S ince the first cases of COVID-19 — a respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus — were reported in the United States in January, American life has been turned upside down by an event few will ever forget. The coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019, has spread to every continent except Antarctica and has claimed over 42,000 lives worldwide, with European countries like Italy and Spain being hit especially hard. After spreading to all 50 states and infecting over 200,000 nationwide, the American economy has come to a screeching halt. Schools like the University of Michigan have moved classes online, non-essential businesses have closed and stay-at- home orders have been issued for more than half of the states as well as Washington, D.C. As the fallout from the COVID- 19 crisis continues to deepen, a dark feeling of anxiety has taken hold across the country, with some saying the pandemic’s impact is worse than the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Beyond the medical and economic implications of this crisis for the nation, the coronavirus also has broad political implications for leaders who will be judged by their response to the illness, which the World Health Organization has declared a global pandemic. In particular, President Donald Trump is under incessant pressure to respond to the coronavirus as his re-election bid — which is being increasingly complicated by the crisis — looms this November. Many Americans — especially those who are opposed to the president’s policy agenda — may see this pandemic, which coincides with a presidential election year, as an insurmountable obstacle for Trump. But I would disagree. While many think that the infection will kill off Trump’s political career once and for all, the crisis is actually an opportunity for the President to showcase himself as a strong, capable leader for the American public. And he’s already doing just that. Since the crisis first began to rattle American society, Trump has used his executive power to protect Americans every step of the way. In the direction of qualified experts, the president first banned travel into the U.S. from China, which medical professionals like Dr. Anthony Fauci credit as a major step toward slowing the spread of COVID-19 into our borders. Later, as the pandemic ramped up outside China, the president moved to prohibit travel from Europe as well, another critical step that likely spared America from the worst the coronavirus had to offer. Beside cutting off travel from some of the worst-off areas across the globe, Trump has delivered the information and resources the American people need to overcome this illness. In a coordinated, bipartisan effort, the president helped organize a historic two trillion dollar economic stimulus bill that passed the Senate unanimously. The economic aid package promises to give individuals and married couples, along with small businesses and hospitals, the funds they need in order to survive these trying times. In addition, with many experts fearing that America may become the next epicenter of the pandemic, Trump has taken dramatic steps to fully utilize the resources of the federal government to combat the coronavirus. Along with working to increase the availability of testing for COVID-19, Trump took the responsible step of invoking the Defense Production Act to increase the supply of key medical products and secure the help of hospital ships to combat the virus. Moreover, the president implemented “Coronavirus Guidelines for America,” an effort that has made Americans aware of important steps they can take to “flatten the curve.” Finally, the president assembled the White House Coronavirus Task Force, a group of experts, including Vice President Mike Pence, who work around the clock to contain COVID-19 and offer key information to the press and public. I n order to encourage exponential growth of renewable energy in the coming years, the United States must significantly invest in the infrastructure of our energy grids. Renewable energy faces two main problems: the inherent unreliability of natural forces and the cheap competition of fossil fuels. However, increasing interconnection between regional energy grids addresses these two central problems of reliability and cost-effectiveness by creating a market for the transfer of energy between states. Connecting our energy grids will allow the U.S. to boost the security of the green energy supply and integrate more renewable energy into the market. During extreme weather conditions, states need to be able to rely on their neighbors to import the electricity they need. Yet without proper infrastructure, it is impossible to buy and sell electricity across borders. Interconnection of our regional energy grids is essential for the security of green energy supply and thus for the growth of green energy. The main challenge of renewable energy is its inherent unreliability, but a green energy market would bypass the requisite of sustainability: vast energy storage. Solar energy in California, for example, falls far below the necessary energy demands in the winter months. Yet in the summer months, California often has to discard their excess solar power. The state’s fleet of solar farms frequently generates more electricity than Californians use during the middle of the day, and without sufficient energy storage infrastructure, this excess electricity is simply thrown away. Expensive storage methods such as batteries or hydroelectric energy storage are technologically possible, but extremely expensive and thus carry little political traction in California. A cheaper alternative is the development of a more interconnected regional power grid, allowing neighboring states to buy and sell energy as necessary. So in summer months when California has too much solar energy, the state can sell excess electricity instead of curtailing it. Meanwhile in the winter when there isn’t enough solar energy production, the state can import other types of green energy such as wind energy from Wyoming or New Mexico. In this way, a proposed energy market could solve our energy storage problem by bypassing the problem of storage almost entirely. Instead of requiring each green energy producer to invest in expensive energy storage on top of green energy costs, states can just buy and sell as needed. A larger, more interconnected power grid would mean each state doesn’t have to worry about diversifying their individual energy portfolio for energy stability, but can still benefit from green energy diversity in the region at large when necessary. In the European Union, for example, Denmark already produces excess wind energy, but instead of throwing it away, they sell it to their neighbors like Norway. Norway then stores that energy and can sell the electricity to other neighbors when demand is high. Interconnection like this creates more diverse sources of energy, where different regions can benefit from their respective advantages in climate and geographical features. In this energy market, Denmark doesn’t have to plan for a day when the wind doesn’t blow by turning to fossil fuels or building other types of green infrastructure. Instead, Denmark can focus on what is most efficient for them. And, Norway doesn’t have to heavily invest in energy production when it is more cost-effective for them to invest in energy storage and import energy from Denmark. Each state can focus on their own geographic or climate niche and maximize their individual efficiency. In doing so, exporters of green energy can make a profit, and importers can import cheaper green energy. Take a step back, and the European continent as a whole system will see a decrease in green energy prices and an increase in the overall usage of green energy. While increased interconnection of regional power grids has the potential to make green energy more competitive, the fossil fuel industry could also capitalize and benefit from cheaper energy exchange. However, the energy market in the U.S., and the rest of the world, is undeniably trending towards green energy, and opening up the market will only steepen that trend over time. An energy market will always favor the cheapest and best option, and even though coal might still be competitive now, an open energy market will work to increase the rate so that the market phases out fossil fuels eventually. Instead of outlawing coal or fossil fuels, we can realistically build infrastructure in our power grids to incentivize green energy through the market. Discussion of renewable energy faces many technological and economic hurdles, but we can begin to address them right now by investing in infrastructure. Renewable energy’s inherent unreliability can effectively be addressed with the interconnection of power grids — we don’t need to wait for a miracle battery. A bigger, more liquid and transparent market would enable easier integration of renewables such as wind and solar, and help meet the country’s renewable energy and climate goals at the least cost. It would allow California solar energy to be exported rather than discarded, and enable access to a greater variety of excellent resources, such as wind energy in Wyoming. We need to invest in interconnection now to incentivize renewable energy in the future. 4 — Thursday, April 2, 2020 Opinion The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Alanna Berger Zack Blumberg Brittany Bowman Emily Considine Jess D’Agostino Jenny Gurung Cheryn Hong Krystal Hur Ethan Kessler Zoe Phillips Mary Rolfes Michael Russo Timothy Spurlin Miles Stephenson Joel Weiner Erin White ERIN WHITE Managing Editor Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. ELIZABETH LAWRENCE Editor in Chief EMILY CONSIDINE AND MILES STEPHENSON Editorial Page Editors Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of The Daily’s Editorial Board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS REID DIAMOND | COLUMN The challenge of renewable energy Trump will emerge from the pandemic stronger than ever EVAN STERN | COLUMN Evan Stern can be reached at erstern@umich.edu. Read more at MichiganDaily.com CASEY RHEAULT | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT CRHEAULT@UMICH.EDU An energy market will always favor the cheapest and best option. Reid Diamond can be reached at reiddiam@umich.edu. CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and op-eds. Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550 to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.