Wyoming doesn’t need another warning that we can no longer rely on the fossil fuel industry to propel our economy and pay the lion’s share of our government services. We’ve seen for years growth in renewables like wind and solar. Coal plants are retiring in favor of cleaner sources of energy. The market is responding to climate change with innovation that will reduce our country’s dependence on carbon-based fuels to power our cars, our homes and our industries.
Earlier this month, we saw yet another sign of the change that is coming, regardless of whether our state is ready to acknowledge it. A federal judge in Wyoming ruled the Biden administration could postpone new oil and gas leasing until it completes an evaluation of the sales’ impact on the environment, including on the climate. That decision follows two separate court rulings that restricted new federal coal leasing pending further environmental review.
There will be an impulse now among some in Wyoming to respond with new pledges to fight the federal government, environmental groups and others. Cynical voices will suggest that simply defeating President Joe Biden at the ballot box in two years and restoring Republican control in Congress will solve our problems. But while a political change might provide a short-term boost to the fossil fuel industry, the reality is the market has already spoken. And its words aren’t likely to change anytime soon.
That’s not to say we should dismiss oil and gas or even coal. The latter will continue to supply power for years, the former, for decades. But the long-term trends are real. Viewing this as a fight we can win through recalcitrance will rob Wyoming of an opportunity to transition to a more stable future. Resistance is not a substantive response. Fear is not a strategy.
And climate change is real. The same politicians that told you that it didn’t exist 15 years back told you 10 years ago that it wasn’t human-caused. Now they are telling you that it does exist and is human caused, but we shouldn’t move too fast in addressing it. But the reality is Wyoming, as the nation’s least populated state, doesn’t have the power to dictate the speed at which our nation and the world respond to a warming planet. We can simply adapt and innovate or be left behind.
So, what does that look like in practice? It means focusing on real innovation rather than a rear-guard struggle. That means being open to Wyoming as a place for wind and solar to flourish, as well as nuclear projects like the one being proposed in Kemmerer. Yes, Wyoming is working on innovation in energy, but usually in the context of fossil fuels like coal. We can continue in those efforts, but must be willing to listen to ideas that occur outside that paradigm. That includes innovation outside the energy sector. Forward thinking should be a byproduct of every division of the University of Wyoming and the state’s system of community colleges.
What we can’t keep doing is looking back. Former Gov. Matt Mead was noted for saying that it didn’t matter what he thought of climate change. What mattered was what the market thought. The market and the courts are speaking loudly and clearly. The question now is: Will anyone here listen?
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