Williams College students, faculty, and community members gathered for the first Log Lunch of the spring semester to hear from Jeff Thaler, a Williams graduate from the class of ‘74. Thaler wears many hats in the world of environmental law and policy—both figuratively and literally, as he sported a green windfarm baseball cap during his talk. Based in Portland, ME, he is currently an attorney with Preti Flaherty’s Energy law group, where he advocates for large-scale clean energy projects (such as the largest floating offshore wind project) and a transmission line to connect a proposed onshore wind project to the New England grid. Thaler also served as a Professor of Practice at the University of Maine School of Law.
Upon returning to Log Lunch for the first time since 2011, Thaler noted how the title of his talk and the mission of his career haven’t in fact changed in the 12 years since his first Log Lunch; this is to say that there is still major progress to be made in the movement for sustainability and the battle against climate change. A big part of this fight for Thaler is understanding the consequences and tradeoffs of transitioning to renewable energy resources. He emphasized the necessary consideration of a resource’s full life-span and impacts, from its production through its use and emission. For example, while we might consider wind turbines to be a “renewable” energy source, there is a great deal of steel required to construct each turbine, which must be mined, which then requires an extraction process involving the emission of carbon dioxide. The same goes for solar panels and even electric vehicles, which require special minerals accessed through mining practices that, in addition to having a carbon footprint, typically involve ethical concerns surrounding the exploitation of labor. There are even such minerals in the device that you are reading this article on!
Ultimately, Thaler highlighted that even if we successfully transition away from relying upon fossil fuel combustion for energy—which, he stressed, we must work together to more rapidly achieve–there are still a multitude of consequences and tradeoffs with renewables. But, as Thaler said, the tradeoff impacts of renewables pales in comparison with the huge negative impacts on public health, wildlife, and the environment from the continued over-reliance on fossil fuels. As Thaler emphasized, when it comes down to it, real progress is achieved when decisions are made within communities to implement new technologies with the full knowledge of their consequences. The difficult but essential details of this transition, such as where new transmission lines will be built and how minerals will be accessed to achieve our energy goals, are the areas where, as Thaler put it, “the rubber hits the road.” Thaler rounded out his talk with a piece of advice for his audience: as we work against the clock in the push for a more sustainable world, maintaining a life-long sense of urgency will help us greatly in the long run; the hardest work is yet to come, and a relentless desire to answer the hard questions will continue to serve as the backbone of the environmental movement.
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