The momentum for a green built and renewable powered world seems clearly on the rise. While some states, like North Carolina , look at undermining it through elimination of credits and/or the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard others like Vermont and Hawaii are ramping up their efforts. ( See Amy’s last blog for the NC legislatures bills on the issues https://wncgbc.org/blog/?p=2233 )
When there is a push to eliminate an incentive it is because the adversary says the Solar or the renewable industry is mature and no longer needs the help or puts it at a unfair advantage or is costing average rate payers money. They don’t ever mention the amount of subsidies the fossil fuels have received and continues to get. “The most perverse of these subsidies are aimed at finding new reserves of oil, gas and coal, even though it is generally understood that these must be left in the ground if we are to avoid catastrophic irreversible climate change.” https://bit.ly/1IGRiwq
Nor do they mention Climate change and the expenses that it is causing and will continue to increase. The cost of not addressing climate change is a lot more than the cost of addressing it and the longer we wait the more it costs.
But there is some hope as more and more these folks are seen as out of touch even by many in their own party who aren’t directly tied to the fossil fuel industry. A Bloomberg columnist had an article recently on how Even Skeptics Can Profit From Climate Change https://bv.ms/1KVudIy
And Grist has this one- The Cynical Money Persons Guide to Our Renewable Energy Future – https://bit.ly/1GJYJTY It is a little depressing that the reality of Climate Change and it consequences for the planet is best addressed to some by showing them how much money they will gain or lose.
It is encouraging to see the Weather Channel step up with examples of Republicans and CEOs who understand the Climate reality https://bit.ly/1KVvxeF . And not to forget the Pope who has been clear and is making the big push with his “Encyclical” coming out later this week. “Cardinal Peter Turkson, a Vatican official who helped write a first draft of the encyclical, emphasized the “all-embracing moral imperative” to care for the environment.” https://huff.to/1ToMSAa
So it would seem like we have a growing if unlikely coalition of allies in the fight for a sustainable environment for us humans. From CEO’s to the Pope . boone guyton