Wednesday, May 23, 2018

The sun also powers

Solar fields on eastern edge of Bend
With recent news that California will mandate all new homes include solar power, it's worth noting how affordable solar power has become.

Solar energy is now 50 percent cheaper than coal, the former gold standard of cheap energy.

Also, the solar industry employs more workers than coal, wind or nuclear energy combined.

Across the globe, from Australia to India to Germany, solar is causing headaches for the entrenched fossil fuel industries.

With China leading the solar revolution, the Trump administration is doubling down on coal and offshore drilling, even though more Republicans back renewable energy than coal.

With Tesla Powerwall batteries, which are designed to store solar energy and are coming soon to Home Depot, this country isn't counting on Trump to lead anyone anywhere.

Even in Central Oregon, solar fields have proliferated in the last couple of years.

It's about time.

This region brags about all the sunshine it gets, in comparison to western Oregon, but, until now has done little to capitalize on this solar energy revolution.

Central Oregon cities should join California in mandating that new homes be solar energy self-sufficient.

In fact, the whole state should flex its progressive street cred and mandate it by 2025.

Not only is it good for the planet, it's good for the pocketbook.

Also, the less reliant we are on natural gas or oil, the less likely we are to fund fracking-induced earthquakes in Oklahoma, or terrorism from the Middle East or election meddling from Russia.

2 comments:

  1. It's been months Ray? You pooped? Standing out on the corner like that has to be tiring. I know I'm ready for this election cycle to be done. The presidential selection was pretty obvious but I'm not sure how Tuesday will end up. I'm going with Blue wave...but it will be really close and I'm going to throw in some allegations of voter fraud(Real or not). This will cause further division among the people who still believe that one side will save them from the other. Serfs both sides of the coin are so rabid and ready to exterminate the neighbor who doesn't think like them. I think the blue wave result stands the best chance of causing further division over the next two years. Hard to say though, a red wave would probably cause the so called left to completely loose their minds. This is the goal you know...divided we fall.


    Carroll Quigley was a mentor to Bill Clinton to the extent that Bill felt the need to mention Carroll in his inauguration speech.

    "The argument of two parties should represent opposed ideas and policies, one perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to doctrinate and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can “throw the rascals out” at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy. The policies that are vital and necessary for America are no longer subjects of significant disagreement, but are disputable only in details of procedure, priority, or method.”

    -Carroll Quigley, Tragedy and Hope

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  2. Very informative blog. Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity. Here I observed the important facts of this solar power and the country details which were used in this energy. Thanks for sharing. Along with this article, I would like to share some interesting facts about the hammerhead sharks which are a group of sharks that form the family sphyrnidae.

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