Democracy is about representation and cooperation, not partisanship, writes Kris O'Daniel. Had the founders gone down the path of extreme partisanship that we are on today, there would not have been a new nation. (Getty Images)

Despite my 28 years in the United States, my Danish roots continue to shape my perspective, and the claim that the U.S. is the greatest democracy in the world often leaves me with a sense of disbelief — a disbelief that resonates in many corners of the world.

The alarmingly low voter turnout, with little over half of the registered citizens participating in general elections and less than a fifth in primaries, is a stark indicator that our democracy is in crisis. The influence of hundreds of millions of corporate and dark money dollars in campaign ads strongly suggests that money is more important than voters. The United States has many wonderful things, but extreme partisanship makes the U.S. look dysfunctional.?

Unlike countries we like for comparison, the U.S. electoral system has stayed frozen in time and not embraced a democracy that represents both majority and minority voters. “Winner takes all.”

The word “democracy” is mentioned in neither the Declaration of Independence (1776) nor the Constitution (1789). Most will agree that the Founding Fathers’ focus was to protect the new colonies from the British monarchs, “tyrants and other majorities,” and the many poor and uneducated people. It was designed to further the case of individual rights for liberty, not democracy. That was similar to other European nations in those revolutionary times. They, too, feared “the unchecked people’s power.” Democracies were in their infancy.?

The journey to democracy in the United States starkly contrasts with that of European nations. While they, too, emerged from costly wars to gain independence from monarchies and secular powers, they gradually realized the importance and value of all people in strengthening the welfare of the nations, above all through diverse representation.??

In Denmark, indentured servants were freed in 1815. The constitution of 1849 bestowed voting rights, but only for people of status and farmland owners. There, too, was a fear of the uneducated majority; education of the rural population through “high schools” made the “cooperative movement” successful. Denmark is a dynamic democracy — around 85% of Danes vote. Compromises among coalition governments, growing Industries and unions power it. Trust is built, which is critical to Danes’ happiness.?

Constitutional amendments in the U.S. have been approved, but always at a very high cost. Most importantly, slavery was abolished in1865; women got the right to vote in 1920, and Black people in 1965. But we have continued a poisoning system that amputates the power of the vote and democracy itself.?

The political redistricting of congressional districts that maps out each state with the sole purpose of securing a safe majority makes voting pointless for the minority as it will have no representation. That does not stimulate voting. It also discourages the much-needed healthy competition and injection of new candidates. Adding representation of minority groups is democracy; the House would truly become the House of Representatives.??

Members of the U.S. House today “represent” 761,000 people on average versus 469,000 people ?50 years ago thanks to a “hard ceiling” of 435 representatives. The two Senate seats per state today leave residents of large states extremely underrepresented compared to thos e in small states. Today, the 10 smallest states have 3% of the population, but their 20 senators control 20% of the voting power in the Senate. The Electoral College’s construction further amplifies the imbalance of representation since each state’s electors are the sum of congressional districts plus two Senate seats. The Electoral College supersedes the national majority, allowing the losing side to win presidential elections.?

Democracy is about representation and cooperation, not partisanship; we owe that to our forefathers. Had they let themselves go down the path of extreme partisanship that we are on today, there would not have been a new nation. We cannot now call ourselves the greatest democracy in the world.. Some ask, “Are we heading for another civil war, or can we make civil peace?”?

East Kentucky Power Cooperative, which distributes electricity to 16 cooperatives, plans to add solar installations generating 757 megawatts of power and expand transmission infrastructure. (Getty Images)

East Kentucky Power Cooperative powers the lives of 1.1 million Kentuckians through 16 cooperative members. The energy source is coal and natural gas.?

Power travels through 2,800 miles of high-voltage transmission lines from Maysville and Somerset to reach 370 substations and 560,000 members. EKPC highlights its commitment to environmental stewardship with electricity generated at the 60 acres of Solar Farm One in Winchester, powering 1,000 homes.

In the February issue of “Kentucky Living,” the president and CEO of East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Tony Campbell, talks about his six letters to President Biden, stressing “the life-or-death consequences of the U.S. prematurely shutting down traditional power plants while allocating hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to incentivize unreliable alternatives.” (By traditional he means those that burn fossil fuels.)

He elaborates on what he calls “the renewables dilemma.” Renewable energy can’t work because it only works when the weather cooperates,?which he says is unlike fossil fuels that give you the the power you need when you push the button. Mr. Campbell also complains that there is a lack of natural gas lines to transmit gas following the conversion of coal plants.

What Mr. Campbell describes are an antiquated energy infrastructure and a fossil-fuel dilemma.?

For decades, utility companies continued to fund the expansion of fossil fuels over sustainable energy and resilient infrastructure. As a result, today’s situation is impeding future economic growth opportunities, which could make the U.S. less competitive in a world where sustainable performance is becoming a solid competitive parameter. That’s a dilemma.

When renewable energy is discussed, the focus tends to be on generation, but it should simultaneously be on transmission and interconnection.?

The lack of congressional collaboration and unity on upgrading the power infrastructure over some 30 years has prevented U.S. investors from executing long-term investment projects to update the transmission and regional power grid.?

Above all, the power grid was built for fossil fuels. Renewable energy works differently. You generate in multiple geographic locations to provide diverse sourcing options where there’s wind, sunshine, or hydro activity. Resilience is built by integrating the transmission system and expanding connections between regions and price zones. Distributed energy, like rooftop solar and solar merchant farms, contributes to resilience.?

So what does “the world’s most sustainable electric utility” look like??

That’s the title of the “Corporate Knights’ Global 100 Index” granted to the Danish utility Orsted, formerly Danish Oil and Natural Gas. In 2012 fossil fuel and natural gas were traded to invest in windmills and solar. Presently renewables cover 88% of all generation, primarily offshore wind supplemented with solar and sustainably produced biomass. Orsted generates and transmits electricity to more than 11 million homes from Norway to Southern Germany and the UK. Orsted is also the world’s largest windmill developer, with several projects in the U.S. Renewables overall in Denmark constitute 70% of electricity.?

The key to success was continuing investments in long-distance transmission, interconnections between regions and countries, and variable energy resources to offset weather patterns and varying power needs. All power lines and 25% of high-voltage transmission lines are underground. Surplus is used to produce hydrogen directly from windmills.?

In Kentucky, the East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s “grid resiliency strategy” is about “readiness for disasters and restoring operations quickly.” It doesn’t go beyond a commitment to “replacing wood poles with steel posts in hard-to-reach areas“ and providing 10% energy from renewables by 2030 and 15% by 2035.?

Kentucky still lives in the past with no clean energy standards. Therefore, a company this size, with a varying electricity cost of 9 cents to 14 cents per kilowatt hour, should have clearly stated strategies in its Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) to attract investors. But Mr. Campbell’s IRP has none.??

Plenty of dilemmas exist. Kentucky’s energy and environmental needs are more like an uphill drive with the brakes on thanks to irrevocable vested interests. And here’s the real dilemma: Climate change impedes economic growth, and investments are less when economic growth is slow. But investments are needed to fight climate change.?