The countryside of my home state of Iowa looks a lot like that of my adopted state of Delaware – flat and fertile fields of corn and soybeans.
On the political map, however, Iowa is red and Delaware is blue. The governor of Iowa and all of its senators and representatives are Republicans; Delaware’s are all Democrats.
Which state, then, would you guess, works hardest to reduce the use of fossil fuels?
Delaware leans on them to generate 93% of its electricity. That figure was at or near worst in the nation in 2021. In Iowa, the figure was 42.5% (it needs to be mentioned here that Iowa gets 33% of its electricity from coal, the worst pollutant; Delaware, at 7%, does much better).
What about renewables? Delaware realizes 5% of its electricity from solar; Iowa, 9.2%
Delaware gets a pathetic 0.1% of its energy from wind. Thousands of wind turbines grow out of the Iowa soil, generating 42% of its electricity – tops in the nation.
In Delaware, there are few if any functioning turbines on land, and none offshore. All of our East Coast neighbors have developed procurement protocols for leasing offshore wind farms – North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Some are already issuing leases. Delaware has done neither of these things.
In no way do these numbers incline me to depart Delaware for good old Iowa. They do make me wonder, however, why the Delaware General Assembly keeps sitting on its hands.
Delaware has to depend on the rest of the world to radically reduce fossil fuel consumption to keep the oceans – now hotter than ever and growing hotter at an alarming rate – from destroying our beautiful beaches.
Shouldn’t Delaware be taking a more active role in this?
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