Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Lessons Learned from the Maldives Microcosm
This story about a small country somewhere on the other side of the planet and its cour-
ageous leader is really a cautionary tale for us all. It makes sense to adopt solar energy
broadly, but the market can't dictate rational results; instead it's a function of political
economy, with a heavy emphasis on the word
political.
That is, markets don't exist in a
vacuum, and in the United States the pressure to maintain dependence on fossil fuels is
foisted on us by politicians and interests of many stripes, ranging from big utilities like
San Diego Gas & Electric to labor unions like the International Brotherhood of Elec-
trical Workers. In California there was a proposition in the 2010 election to undo the
greenhouse-gas laws, known as Assembly Bill 32, a ballot initiative paid for by Texas
oil companies and a few others, such as International Coal Group Inc. The bad news is
that thiskindofattempt topeddle influence andsubvertdemocratic processes inorderto
protect ol' King CONG is commonplace.
The good news is that people rarely fall for it—and in the Golden State 65 percent of
voters rejected the Texas oil companies' Dirty Energy proposition.
In another example of Dirty Energy foisting continued fossil dependence on a com-
munity and the community fighting back, just a year earlier the utility PG&E spent $50
million on a campaign to stop a local clean-energy initiative in Marin County. The pro-
ponents of the initiative—called Community Choice Aggregation—had only a few hun-
dred thousand dollars (a slingshot to the utility's bazooka) to fight PG&E's proposition,
yet the clean-energy group (and California residents) won by a clear majority against the
energy giant.
Polling consistently shows that normal people across America like this idea: clean
power of the people, by the people, for the people. Again, it doesn't matter what side of
thepoliticalaisleyoustandonorsupportorwhatreligionyoubelievein(orevenwheth-
er you're a religious person). A lot of people are realizing that solar power works and
that it's better than what we've got. What makes it better may be different for different
folks—for some it means energy security and reduction in dependence on fossil fuels,
whileforothersitmeansareductionofpollutionandtheslowingofglobalwarming,and
forothersstillitbringsthesatisfactionofgeneratingelectricityontheirownroofandnot
at the end of some long wire.
“Local clean energy” is an idea that appeals to people across the political spectrum.
In October 2011 a poll from the University of Texas at Austin showed that out of more
than 3,400 consumers surveyed, 84 percent were worried about US consumption of oil
from foreign sources and 76 percent about a lack of progress in finding better ways to
use energy efficiently and develop renewable sources. Politicians who don't heed these
numbers should be held accountable, for they've failed to create what the people want:
