OPINION:
South Dakota just broke ground on the largest economic investment in our state’s history a new biofuels facility that will work with farmers to turn corn into jet fuel. It’s an incredible accomplishment and it didn’t require any government mandates. It’s just old-fashioned American innovation.
In other states, government mandates are leading to far different results. Last month, California announced that they will ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035. Within days of the announcement, they also asked residents to conserve energy, turn up the temperature in their homes, and you guessed it not charge their electric vehicles.
California’s energy crisis is the latest in a long line of energy failures by politicians who think they know better than the free market. On his first day in office, President Biden killed the Keystone XL pipeline here in America, a pipeline that would have flowed through my home state of South Dakota. In doing so, Biden limited American oil and gas production, and when the expected gas shortage materialized, he begged countries that hate us to produce more oil.
We need an all-of-the-above approach to American energy that allows the free market to innovate, that doesn’t pick winners and losers, and that keeps the lights on for the American people.
South Dakota has embraced this all-of-the-above approach. We don’t pick winners and losers. We recognize our diverse energy resources and make full use of them. In fact, most of the state’s electricity is generated by renewable fuels, and it didn’t take any government mandates to make that happen.
South Dakota’s energy supply includes hydropower from the mighty Missouri River, natural gas, wind, solar, nuclear, and coal. All of these combine to keep our homes heated during our cold winters. As we continue to lead the nation in economic strength, those pistons all help the engine of our electrical grid run.
Fossil fuels have to be part of that equation. Renewables cannot replace the consistent dependability of oil, natural gas, and coal. In South Dakota, it’s hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and it’s a long way to drive anywhere. Our people need dependable energy. They need fuel at the pump, and they need to know that the lights will turn on when they flip the switch.
Our nation cannot make the same mistakes that we are seeing take place in California. We cannot force our people to switch to so-called “green” energy before dependable replacements are in place. And it shouldn’t be up to government to dictate when or how that replacement happens. The free market is still the best method of deciding what works and what doesn’t. We are proving that in South Dakota.
Unfortunately, some companies are now falling for the leftist propaganda of the “Green New Deal” and forcing this shift before it is possible or practical. They’re doing this under the name of “Environmental Social Governance.” They’re making our finance sector “go woke,” and in the process, they’re forgetting the fundamentals of our American economy.
Keep this in mind: everything in your local stores had to be grown, mined, or harvested. Farmers, ranchers, miners, lumberjacks, and workers perform these vital basic functions. And they need reliable and affordable energy to accomplish these crucial jobs. Leftist governmental regulations and woke finance restrictions will make the backbone of our economy less reliable. And the consequence will be higher prices for consumers on top of already sky-high inflation.
To be clear, the transition to more renewable energy can and will occur. It’s happening in South Dakota. But it isn’t happening because of leftist propaganda or government mandates, and we aren’t abandoning the reliability of fossil fuels in the process. And there are other emerging solutions like hydrogen, molten salt reactors, small scale nuclear, geothermal, and other improving technologies that will help support an all-of-the-above energy model.
Our nation’s leaders need to follow South Dakota’s example, not California’s. We need to remember that our American energy supply is strongest when it is diversified. We need to put America’s energy needs first.
• Governor Kristi Noem is the 33rd Governor of South Dakota and the first female Governor of the Mount Rushmore State.
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