In California the state has taken initiatives to improve its energy efficiency. Sustainable energy is a prominent topic in the state and it even has a reputation for being a model for other countries and states to structure their own sustainable energy initiatives. Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill, the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act, to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by getting 50% of California’s energy from renewable resources by the year 2030. Although the standards for this goal seems impossible, 50% of energy from renewable resources is not a high enough number to strive for. California is a leading state for windpower and solar energy, but what it lacks are public program initiatives to promote sustainable energy …show more content…
For example, PG&E has a program called Energy Upgrade California that has a contractor inspect a resident’s home and they suggest how the homeowner can upgrade their home. In return, the homeowner gets money back for improving their home which could be up to $2500 if they make basic adjustments to their home (6). This program is one of many that could strengthen the effort of making California more energy efficient. For instance, the government should implement a program that installs solar panels on homes that specifically have more sunlight throughout the year. This way if the homeowner generates more than is used the homeowner gets a tax break depending on the amount of energy generated. Southern California and the Central Valley both have plenty of sunlight to generate solar energy and a large population that is ideal for programs like this (7). In addition to the benefits of a program like this habitat loss and ecosystem disruption is not a concern because this program is directly targeting residents (7). A program like this can utilize the land that is already inhabited and lead to a more energy efficient …show more content…
4 million jobs could be created by 2030 if California increased the use of renewable energy and low carbon energy, such as nuclear energy or natural gas, to be the primary energy source by more than 50% (3). A point to make is that green jobs will not be taken over seas (3). Manufacturing the materials to build solar panels, wind turbines, or other materials for renewable energy sources, might be made in countries with low cost labor, but the main installations and design cannot be done from overseas (3). Additionally, the rate at which fossil-fuel energy jobs, like coal mines, are lost are at a lower rate than the growth rate of green jobs being produced. Green jobs need highly skilled people to maintain these renewable energy resources, so a government program that would train people to install solar panels could increase job opportunities as the rise in solar energy usage increases. A program like this will bring about more jobs needed and also encourage energy
Instilling this new way of energy usage into off-grid communities will inevitably increase the state of living for those in cities and other well-populated areas. The change to renewable energy sources could drastically lower the pollutants currently being dispersed into the atmosphere by coal mines and other harmful power options, increasing the supply of renewable energy would allow us to replace carbon-intensive energy sources and significantly reduce U.S. global warming emissions. a 25 percent by 2025 national renewable electricity standard would lower power plant CO2 emissions 277 million metric tons annually by 2025—the equivalent of the annual output from 70 typical (600 MW) new coal plants (“Benefits of Renewable Energy Use”). Electricity production accounts for more than one-third of U.S. global warming emissions, with the majority generated by coal-fired power plants.
Will, all this work it cannot be for certain, as the main change is how much the average America commits in their eco-footprint. If cutting down one person eco-footprint will be enough in the long one, as a small thing good or bad can have a major effect if a lot of people do make that change. Things may happen in the future that brings this change to make suburban life to be sustainable, as well as maintainable for all that live there. Bringing a brighter age for all that is not in cramped cities, or deserted towns for the
Two people who believe this are reporters at the Breit Bart News Network. Julian Morris and Victor Nava believe that, “‘Green’ energy subsidies benefit the politically connected while harming future generations as hundreds of millions of dollars are added to the country’s debt burden with each green failure.” In a way Morris and Nava are correct. According to Mathias Aarre Maehlum, “Residential solar systems are typically sized from 3 to 8kW and end up costing between $15,000 and $40,000.” This can add up to become very expensive when implementing solar energy throughout the country. However, with the advancements in technology growing every year the cost will decrease over time. The cost of implementation can in fact go down as well through the use of community solar gardens. This helps the homes that are shaded and cannot absorbs the Sun’s energy. The energy from the community solar gardens are shared through out those homes. Switching to solar energy can also save money over time. Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association confirms this. Resch says, “Today, the solar industry employs nearly 175,000 Americans and pumps more than $15 billion a year into the U.S. economy – and we’re just scratching the surface of our enormous potential” (qtd. in
Weltman, Barbara. "Tax Incentives for Going Green." NY Report. N.p., 3 Feb. 2010. Web. 06 Feb. 2014.
“The most important environmental issue is one that is rarely mentioned, and that is the lack of a conservation ethic in our culture” – Gaylord Nelson. Energy has become an extremely hot topic over the last couple of years, with arguments for our energy worries ranging from environmental to political to economical or financial problems. The variety of energy sources available for Ontarians has been a positive outcome for citizens, but the consequences of using some of these sources has not been. The situation, although severely thought through, has been the root of inflamed quarrel among people. With approximately thirteen million citizens living in Ontario, the future of the environment and sustainable energy source is questioned. While there are many different types of energy sources that Ontarians can get their power from, the Premiere of Ontario should focus on renewable energy for the sake of future generations, the economy and the province. The majority if not all Ontarians utilized energy sources originate from; nuclear power plants, hydro power plants, and renewable energy sources.
California is among the states that are on the lead in the fight against climate change. The reduction of the global footprint has proven to be a key issue for California hence the enactment of policies that seek to reduce the damages caused by industries and individual households. One such move includes the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015 by California, which seeks to increase the sale of renewable electricity by up to 50% before 2030. Additionally, the Act seeks to increase the levels of energy savings of electricity and the natural gas by the same target year (Bulkeley et al.). The world in general has also woken up on this issue, and the UN General Assembly is constantly meeting to review and structure a path that would lead the world in the fight against climate change by reduces its
The future of the United States solar energy industry will be shaped not only by economic growth, but also by the rate of declining oil resources and the global realization of the consequences of human induced climate change. Political responses to this realization in the United States include; new policies, legislature, and tax incentives to both businesses and private households to promote growth and investment in the solar power industry.
The year is 2200. The world is going through a fossil fuel shortage. Oil reserves are almost completely consumed and it is becoming impossible to find new fossil fuel sources. Not prepared for this event to occur, The United States, has no alternative options. As a result of the oil shortage, the standard of living deteriorates. Heat in homes, supermarkets full of food, and transportation, all basic necessities taken for granted, will be depleted because fossil fuels are used to power almost everything. The key to the prevention of this future is renewable energy. Unfortunately the support for the use of renewable energy is weak and ineffective. Unless the US puts forth effort to research and promote the use of renewable energy to consumers, conversion from fossil fuels to renewable energy will no longer be an option.
The majority of people look for tax reliefs. Tax benefits by any government are good for the improvement of general public’s lifestyle. Many governments provide lots of support to corporations for solar energy usage in the world. This type of tax benefits motivates to rising electricity generation from solar energy by the residence on their properties to receive more significant tax incentives. "these kinds of methods expand solar usage and reduce production cost due to mass usage " (Wright, 2013). Some state legislatures are now using solar power as an economic and strategic measure to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, the overloaded electrical grid, and foreign energy sources. Solar energy also reduces energy costs, improves efficiency,
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, over half of the oil used in the USA is imported. Most of this imported oil is located in the middle east and is controlled by OPEC members. Subsequent oil price shocks and price manipulation by OPEC have cost our economy dearly—about $1.9 trillion from 2004 to 2008—and each major shock was followed by a recession (Reduce). We may never be able to fully eliminate our need to import oil, but we can reduce cartel market control and the economic impact of price shocks by reducing our demand (Reduce). One way we can reduce our reliance on oil is through investing in renewable energy. Solar power, wind power, and hydro power are all forms of energy which come from renewable resources. Unlike oil, solar, wind and hydro electric power is abundant and can be obtained locally.
The International energy agency defines renewable energy as energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, water and geothermal heat of which are all considered renewable (Pelman, 2014). People day in and day out find ways to answer the questions of “how do I fully insulate my house?” or “what energy options do I have to save money?”, and then also comes the “what energy options are good for the environment?” There are many things that can be done to tackle most of these questions, but then none of them come close to the ones offered by Hydroelectric Energy. It’s always been documented that there is an increasing trend of an average of about 6.5% per year in consumer bills over the last thirty years in the United States. Global demand is expected to increase by as much as 59% in the next 15 years. With such a demand, there is clearly supposed to be an expected rise in energy bills (Wate...
The United States currently relies heavily on coal, oil, and natural gas for its energy. While the price of natural gas per barrel continues to plummet, the United States is constantly seeking new sources of renewable energy. Renewable energy consists of any type of natural resource (solar power, ocean power, wind power, rain, snow, etc.) that naturally and automatically replenishes itself. Renewable energy is important because it is infinite and everlasting, meaning our children and our children’s children will be able to utilize these resources long after we are gone. I believe the only way the United States and the world will see a large-scale transition to renewable energy sources is through education. Right now, it seems as though only a few pockets of people throughout the world are aware of the positive benefits of renewable energy sources. Not only is it better and cleaner for our environment, but the industry of renewable energy could also
Household energy conservation is a very practical and realistic approach to conserving energy within our society. US households consume a tremendous amount of natural gas as well as electric energy. It has been calculated that the amount of energy consumed within the US increased exponentially from about 1850 to 1975. If energy continued to increase at this rate, we would be experiencing severe energy shortages in our current society. Luckily, steps towards conservation, including various energy regulations, have curbed that growth somewhat, brining the predicted 160 Qbtu/yr for the year 2000 down to around 93.8 Qbtu/yr by the year 1996. However, household energy usage is still a major issue as households consume about 38% of the total consumed energy and contribute greatly to natural gas consumption and issues such as global warming. Therefore, it is important that people understand how we use energy in the household and what steps can be taken to conserve that energy.
Kats, G., Alevantis, L., Berman A., Perlman J., & Mills, E. (2003, October). The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings: A Report to California’s Sustainable Building Task Force. Retrieved from http://www.usgbc.org/Docs/News/News477.pdf
Energy can be put into two broad categories Renewable energy and none renewable energy. Renewable energy sources can be reused continually as they are abundantly found in nature. All of them are non-polluting but devices used to collect the energy may impact the environment adversely. They are free but producing storage equipment or converting them into another form of energy may be costly.