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RE: Even If You Disagree Global Warming is Happening, We Should Still Move Away From Fossil Fuels

in #life8 years ago

A very good general point to make. Whether or not you believe that man made climate change is a real thing (it is), the fact that fossil fuels are an incredibly dirty and pollution prone energy source in general, aside from their effect on the atmosphere, is undeniable.

In regards to getting Solar to an affordable, normal, just run of the mill energy source type place, I want to tell you about an exchange I had with a local man running for the House a few years ago. The man is a big proponent of solar, has a solar array at his home, loves to throw garden parties and show it off. But he was also a high paid surgeon for decades and on the low end of rich. So when he told me that it cost him over $20k to install the array, I almost choked.

This man advocated for Solar panels becoming standard and normal across most homes.

"But how on earth is your average person supposed to afford $20k to make that happen?"

"Well, it pays for itself you see. In my case, given average electrcity costs, it will pay itself off over the course of 25 years, and after that start saving me money, it's an investment."

And this was the problem with our whole conversation. How out of touch he seemed with how the "average" person lives. The average person doesn't just have $20k laying around. The average person may or may not be able to secure a loan for $20k of home improvements. And even if they could, the average person isn't going to want to drop $20k on something that will have saved it's own worth in electricity bill costs after about 3 decades. Most people would just pay the damn electricity bill.

Now what I personally would like to see happen is for solar panel installation to become standardized on all new homes and businesses built in climate applicable, just like shingles or siding or a paved driveway, something that is just expected. I would like to see anyone remodeling and including solar panels in their remodel be able to write it off to encourage more old homes to be retrofitted, and I would like the necessary R&D to be funded to make them cheaper.