The World Won't Wait

Businesses that have adopted sustainable practices have reported improved brand reputation, competitive advantage, innovation of products and services and reduced costs among other benefits. (Source: Third Annual 2011 Sustainability and Innovation Global Executive Study from MIT)

According to the Department of Energy, a Federal Grant program created to boost renewable energy development during the height of the economic crisis supported 75,000 jobs and more than $25 billion in economic activity. (As reported in April 9th 2012 edition of Think Progress)

Polls done by multiple organizations such as Yale and Harvard researchers, the non-partisan Civil Society Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations shows that the citizens of the Western world want more renewable power and are willing to pay for it. Chris Nelder's article "The energy transition juggernaut"published in Smart Planet builds a convincing case that the rest of the world is already embracing common sense energy strategies. 

Saudi Arabia, the largest producer of oil on the planet, is looking for investors for a $109 billion plan to create a solar industry that will generate a third of that nation's electricity by 2032. In a May 11, 2012 Bloomberg Businessweek article, Maher al- Odan, a consultant at the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE) was quoted "We are not only looking for building solar plants. We want to run a sustainable solar energy sector that will become a driver for the domestic energy for years to come."

The statements were made during the fourth Saudi Solar Forum May 8-9, 2012 at the Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia obtains its drinking water from desalination plants that run on oil. Every time the price of oil goes up, so does the cost of drinking water. The increasing demand for water and electricity is what has spurred KACARE to look for other sources of energy. 

Here in the US, Home Weatherization grew 1000% over any previous year since 1976 under the Stimulus plan, creating 14,800 jobs, and saving low income families an average of $400 a year in energy savings. By March 2012 thanks to the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) 720,000 projects were completed. 

According to the Center for American Progress if we retrofitted 40% of the nation's residential and commercial building stock, we would create more than half a million (625,000) sustained full-time jobs over a decade generating as much as $64 billion per year in cost savings for U.S. energy ratepayers.

"Think Progress" reported in a September 19th article reported that "over 89% of the materials used in home retrofits are made right here in America. And 91% of the firms engaged in retrofit activities are small businesses employing less than 20 people."

(For more information on Weatherization Assistance Programs go to their website. If interested in participating in a local weatherization program contact Sustainable Works) 

It is urgent for our elected representatives to discover what the rest of the world already knows: Conservation of natural resources and energy efficiency is fiscally responsible, creates healthier communities, a stronger economy, and an national energy policy that reflects those values would help the country move more quickly out of our current recession.