Alviston Blog

Most of the arguments about how to solve the problem of global warming occur because of the misconception that we cannot grow our economies without carbon emissions. In other words, we have to burn fossil fuels. Developed countries, like ours, are afraid of losing money if they reduce their use of fossil fuels. Developing countries say they cannot develop without this cheap source of energy. However, once you get past the “payback” time, solar and wind are not only cheap, they are free.

Therefore, fossil fuels are not our only source of energy and we do not need them to keep our economies going. Nobody actually needs CO2 emissions.

If we look back in recent history, we see that only a few years ago we did not have cars, or planes. We did not use petroleum much at all. We worked with “current sunlight.”

At some point, we decided to use a different type of energy, oil, which is like “fermented sunlight,” you can say. However, this was just a decision that we made. It was not the only possibility then and it is not now. We simply decided to develop our economies based on oil, gas, and coal, and have continued to do so. It made sense when we started. There were a lot fewer people, so there were fewer cars, trucks, planes, buildings, etc. Besides, we did not know what the result of burning so much oil, coal, and gas would do. Now we do. The buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere is causing us to heat up. The more we put in, the faster we heat. Therefore, we need to stop.

At any given point since the beginning of the industrial age, we could have said, “Let’s get serious about cleaning all this up.” In fact, we have designed and built many ways to make power without burning fossil fuels. We have had them for a long time. However, for some reason, we did not develop our economies around them. So it turns out, this really is not an emissions problem; it is a development problem.

What we need to do is quickly transition to an economy that is developed around sustainability. Since the economy revolves around energy, this means making clean energy, which we can do with renewables. The first and cheapest tool we can use is energy efficiency and conservation. We can all do this simply by using less, and by having respect for the planet and compassion for those who will come after us.

Despite what some people think, the United States is an “energy rich” nation, with enough potential wind energy to power the entire country, plus, enough potential solar energy to power the world. We just need to develop them. Where will the money come from? How about from the subsidies that all the oil and coal companies get? That would seem to make sense.

Renewable energy, including solar electric, solar thermal, wind, geo-thermal, hydroelectric and others, together with energy efficiency, can be used to deal with many of the tremendous problems the world faces today. Renewable resources are readily available worldwide, there is lots of sun and wind, and no one is fighting over them.

If the U.S. leads the way in this, new, clean, energy economy, it will create many new jobs, solving the current economic crisis. It will eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, and it will cut our greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80%. Can we do it? Yes, but it will be the people, not the politicians and corporations, that will make it happen.

–Mark Alvis