Just ran across a really cool tool on National Public Radio’s website called Visualizing the Grid. It’s a map application that shows an incredible amount of data: what our current electric grid looks like, where existing power plants are located, and which regions of the country have the most solar and wind potential.
The Pacific Northwest is full of places that would be ideal for harnessing energy from the sun and strong breezes. As well, our corner of the country has the most hydro electric plants, which don’t produce climate pollution (though dams still have a detrimental environmental impact).
Hydro provides an average of seventy percent of the Pacific Northwest’s power, with Idaho relying upon it the most, Oregon the least, and Washington in between. Montana, unfortunately, relies upon coal for a whopping sixty four percent of its energy. (That’s nothing compared to Wyoming, which is at 95%). Alaska depends primary on natural gas, which burns much more cleanly than oil or coal.