Alternative energy: It’s good for you, for Mother Nature, and for economy

Jun 25, 2008 The Hill, Opinion
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

If we summon up the political will, we can become more energy-independent and cut greenhouse gas emissions. In the process, we can create millions of good-paying jobs, protect the environment and improve the health of our citizens.

We can turn shuttered factories into manufacturers of green technologies. We can crank out more efficient appliances and plug-in hybrid electric cars that use electricity generated from renewable energy. That will address two of the largest sources of carbon dioxide in our country: vehicles and coal-fired power plants.

And there is much more we can do.

What if we committed to building every new building with “green building” techniques? We can be smarter about the design, construction, material selection, energy use, lighting, and other things that make buildings friendlier to the environment, better for the health of the occupants, and better for the bottom line, saving 30 percent or more on energy bills.

What if we got serious about transportation? It is insane that we are driving cars today that get the same 25 miles per gallon as cars in this country got 20 years ago. Simply raising fuel efficiency standards to 40 miles per gallon would save more oil than we import from Saudi Arabia.

Wind power is the fastest-growing source of new energy, but we have barely begun to tap its potential. We currently get only 1 percent of our electricity from wind, which easily could supply 20 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2030. We should be supporting wind energy not only through the creation of large wind farms in appropriate areas, but through the production of small, inexpensive wind turbines for homes and farms throughout rural America.

The possibilities for solar energy are virtually unlimited. Concentrating solar power has several advantages for utilities: It is a free and reliable energy with minimal contributions to global warming. It provides power output during periods of peak demand, and it is a proven technology that can be rapidly deployed. Today, this technology is about 15 cents per kilowatt-hour, and with improvements in manufacturing combined with the impact of increasing plant size and technology advances, we expect that costs will dip below 10 cents per kilowatt-hour within the next five years.

What about geothermal energy, the heat from deep inside the Earth? It is free, renewable and can be used for utility-scale electricity generation. It is most accessible in Western states where hydrothermal resources are at shallow depths. We have approximately 2,900 megawatts of installed capacity, which is less than 1 percent of renewable electricity generation in the United States. Growth in geothermal has been stagnant for much of the last decade, but recent federal incentives have stimulated new investments in this renewable resource.

And, what if we got more serious about energy-efficient lighting? Compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) use a quarter of the energy and last 10 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs. Vermont has distributed more than 1 million such bulbs in the last three years and is poised to distribute 600,000 more in 2008. From CFLs, we will move to light-emitting diode technology, which uses even less energy and avoids concerns about small amounts of mercury in CFLs. If every community in the country switched out inefficient light bulbs, the energy savings would be tremendous.

The world is watching us. We Americans emit twice as much carbon dioxide as our friends in Japan and the United Kingdom, five times as much as China, and 19 times as much as India. The whole world knows that America is a major source of the problem. We need to show the kind of leadership that the world expects.

While we face a tremendous challenge, we also face a tremendous opportunity.

Sanders serves on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources, and Environment and Public Works, committees.

 

I am all for seeking alternate sources of energy, but Rep. Sanders makes this sound like a piece of cake with no downsides--look at the words he uses (bolded). Unfortunately, he paints this rosy scenario but doesn't tell us the true cost of these propositions and the fact that it isn't that easy. And that this will be expensive. Politicians "claim" that these ventures will create all these great new green jobs, but I find the claim dubious.

So let's seek these alternate sources of energy, but let's not be foolhardy in thinking we don't need to drill for our own oil in the short-term.

Ahhhh, here's the crux of the issue when you get down to it. It's America's fault. Yes, we're the ones to blame. Bad, bad America. I'm getting tired of this defeatest American tripe.

 

Why is it defeatist to do our part in being ecologically responsible? Yes, the US has done a lot, and not everything that we have done is being recognized, but instead of getting defensive we should look at what we can do better and get to it. I know I as an individual can do many things better, and I have started to do it. If everyone as an individual does that, and every town does something to improve the environment, and every county does, and every state does, and the nation does .... we can only win. Improve from the ground up, start with individual responsibility, but don't stop there. Hold our government responsible at all levels to do their share.

We are not bad bad America, but we can do better, so lets do it. Let's not compare ourselves to other's, let's set ourselves the highest possible standards and live up to them.

Marianne