Cleaner Energy: You Have the Power for $5

Thank you Joel Makower for giving me the knowledge about the Clean Energy States Alliance.

Joel does a pretty good job of explaining things away, however, let me elaborate.

A while back some states got together and took it upon themselves to get at least 20% of their energy from renewable sources by the year 2010. This is done not by some Marxist Uber liberal Governmental Controlled scheme. This is done using free market ideas that even wingnuts would have a hard time dismissing (Oil and Gas industry appologists excluded of course).

Through many Green-e (think verisign for renewables) certified resources you can actually shop around for environmetnal credits. These credits represent units of energy (kwH, CCF, etc) that will be supplied by the renewable companies into the power grid. This displaces energy that would have come from a coal fired power plant or whatever the source. The national power grid gets upplied from many different sources, but by injecting green renewable energy into the grids you are automatically removing some non-clean energy from that grid.

So if enough people get on board with these credits eventually the market wil be flooded with green energy and that will cause more and more demand for green energy, thus begging the market to produce more green energy sources.

This is real basic energy Supply and Demand stuff at work here. The credits aren't even that expensive. I went on one website that said to offset my CO2 emissions in total it would only cost me $400 for the entire year. That means that for $400 per year, I am offsetting my CO2 emmisions in my home, my car, everything. I could walk totally free knowing that I am not contributing to global warming for only $400.

Now if that sounds a bit steep its ok. There are tons of options. I was surprised how many places were involved with this and as I said, you can buy as few or as many credits as you like. Say you know that your electricity comes from a coal fired power plant, youhappen to like fishing and know that these plants pollute the fish in your streams with mercury. So you can offset just your electric bill for as little as $5 a month. How much better would you feel that for the price of a Happy Meal you can feel comfy and hunky dory that you are not giving the fish you want to catch and eat Mercury poisoning! $5

Look maybe you don't care about cleaner air. Renewable energy is more than that. It is a reduction in our oil and gas imports from terrorist supporting regimes. Renewable energy is a pathway to a terror free world, it is a National Security issue. Energy is a resource too valuable not to care about.

Unfortunatley I had to hear about this project from reading the Huffington Post. The outreach is growing but stillin its infancy. However, my hope is that this Gubernatorial Election going on in New Jersey will take a hold of this issue. Senator Corzine has said he is very open to Energy and Environmental policy ideas. Senator, here is a free idea that is a political no-brainer.

Push this Senator! Push this hard, New Jersey is already aboard with this project and perhaps you can even make a goal that new Jersey can be the first state to reach the 20% by 2010 goal! New Jersey is one of the best economically positioned states to actually have their citizens contribute to this goal and if there are any citizens taht are fed up with the lack of air quality it is New Jerseyans!

Senator Corzine I beg you to make this a central part of your Environmental and Energy policy. Be an advocate of the Clean Energy States Alliance and help make NJ the state with the most renewable energy used per capita.

For more information please visit these websites:

Smart Power - to learn more about the 20% by 2010 initiative.

Green-e - to shop around for green credit providers

Clean Energy States Alliance - Learn more about the goals set forth and contact your local Board of Public Utilities

New Jersey's Clean Energy Program - In NJ there are also tax breaks and low interest loans to make your home solar powered!