By Andy Mannle
But with a fresh crop of fiscal conservatives headed to Washington, it’s an ideal time to face our fundamental economic realities. There are three ways we can put our country back to work, invest in a smart, clean, safe, secure future, and reduce the deficit in our solar energy budget. We can do this by finding common ground on efficiency, clean energy manufacturing, and sustainable infrastructure.
1st – Increasing Efficiency. You don’t have to believe in climate change to understand that we can create jobs in communities across America by retrofitting homes and businesses to save money on energy bills. The GSA is moving to LEED Gold for all new Federal buildings; and the Army recently improved their high-performance green building standards, which the Army Corp of Engineers estimates will generate energy savings of 45% or more. If even the Army understands that energy efficiency is a sound, fiscally conservative investment – we should be able to convince a few Republicans in congress as well.
2nd – Expanding Clean Energy Manufacturing. Lets bring back manufacturing jobs by building cleaner vehicles, electric hybrid cars, mass transit, wind turbines and solar power. All of these can be made right here in America, and all of them will create jobs and boost the economy. Tons of steel and thousands of parts go into making each wind-turbine. We can put Detroit back to work, as well as hundreds of suppliers across the country by turning the rust belt back into a world-class manufacturing center concentrated on clean energy. Every study done on the subject agrees that many more jobs are created by expanding clean energy manufacturing and deployment than by subsidizing fossil fuel investment.
3rd - Investing in Sustainable Infrastructure. Every year the American Society of Civil Engineers grades our infrastructure, and every year we get D’s and F’s on the basic systems that handle our water, energy and transportation. Aging water lines leak enormous amounts of water, while outdated stormwater and sewer systems cause polluted water to flood our streets and streams. Nearly 2/3 of our power is lost in transmission from the coal plant to the outlet, so building a smarter grid would save billions in energy costs. Investing in smarter trains, faster buses, better roads and bike lanes will improve our economy, security, health and environment.
Each of the last six presidents announced in office that we can’t keep borrowing money to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on foreign energy each year. Harvesting solar income is the only way to boost our economy in the short term, while reducing deficits in the long term. And any honest debate about fiscal responsibility needs to take this into account.
(Note: This article appeared originally on Huffington Post) http://www.onearth.org/community-blog/why-solar-income-is-key-to-fiscal-responsibility
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