Just when I was getting discouraged a special person came into my life and gave me encouragement about my blogging and then gave me another piece for my "Save Earth" puzzle.
I have long been stymied by how we are going to get all the gasoline-burning cars off the road. Where I live in metro Atlanta there are literally millions of them. Even when I'm on some obscure back road I see hundreds of cars everywhere. Where is everyone going? Are we all on the highway to hell? Maybe not.
On Wednesday, I ran into an old tree-hugger friend while running a work errand. We chatted briefly and he said he had read some of my blog, which made me happy. By chance, he was one of the panelists at a Sierra Club program that I attended the next evening.
The topic of the evening was "Clean Energy for All," and the panelists shared a grand vision of replacing gas engines in cars, tucks, lawnmowers, agricultural machinery, and power tools with electric.
"WOW," I thought to myself during the presentation. I was surprised to learn that there are already electric riding mowers and agricultural machines on the market. Elon Musk has unveiled a plan for an electric semi tractor-trailer with a 500-mile range. "WOW," I said again, and almost fell out of my chair.
The Toad Chimes In
Now, let me jump in here and make two comments. First, I see blowing exhaust out your tailpipe as the same as littering. None of us have a right to do that. Every time I jump into my automobile I feel horribly guilty. I hope that one day I can own an EV (electric vehicle), and that everyone else can too. Instead of sticking EV owners with a road use tax, we need to charge everyone owning a gas combustion device with an atmosphere littering fee (oh no, Toddy's an extremest!)
Next, total lifecycle must always be considered. If the EV's are made in an air-polluting factory then that must be factored into the overall impact on the environment. But if the EV is made in a completely clean energy production line, then we're in business.
Pay as You Save
In addition to transportation, all homes need to be made efficient, converted to all-electric, and weatherized. All power must come from clean energy sources.
Now, getting many people, especially renters, to make their home energy efficient is a struggle because homeowners often don't have the money and renters don't have the incentive. So the idea of Pay As You Save (PAYS) is to bring in contractors to improve energy efficiency. The resident pays for the work by paying the difference between what is normally paid and what the new savings is. Eventually, once the work is paid off, the resident enjoys a drop in electric costs and lives in a more comfortable home. Roanoke, Virginia and Arkansas currently have programs in place, and the hope is to bring the idea here to Georgia.
Solar Time
The other part of the equation is for power companies to go completely clean using primarily solar. The challenge is to develop battery systems that can cost-effectively store the energy for days when the sun isn't out. As one of the panelist speakers said, solar keeps on working and can provide energy for many years. A key is to have a workforce in place that can do the proper maintenance and upgrades when needed. In fact, going solar has the potential to create a whole new industry focusing on solar system care.
Summary
I have deep respect for the environmental leaders who are moving these ideas and programs forward. I would love to be a part of this movement. My dream is to be on the cutting edge of some program that is making the world better, and Pay as You Save and the push to replace all carbon-burning engines with clean electric is the most exciting initiative I've seen in a long time. I'm excited and wanting to jump back into the sustainability movement. I do thank my friend Sam for coming into my life this week and giving me a much-needed charge (no pun intended).
Photo: Casey Horner
