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Friday, September 7, 2018

Good News and Bad News About Clean Energy

There’s hopeful news about clean energy, our ace card.  A few compelling facts to put in your pocket:
* The cost to install solar has dropped by more than 70 percent since 2010 in the U.S.
* In fact, solar is on track to become the world’s cheapest source of power on an unsubsidized basis.
* With no fuel cost and lower operating and maintenance costs, solar and especially wind are outcompeting even the most efficient new gas plants in states like Texas.
* Renewable energy is creating jobs 12 times faster than the rest of the economy in the U.S.
* While solar accounted for only 1 percent of our power mix in 2016, it already employs more people than the entire coal industry.
* According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, solar installer is the fastest-growing occupation in the U.S., with wind technician coming in at a close second.

Right now, China is positioning itself to dominate the new energy economy, while the U.S. is doubling down on the fossil economy of the past. But there is still time for the U.S. to lead, if we make clean energy a top-line, bipartisan issue in this country.
https://earthjustice.org/blog/2017-november/how-to-talk-to-that-one-relative-about-climate-change-without-ruining-your-holiday-meal

More bad news is that though a majority of Americans believe humans have the ability to thwart global warming very few believe we have the resolve to do so.
https://www.climatechangecommunication.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Climate-Change-American-Mind-May-2017.pdf

What Americans Think About Global Warming
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/03/21/climate/how-americans-think-about-climate-change-in-six-maps.html