The one way to slow devastating storms and reverse climate change is clean energy, and the only way to do that is to pay more for R&D.
We’re losing the war on climate change. And our best weapon is one we’re badly under-utilizing.
The world is in the midst of the greatest surge in carbon emissions it has ever seen. In 2013, the residents of planet Earth will likely emit around a billion tons more CO2 than they did in 2012, where in turn they emitted almost a billion tons more CO2 than they did in 2011.
The drivers of this surge of carbon pollution are simple. Around the world, 6 billion people are climbing out of what most Americans would consider poverty. Those men, women, and children–in Asia, in Sub-Saharan Africa, in Latin America–crave cars, larger homes, central heat, air conditioning, televisions, and mass-produced goods of all sorts. All of that takes energy. And what sort of energy do people choose? The cheapest kind available.
There are a host of proposals for how to address climate change around the world: a global cap-and-trade system, pervasive carbon taxes, renewable energy mandates, even geo-engineering schemes. All of those are worth pursuing. Many of them are yielding fruit today. But so far, they’ve proven very far from sufficient in tackling the problem.
There is one over-arching, unilateral strategy that would address climate change, without the need for global treaties or bruising fights with industry. It’s this: Make renewable energy so cheap that it hardly makes sense to use anything else. Make it cheaper to use solar and wind than coal or natural gas, and utilities and industry will switch. The larger the price difference is, the faster that switch will happen.
The potential is there. The Sun strikes Earth with thousands of times more energy than humanity uses from fossil fuels. The energy in just a few weeks of sunlight is greater than our known or projected reserves of fossil fuels, combined. Solar panels on less than 1% of Earth’s land area could meet all of our energy needs for the century to come. And the prices of solar panels are already plunging, dropping by more than half in the last two years, and by a factor of four since 2000.
The Latest Bing News on:
Clean energy
- Clean Energy Is Driving ‘a New Era in American Manufacturing’ Across the Midweston May 17, 2024 at 6:13 am
Midwestern states have received nearly $30 billion in capital investments from the private sector since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.
- Biden's China Tariffs Boost Clean-Energy Startups' Stockson May 14, 2024 at 7:14 am
Beaten-down clean-energy stocks are extending a recent rally, boosted by news that President Biden is raising tariffs on Chinese electric cars and solar panels. The tariffs could be a boon for U.S. ma
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[google_news title=”” keyword=”clean energy” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”] [/vc_column_text]The Latest Bing News on:
Reversing climate change
- When climate change hits homeon May 17, 2024 at 9:00 am
The scorching heat being experienced not only in the Philippines but in other countries as well serves as a stark reminder that it’s about time we do our part in helping reverse climate change. A ...
- Gov. Gavin Newsom Accuses Trump of ‘Open Corruption’ at Climate Meetingon May 16, 2024 at 10:09 am
Gavin Newsom, speaking at the Vatican, used sharp language to describe the former president’s appeal to fossil fuel executives for campaign donations.
- Create your own climate change summer reading programon May 15, 2024 at 7:25 am
By May, spring semesters are coming to an end, and teachers and students are looking forward to summer. For many that means an escape from classes; for others, it’s a chance to catch up, to look ahead ...
- Climate change is central to both Pope Francis and Newsom. But do Catholic voters care?on May 15, 2024 at 3:00 am
Gavin Newsom's speech on climate change at the Vatican this week gives him an opportunity to align himself and his party with Pope Francis, an influential figure among American Catholics and a leader ...
- As he heads to the Vatican, Gov. Newsom is failing on climate change | Opinionon May 13, 2024 at 5:00 am
Reducing emissions in the Sacramento region will require two carpool/toll lanes on key freeways at rush hours. Newsom’s Caltrans isn’t playing along.
- Climate change: What could possibly go wrong?on May 11, 2024 at 12:00 am
Thoughtful piece. Thus, Lomberg should prepare to be canceled by the climate activists more interested in protecting dogma than science. (MetroWstVu) ...
- Should we fight climate change by re-engineering life itself?on May 9, 2024 at 8:42 am
Life has transformed our world over billions of years, turning a dead rock into the lush, fertile planet we know today. But human activity is currently transforming Earth again, this time by releasing ...
- Climate change challenges cooling systems like never beforeon May 8, 2024 at 4:00 pm
Switching from heating to cooling is a process that can take days for a system and building to adjust to, Kyle said. Reversing the changes is costly, and by the time the system is providing heat again ...
- 20 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED IN XPRIZE CARBON REMOVAL RACING TO REVERSE CLIMATE CHANGEon May 7, 2024 at 5:00 pm
"Over the past three years, this competition has helped accelerate the pace of technology development for a whole new industry of high-potential solutions aimed at reversing climate change." ...
- Tackling the methane climate change equationon May 7, 2024 at 6:40 am
Methane from agriculture is a huge factor in Earth’s climate change problem. MIT has developed a new catalyst to take methane out of the equation. The idea is to render agriculture less harmful to the ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Reversing climate change
[google_news title=”” keyword=”reversing climate change” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]