To whom thi s may concern ,
My name is Isaac Orr, and I would like to express my enthusias m and sincere des ire to be appo inted to
th e Gove rn or' s Advi sory Coun cil on Climate Change beca use our leaders need input from all perspec ti ves
ir th ey are go in g to make the best poss ib le dec isi ons on energy policy . I know my perso nal and
profess ional ex peri ence on energy iss ues will enh ance th e abil ity of th e Adviso ry Cou ncil to fi nd
so luti ons th at optimi ze th e qu ality of li fe fo r all Minnesotans.
I grew up on a small dairy fa rm in rura l Wisconsin . In fac t, th e ho use we li ved in was the same ho use my
grand fa ther was born in, in 1930. Man y of the challenges we faced in rura l Wi sconsin are simil ar the
challenges fac ing rura l Minn esotans. I therefore believe my life experi ences and backg round in
ag ri cul ture wi ll help ful fi ll the co uncil's desire to hear th e vo ices rura l res idents. who wo ul d be
di spro porti onately harmed by ri sing energy costs.
Profess ional ly, I have ·pec ialized in researching and wri ting about energy an d enviro nmental pol icy for
th e last seven yea rs. in cluding ex tensive resea rch on minin g, hydrauli c frac turin g, electricity genera tio n,
and agr icultu ra l iss ues .
For the las t two yea rs. I have wo rked as a Poli cy Fe llow at Center of the Ameri ca n Expe ri me nt. My lates t
stu dy, Doubling Down on Fa ilure. How a 50 Percent hy 203 0 Rene wahll! Enagy 5ita nda rd Would Cost
Minnesow $80.2 Billion. won th e Bob Williams Awa rd for Most Influent ial Resea rch. Thi s research.
whi ch used conserva ti ve ass umpti ons, concluded th at a grid powered by 50 percent wind and so lar wo ul d
rai se electricit y prices 40 percent in Minnesota . harmin g all Minnesotans, es pec ially low- incom e fa mi lies
and seni or citize ns. In cont rast, a grid powered by nuclea r power wou ld provide ca rb on-free elec tri city at
much lower cost. whi le also being more reliable th an intermittent sources of energy.
My time at Ameri can Experiment has also been hands on, and prac ti ca l. I have had disc ussions with th e
CEO's of Minnesota uti lity compani es, worked with re ource planners at these compa ni es, and written
mo re tha n 200 arti cles on th e energy ind ustry in Minn esota.
My vo ice may, at times, be a di ssenting one. However, this should be viewed as an asset, no t a liabi lity.
Th e chec ks and bala nces prov ided by oppos ing view poi nts are needed to ensure th at we are not allow ing
our inherent intellec tu al biases to cloud our vision. In the end , we all share the sa me goa l of mo ving our
state fo rwa rd .
Fo r this reaso n, I beli eve it is cru cially import ant for th e Co uncil to hav e a prac ti ca l, free-market-ori ented
vo ice. I doubt yo u will fi nd a more qu ali fi ed app licant than me.
Thank you for yo ur considerati on,
Isaac 1 Orr