The Palisadian-Post has partnered with locally founded environmental organization Resilient Palisades to deliver a weekly “green tip” to our readers. This week’s tip was written by Nika Nazarizadeh.
Scientists are united on the necessity of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030.
That being said, achieving this target is widely regarded as wishful thinking. After all, how could we get everyone to cooperate with such a significant lifestyle shift?
Well, the shift might not be as significant as we once thought.
Earlier this year, Stanford Professor Marc Jacobson published “No Miracles Needed: How Today’s Technology Can Save Our Climate and Clean Our Air.” The book makes the point that renewable energy is ultimately extremely low cost. Solar, wind and water power are all derived from free sources of energy. So aside from a more environmentally friendly switch, renewable energy will ultimately cost less. So let’s use what’s already available until new and better technology can be incorporated.
Jacobson wrote that he believes energy storage is key to maintaining stable renewable-powered grids that can be expanded globally to areas that may not have as much intermittent wind and solar power.
The book is getting mixed reactions among climate activists and scientists wondering how easy it will be, but Jacobson’s point is that we gain little by accentuating difficulty, and much if we emphasize both ease and urgency.
And make no mistake: the urgency is dire. Millions of people around the world are already being impacted by climate emergencies.
So as we consider how to save our planet, let’s think like Jacobson: get started with what we already have, like rooftop solar and storage.
Resilient Palisades continues to offer access to its Pali Microgrid group purchasing program. There is no better time to start helping our planet than now.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
