So Long and Thanks for All the Oil

North Dakota is blessed with a wide variety of natural resources: wind, oil, the Missouri River, fertile land for crops and livestock, and, most importantly, people.

A great tragedy of the past few decades has been our state’s government focus on the oil and minerals below the surface of the state instead of on the people living above them.

Our education system, for example, continues to produce highly intelligent, hardworking people from elementary school through college despite consistent, nonsensical under-funding.

Even our renewable energy industry, which has seen many positive legislative actions fail in favor of more development in the oil industry, still trucks along.

One recently completed wind energy site in Langdon, N.D., will bring in more than $250,000 in revenue yearly for the local school district alone, according to a recent study by the North Dakota State University Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics.

The outlook looks positive, as long as we change a few things.

The focus on coal and oil energy has moved North Dakota for a long time and their positive impact can be felt everywhere. Though we’re not quite at Alaskan levels of oil revenue, we’re doing very well.

The most important question, however, remains unanswered: what happens when the oil and coal is gone? When those resources are no longer available or too expensive to dig for, what then?

Those jobs and that money will leave our state high and dry unless we make sure we develop other forms of industry.
We don’t want to be left behind for twenty years while neighboring states snap up the tools, technology, and most importantly, the people necessary to create a strong renewable energy industry.

The future of our state could very well depend on the development of alternative energy sources. At the very least, new energy projects, such as the one in Langdon, can have demonstrably positive impacts, especially in rural areas of our state.

The 2009 Legislative Assembly will meet in a few short months. Hopefully, unlike the previous sessions, progress-minded politicians will pass legislation supporting our state’s growing renewable energy industry and the jobs, money, and technology that go with it.

There is definite movement on the horizon. In the current gubernatorial race, for example, Governor John Hoeven wants to produce 1,500 megawatts of wind power electricity while his Democratic-NPL challenger Tim Mathern is pushing for 15,000.

Win or lose, it’s fantastic to see a North Dakota politician challenging the entrenched “drill, drill, drill” mindset.

Competitive Edge

One major advantage North Dakota has going into the energy race is our state’s large budget surplus.

Unfortunately, some of the surplus can be attributed to the aforementioned under-funding of North Dakota schools.

Property taxes, which are not controlled at the state level, are generally high in North Dakota compared to income and sales taxes because local districts have to find money to pay teachers somewhere.

Speaking of paying teachers, North Dakota paid teachers less than nearly every other state in the country eight years ago and they’re still near the bottom now.

One major goal of the next legislative assembly should be to rectify this, not by locking away the surplus in some kind of “rainy day fund,” but by responsibly investing in our state’s education system and energy development.

Without a good education system, North Dakota’s most important asset--its people--will no longer be so.

We have a wonderful opportunity with the surplus. We just have to have the courage to invest it in our future.