Breathe Easier

by Mike Nicklaus

We’ve all asked ourselves the same question a thousand times – why aren’t solar energy technologies used more? It’s so obvious to me that renewable energy is the solution to many of the most vexing problems we face as a nation. Switching to clean, renewable energy sources would be a giant step toward eliminating the threat of global warming, strengthening national security and our national and local economies and creating jobs. And, considering everything, it even cost less over the long term that conventional energy technologies.

Over the past three decades, I have been part of more campaigns and initiatives than I care to think about, each, in some way, addressing one or more of these merits. But in every case, we have not been able to effect real change.

Perhaps the answer is very simple. We know that fossil and nuclear industries have different perspectives on these issues and they aren’t shy about sharing them with politicians and the public. If the argument is about global warming, the nuclear industry is quick to point out they are the “clean air” alternative. The natural gas folks will tell you they have the right balance between holding the line on energy costs and reducing air pollution. Coal companies insist that by using their product we can solve our national security problems. And all of them will tell you they are already creating jobs.

The most successful efforts to promote renewables couched the argument in terms of all these benefits combined (ie., ASES’ Societal Cost of Energy and ISES’ Earth Summit Initiatives*), but even those efforts had little sustained impact. Why? This is even more baffling considering the very high percentage of Americans who express a preference for solar energy over all other energy options.

The answer, I believe, is that except for the long-term dollar savings enjoyed by owners of renewable energy equipment, all the other benefits associated with renewable energy aren’t perceived by average citizens as impacting them personally. They clearly help society as a whole, but they are not viewed as having immediate impacts on every individual or every family, now.

Well, it’s time we start making our arguments more personal and more immediate.

Let’s talk about your health and your children’s health. Let’s talk about the fact that a person living in a city downwind of a coal plant has a 16% greater chance of dying from lung cancer – 16%! A report by scientists from Brigham Young and New York Universities published in the March 2002 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded there is a clear relationship between the long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution from coal plants and increased cardiopulmonary and lung cancer mortality rates. Why are utilities allowed to get away with this? We must do a better job of educating the public and policy makers about these facts and making them aware of the other energy choices available today.

Let’s talk about the National Research Council’s study that found that over 60,000 newborns each year are at risk from mercury-related developmental problems. Where does a lot of that mercury come from? Again, the culprit is coal-fired power plants.

Let’s talk about the fact that asthma cases have increased 160% over the past 15 years and that 5.3 million children in the U.S. suffer from this ailment. In my home state of North Carolina in just one summer (1997), ozone pollution triggered an estimated 240,000 asthma attacks and 5700 respiratory emergencies. The connections between health impacts and fossil fuels are real and they are impacting us now.

Let’s talk about the fact that our federal government is attempting to roll back pollution standards that will directly impact the health of thousands of Americans. In December 1999, the U.S. EPA mandated that 392 coal facilities throughout the country cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 510,000 tons a year by May 2003. Without any analysis of the air quality ramifications, EPA announced in June 2002 that it plans to ease those restrictions on coal plants. This move allows utilities to avoid the expense of cleaning up the pollution from older coal plants.

Every day, in practically every newspaper across the country, officials remind us that ozone pollution is having a big impact on our lives. On orange alert days, we hear that active children and adults are at risk. On red alert days, we are told that air quality is so poor that everyone is at risk. If you lived in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1998, you were advised not to go outside 11% of the year. Only a few years ago, the utilities were arguing that the links between fossil fuels and health impacts were unclear. Today, there is scientific evidence that there is a very clear relationship. And we need everyone to start taking this relationship a lot more personally. When people read these ozone alerts, we need them to make the connection to their own energy choices.

For the past couple of months, our country’s core renewable energy organizations have been meeting and debating these issues. Last week, we agreed to create a new, national, grassroots campaign, “Breathe Easier,” to make energy choices a lot more personal. “Breathe Easier” will be a coordinated effort among ASES, other prominent renewable energy organizations and many leading health and environmental organizations – all with the same health-related message that your energy choices do impact your health and the health of your family.

By using “Breathe Easier” as a tag line in all our organizations’ promotional materials, our goal is to reach every person in the country with this very simple but important message. I urge you to join our campaign and speak out. In the coming months, you will hear a lot more about the “Breath Easier” campaign and how you can help your own communities. By acting together, our collective voice will be much louder and our message will be clearer and more consistent. We need the members of all our organizations to join in this effort to create the change we all want to see. Only then will we really breath easier.

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FROM Solar Today, a SustainableBusiness.com Content Partner.


* American Solar Energy Society (ASES); International So
lar Energy Society (ISES)