JOYFUL PIECE #4
Being woke to global warming is bringing us hope as we embrace clean energy sources and reject hydrocarbon-based technologies that emit greenhouse gases.
Earlier this month I wrote about the impact of elevated temperatures on workers. Humanity has made some “bad decisions “ that have brought about an overheated world in the Anthropocene Epoch. The impact of spewing hydrocarbons into the atmosphere is evident in climate change and the accompanying rise in average global temperatures; rising sea levels from melting ice caps and glaciers; devastating tornadoes and hurricanes; and extreme precipitation patterns that bring us death and destruction in the form of drought and floods. These are the most visible events. They are harmful to our ecosystems and all forms of life as they are coming at us faster than life as we know it can adjust.
Advances are being made that may, in fact, help to extricate humanity from its current predicament. Solar panels and wind energy are ubiquitous and found throughout the US and the world in growing deployments. In the US, even where coal still provides cheap electricity, the climate change laws, and their associated installation cost credits push clean energy into more areas. And there is a huge expansion of investments in battery and electrical vehicle manufacturing.
For years hydrocarbon-based fuels have received government subsidies. Now clean energy technologies are making increasing economic sense. We no longer need to continue to poison the air and water with emissions and increase the percentage of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to our detriment. We can stop industry practices that do not value the health of global ecosystems and human health as much as bottom line profits. After all, who will be around to enjoy those profits if the world as we know it perishes?
The benefits of steering clear of greenhouse gas producing fuels makes sense for health and now for economic reasons. Politicians have long decried the loss of US manufacturing jobs. The current expansion in clean energy investments is turning that scenario around.
These are encouraging news as we seek to stop global warming and its dire effects on the environment, human health, and world economies devastated by the effects of global warming. And we get the huge bonus of bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US.
Yes, we are slow in reacting when powerful lobbies implement policies contrary to our best interests. But we are resilient and paying increasing attention to global warming and its effects on present and future lives. We can, and we must, continue to take effective steps to wrest the future from the hands of those selfish magnates that would destroy it. We must continue to support progressive energy policies— for our sake and for the sake of posterity.
For more details on what is occurring in this area click on this link: One year old, US climate law is already turbocharging clean energy technology.
