SOLAR TODAY Blog

By Corey Dahl
SOLAR TODAY Associate Editor 

Opponents of solar and other renewables often gripe that solar is "expensive" relative to other power sources like coal.

That might be true on the surface -- coal costs about six cents per kilowatt-hour -- but it quickly becomes a lie once you dig a little deeper, says Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Speaking at Solar Power International this morning, Kennedy outlined the hidden costs of coal, such as the $1 billion per day America borrows from foreign countries to import fossil fuels from other foreign countries -- many of which don't share our values. Or the roughly $1.3 trillion in government subsidies the oil and gas industries receive each year. Or the 2,000 miles of streams and rivers that have been buried as a result of mountaintop removal mining.

"Why are we doing this when we have an industry that's clean and safe and can replace it overnight?" he said

The problem, Kennedy said, lies with the entrenched and moneyed oil and gas interests. Their deep pockets can pay for false think tanks and talking heads who, "tell us pollution is good for you, the whales like to be harpooned and climate change is false," he said. "Unfortunately, propaganda still works."

Renewable energy also faces obstacles when it comes to our antiquated electric grid and the backwards rules that govern most utilities, tying profits to the amount of energy consumed

"We have to have market rules that are aligned with the national interests in this country," he said.

"If you're a utility CEO, no matter how green you are in your heart, you have shareholders who want your customers to leave their lights on all night and keep those solar panels off their roofs."

We've been treating Earth as "a business in liquidation," he said, auctioning off our resources cheaply. But, "environmental injury is just deficit spending. It's a way of loading the costs of our generation's prosperity on the backs of our children."

Encouraging renewable energy and energy efficiency would not only help the environment, but also alleviate national security concerns when it comes to importing oil and lead to greater economic prosperity, Kennedy said.

"In 100 percent of the situations, good environmental policy is identical to good economic policy," he said, citing the economic success of countries like Brazil and Costa Rica, which have worked to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. .

But change won't come easy, Kennedy warned. He encouraged everyone to get involved in the government and ramp up lobbying efforts in favor of renewable energy.

"The most important thing people can do is get involved with the government," he said. "Instead of being here in Anaheim, we should all be up on Capitol Hill, strong arming these guys in Congress. We need to move aggressively and say, ‘We're not going to accept this anymore.'"