Based on what data do Dianne Holmes and the incumbent Chugach Electric Association board call the proposed goal of 80% renewable energy by 2040 “unrealistic” (Letters to the Editor, May 11)?
The U.S. Energy Information Administration ranks Alaska 48th out of the 50 states for renewable energy consumption as a share of the state’s total. By the same measure, Iowa, South Dakota and Maine are already at 37% to 43% renewable, and Oregon and Washington are at 48% and 50% renewable. Alaska is located on the Pacific Rim of geothermal fire; Cook Inlet has the second-highest tides in the world; and Southeast Alaska is otherwise known as the Saudi Arabia of hydropower. How is it that flatland states like Iowa and South Dakota can achieve these goals, but we can’t?
— David Brailey
Anchorage
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