A Plan for the Solar Revolution
(Page 7 of 8)
April/May 2009
By Denis Hayes
If Congress fears a catastrophic disruption to major industries at this delicate economic moment, it could auction enough permits the first year to reduce the previous year’s consumption by just 1 percent (so the price of a permit will be very low) and get the system started. It could reduce the number of permits the following year by 2 percent, and then by 3 percent or more in subsequent years after the economy has stabilized.
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In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions with precision, weaning America off foreign oil and accelerating investments in efficiency and renewable energy sources to produce green jobs, an upstream cap-and-trade permit system would eventually produce hundreds of billions of dollars of revenue each year.
Over this longer period, the auction revenues could be used to build a national “smart grid” for electricity to coordinate power from intermittent and diurnal sources; construct high-speed electrified railroads that, unlike airplanes, can operate on carbon-free fuels; assure large federal markets for solar technology and the other renewable energy industries of the post-carbon economy; and finance large boosts in federal research.
The United States has unparalleled scientific and engineering excellence, formidable financial muscle, bountiful natural resources, a democratic political system and an entrepreneurial culture well-suited to helping lead the world into a prosperous, carbon-neutral era. For a fraction of the taxpayer money being spent to bail out an overpaid, under-regulated collection of investment banks, brokerage firms, mortgage companies and insurance companies, we can usher in a solar-powered era.
Let’s create a political climate that permits — no, that ensures — that President Obama and the Congress will take advantage of this opportunity. A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.
Learn More About Climate and Energy
Pew Center on Global Climate Change
Check out their website for general discussion of climate change issues.
Articles from James Hansen
Climatologist James Hansen is the director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and one of the world’s leading experts on climate change. He frequently posts articles with new information on climate science and policy.
EPA Climate Change Site
This EPA page answers frequently asked questions about climate science, and offers a detailed carbon footprint calculator as well as ideas for what you personally can do about climate change.
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