"We are tired of fossil fuel subsidies and we want to change the American energy system to one that supports clean, cheap, reliable and renewable fuels such as solar!"Americans favor solar energy over any other energy source. So why are we stuck with oil & gas? SolarNodes is an initiative aimed at helping solar energy surmount the challenges of a fossil-fueled economy.
In 2012 the Solar Energy Industries Association of America revealed a SEIA-sponsored survey suggesting that 9 of 10 US voters (92%) believe it is "important for the United States to develop and use solar power". 85% ranked solar "Very Favorably" or "Somewhat Favorably". 2 out of 3 voters agree that solar should receive Federal support before any other energy source!
There is staggering support in the US for solar, but why do we only see oil & gas ads on television? And how did the failure of one strategically flawed company, Solyndra, become the talking point in congress for 18 months all the while the US solar industry, through private AND government funding, continued to provide steady jobs growth throughout 2000-2012, reaching over 120,000 US workers in 2012 (Higher than the national number of Coal workers!)? Why are there a myriad of laws and regulations that hinder the spread of solar energy in the US, while fossil fuel companies have tax-laws and emissions regulations that give them an edge over solar?
One answer to this question that we suggest is, that there is quite simply no unified and/or centralized effort on behalf of solar energy. While coal, oil, and gas companies are gigantic, vertically integrated multinationals with vast sums of money collected over decades, the renewable energy (RE) industry is one of the people, fragmented and spread out. The RE-industry brings control of energy resources to the people. The downside is, that there is no big voice, or tank of money to draw from to sponsor political action groups or lobby politicians. In short, it's an uneven playing field.
SolarNodes is how we hope to change that.
We want to create a network and organization of individuals and small businesses who can unify their message and resources to make their voices heard. In congress and politics, many small and differing messages rarely make it to the table, so why not create ONE big voice of solar energy in the US. Let's stand together and deliver one message in one voice: "We are tired of fossil fuel subsidies and we want to change the American energy system to one that supports clean, reliable and renewable fuels such as solar!"
Like us at: www.facebook.com/SolarNodes
www.solarnodes.com
Join the energy transition!
/Andreas Nicolet
Do you have data comparing solar vs fossil fuel subsidies? It is fine to state that fossil fuel is subsidized, but what the average person sees and knows about are the significant wind and solar subsidies.
ReplyDeleteWhen an industry is new and progressing it will need more government subsidies to move forward at a quicker pace. I would think that in order to make a good comparison for subsidies you must first look into how much fossil fuels got when they were a new business progressing, then compare that to what "green energy" companies are getting today.
ReplyDeleteMost companies that are huge today received tons of "government welfare" I think that is something we need to remember when talking about new industries today.