NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Calling it the high price of cheap oil, a panel of experts at the recent public forum, called Gulf Oil Spill: From Crisis to Solutions, talked about the damages from the Deepwater Horizon Spill and the need to find new alternatives to fossil fuel.

One of the speakers was Cynthia Sarthou, executive director of Gulf Restoration Network, based in New Orleans. She spoke about the need for more federal oversight, the catastrophic impact of the spill on both the environment and the economy, and the need for a different energy future.

"We need to diversify our energy sources so that we, slowly but surely, wean ourselves off of our addiction to fossil fuels, which are dirty. They carry health costs, they carry an environmental cost, and they're becoming riskier."

Sarthou warns that, as oil companies are forced to drill deeper, the risk of another major spill increases. Critics argue that, while accidents do happen, they are generally manageable. Oil companies say new technologies are being developed, but perhaps not as quickly during the slow economy, and argue oil expoloration is occuring in deep water in large part because environmental regulations keep it from shallower depths.

Still, Sarthou notes that oil production takes a toll on the health of both people and animals. In states with oil production, she says, the risk of cancer is higher. This oil spill reportedly has already killed or injured more than 1000 birds, 380 sea turtles and 41 dolphins, but Sarthou estimates the number is twice that high.

"Most of the animals, mammals and birds that are affected by the oil will never be found. They sink to the bottom of the ocean or they float at the surface and are never seen."

Sarthou says the full cost of the Deepwater Horizon spill will not be known for years to come, but reducing dependence on fossil fuels could help lower the risk of another spill. Although developing renewable energy technologies is creating new markets around the world, the United States is lagging behind, she adds.

"Places like China have realized that there's an economic opportunity here, and they're taking advantage of that, and if the United States does not soon take that opportunity, we're going to be left behind."

Investing in renewable energy like wind, solar and biofuels would not only reduce the nation's dependence on oil, Sarthou adds, but also would help jump-start the economy and create new jobs.




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New federal funding aims to revolutionize solar energy access within New Mexico's Native American communities and benefit the state overall.

The Environmental Protection Agency's $7 billion "Solar for All" program is designed to create new or expanded low-income solar programs.

Talia Martin, co-executive director of the National Tribal Program for GRID Alternatives, said the funding will help bridge the clean energy gap in Native American communities.

"In New Mexico, tangible impacts would be for household savings," Martin explained. "Which means working directly with the tribes to ensure that the savings are going to individual households as well as to the community as a whole."

According to Martin, the $62 million EPA grant awarded to the GRID Tribal Program is its largest ever. Nationwide, the agency's program is set to help at least 4,700 households in Native American communities. Across the U.S., the EPA said the program will enable more than 900,000 low-income households and disadvantaged communities to benefit from distributed solar energy.

Martin emphasized the program will allow GRID to help bolster solar storage capabilities and implement essential upgrades, while at the same time advancing their mission to support the self-determined efforts of Native American tribes to deploy clean energy on tribal lands, arguing it will be important to recruit contractors who understand the needs of tribal communities they're working with.

"It's an amazing window for Indian Country to be involved in energy development," Martin pointed out. "We want to just help foster all these relationships that it is going to take to do that."

The state of New Mexico also received a grant of $156 million from the program to overcome existing barriers to widespread adoption of distributed solar generation. In addition to the federal money for solar, Array Technologies announced last week it will build a new $50 million solar manufacturing campus near Albuquerque.

A round of public testimony wrapped up this week as part of renewed efforts by a company seeking permit approval in North Dakota for an underground pipeline carrying carbon emissions. Economic benefits were again touted but the plan still has opponents.

Last year, North Dakota's Public Service Commission denied a permit request from Summit Carbon Solutions, which wants to build a maze of pipelines in several Midwestern states. Emissions from ethanol plants would be captured for underground storage in North Dakota.

Skott Skokos, executive director of the Dakota Resource Council, said they remain unconvinced it would be a worthwhile project.

"It felt like déjà vu," Skokos observed. "I don't think Summit did anything to relax the concerns of the public."

Company officials have submitted a new application with a revised route as they try to ease concerns about safety and landowner rights. During comment periods, Summit leaders and other speakers discussed how the project would provide economic boosts, including corn prices. However, skeptics restated their concerns about potential ruptures and lasting negative effects on the landscape.

Skokos pointed out large carbon-capture projects like these have yet to prove themselves, noting smaller initiatives are not as likely to rile up opponents. He pointed to the Red Trail ethanol plant in North Dakota.

"They're storing it, basically, almost on-site, next to the facility and they're not affecting a bunch of landowners in the process," Skokos emphasized.

The Summit regulatory case has two upcoming public hearings in North Dakota, one scheduled for May 24 and the other on June 4. The company has run into similar opposition and permitting headwinds in other states, including South Dakota.

Leaders concerned about pollution and climate change are raising awareness about a ballot measure this fall on whether the state should mandate buffer zones around new oil and gas wells.

Voters will be asked to uphold or revoke Senate Bill 1173, which would require a 3,200-foot setback around any new well near schools, neighborhoods and hospitals.

Meghan Sahli-Wells, former mayor of Culver City and a leader with the group Elected Officials to Protect America, fought to phase out the Inglewood oil field and said no community should be a sacrifice zone.

"A study from Harvard found that in California, 34,000 people died in 2018, prematurely, from fossil fuel air pollution," Sahli-Wells pointed out. "These figures are three times higher than other studies."

The Stop the Energy Shutdown campaign, supported by the California Independent Petroleum Association, opposes the setback rule, arguing it could constrict local supply and cost jobs in the industry. A court put the bill on hold pending the outcome of the November election. A "yes" vote would keep the setbacks. A "no" vote would rescind them.

Clean energy advocates are also speaking out against companies operating older low-producing wells rather than pay to shut them down and seal them up properly.

Ahmad Zahra, a city council member in Fullerton, said Assembly Bill 2716 would incentivize their closure by charging companies $10,000 a day to operate so-called "stripper wells."

"We have over 40,000 oil wells currently sitting orphaned or idle, leaking methane and volatile organic compounds into the air, water and soil," Zahra emphasized.

Other states are following California's lead. Rep. Debbie Sariñana, D-Albuquerque, New Mexico, is sponsoring a bill to require setbacks near sensitive locations since more than 32,000 children in the state attend school within a mile of an oil and gas extraction site.

"Over 80 schools in northwestern New Mexico - the San Juan Basin and southeastern New Mexico, the Permian Basin - are within one mile of an oil and gas well," Sariñana noted. "Some schools are surrounded by dozens and even hundreds of wells within a single mile."