There’s endless razzmatazz this election season about business-boosting powers of renewable energy. It could transform our economy, right? Nope, not so fast. It’s complicated.
This Commentary by AIMS Board Member Perry Newman discusses how a robust, integrated renewable energy sector may ultimately be very good for Maine, but here is an inconvenient truth: Renewable energies themselves are unlikely in the near term to impact the Maine economy in the dramatic ways that many hope, or hype, that they will.
The truth, as it so often is, is neither sexy nor amenable to a soundbite, but it is staring us in the face.
We can reduce our oil consumption and our CO2 emissions far faster simply by insulating our homes, adopting green building standards, observing the speed limit, shortening our commutes, taking public transportation, and purchasing hybrid vehicles than we can by massive implementation of wind, tidal, solar, and biomass generation systems. This is beyond dispute.
It is to say, however, that energy generation and consumption are complicated, and that not all solutions fit every problem. You could say that the truth is inconvenient.
To read the full commentary click here
