This Earth Day, Look Inward. Posted on Apr 22, 2019

Every moment of our lives on this precious Earth is a gift. But, we are all in this experience together. There is no escaping that one person’s decisions will affect the whole, and the collective’s impact will affect each individual. This past year since last Earth Day, the globe saw some of the most extreme weather events and human catastrophes we’ve known in the form of wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and other extreme weather events. The world's scientific community has unanimously concluded that we have about 12 years left to limit devastating global warming.

There could never be so true a time to tell people that their own actions matter. There is power in the people. 

Just last week, the US Energy Information Administration announced that US energy consumption hit a record high in 2018. People in the U.S. consumed more energy in 2018 than ever before. The rate at which people increased their energy consumption was the highest rate seen since 2010. The largest increase in energy consumption was fueled fossil energy –petroleum, natural gas, and coal – together they grew by 4% and accounted for 80% of the total energy consumption. Natural gas reached a record high growing by 10% from 2017 more than offsetting the 4% decline in coal consumption seen in 2018. The overall increase in energy use and increased rate of fossil fuel consumption also eclipsed renewable energy's increase of 3% growth from 2017. 

This means that as people are experiencing the increased effects of extreme weather from climate change, they are also increasing their use of the very technologies that are causing the problem. And, while some people are going net-zero in their households and during their work-cycles, no one can escape the simple fact that we are all in this together. 

So, how do we break the world-wide cycle of self-destruction? At CleanTech Docs, we are still astounded by how much education is needed with respect to the possibility to “go renewable” immediately with the guarantee that people will pay less for their renewable electricity than they would for electricity from their utility. Even educated people in progressive communities think they are being scammed by offers of $0 down solar systems with rates locked-in lower than utility electric rates. They don’t trust the salespeople who stand in storefronts, like Home Depot, or approach them by other means such as sales calls. Anyone in the industry knows that it’s been over a decade now that third-party financed renewable energy has become mainstream and most renewable energy installers and developers know how to partner with their local banks to put together finance packages for renewable systems. Still, people are paying more for their dirty electricity than they could be paying for their own electricity generated by their own renewable energy system due simply to a lack of knowledge. A public education campaign about the value and integrity of third-party financed renewable energy systems is direly needed – nationwide! 

So, this Earth Day, CleanTech Docs has decided that it is going to be leading the charge on this issue by beginning a public education campaign around low energy costs of 3rd-party financing for residential and commercial solar energy systems. This is one small step we can take as a company. Over the next couple of weeks, we will be announcing ways in which you can get involved and contribute to this effort. 

We hope that everyone will keep pushing their own envelope to come up with unique ways to break the cycle of global self-destruction of our planet. This Earth is a gift that we should all have the right to enjoy. If you have any questions or want to get involved with our new public education campaign, please send us an emailinfo@cleantechdocs.com.