on their website, but their policy recommendations are not at all conservative....
Continue readingMinnesota was the sixth-largest producer of metals and minerals in the United States in 2017, but where did it used to rank?...
Continue readingAmerican Experiment's newest staff member, energy and environment expert Isaac Orr, has hit the ground running. In a column in the Duluth News Tribune, Orr refutes irresponsibly misleading and dated claims made by former Vice President Walter Mondale on the environmental impact of copper mining. As our state moves toward responsible mining of some of the richest mineral deposits in the world, it's critical for Minnesotans to have accurate information to inform the decision-making process. Orr's response can also be read here. In a commentary in the News Tribune, former Vice President Walter Mondale cited poll numbers indicating a vast majority of...
Continue readingYou may have heard that hydraulic fracturing, also known as "fracking," has made the United States the largest producer of oil and natural as in the world, but you may be wondering: "How does fracking affect the environment?"...
Continue readingRemember when the United States was seemingly about to run out of oil? In 2006, then-President George W. Bush declared the United States was "addicted to oil," and the impending shortcoming in oil supplies meant the U.S. must "break this addiction." Fast-forward 12 years and American oil producers are about to produce more oil than they ever have before. ...
Continue readingElectricity sales in 2017 were essentially the same as in 2006, despite the fact that the U.S. population has grown by about 9 percent since then, growing from 298.5 million people in 2006, to 325.7 million in 2017....
Continue readingMinnesota is the 8th-largest sand producing state in the country, find out why it isn't higher on the list....
Continue readingThis meme is a perfect analogy for what happens to our electricity system when intermittent renewable sources of electricity are added to the grid. Let me explain:...
Continue readingThere are an estimated 6,200 jobs in renewable energy in Minnesota. But these have come at the cost of higher energy prices for Minnesota's consumers. If they had that extra money to spend on other things, they would have generated 8,700 jobs elsewhere. When we consider the benefits of renewable energy in terms of jobs, we also have to consider the costs in terms of the jobs lost to generate them. ...
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