Courtesy of Bernd Sieker via Flickr
“The Low Income Solar Act would dramatically expand the availability of the financial and environmental benefits of solar power, through loans and grants to low-income families, public housing, and community facilities.”
Photo courtesy of ecopolitology.org
From CredoAction.com:
A strong rule to limit carbon pollution from power plants is one of the most important things that President Obama can do to fight climate change.
Image courtesy of thinkprogress.org/climate
This graph shows that the cost of solar power has declined substantially over the past few decades. You can click on it to see it more clearly. I found it on ThinkProgress.org via LeisureGuy’s blog.
This leads me to wonder: Are we at a point in history in which the U.S. may finally start taking alternative energy seriously? Many countries already have, but in the U.S. there is still tough resistance to it from Republicans and the business community, especially the oil and natural gas industries. Pres. Obama has tried to pass laws that put restrictions on these businesses to force them to decrease their pollution and their heavy use of fossil fuel, but such efforts have had mixed results.
I’m hoping that when businesses and individuals realize that the cost of solar power has gone down, they’ll be more willing to give up the old way of doing things. Until alternative energy becomes more cost effective than fossil fuel, very few Americans will be willing to use it.
Photo courtesy of http://www.capitalbay.com
1) Obesity– Experts say that fast food; drinks with way too much sugar, such as sodas; processed food; candy and other sugary snacks; and overly large portion sizes are to blame.
2) Health Care costs- Care2 states, “The main reason for the high cost of American health care is that most medical services, materials, technologies and drugs are more expensive than in other industrialized countries. Governments in many other countries play a much stronger role in financing health care services and their citizens are obliged to help pay for it through taxes. In return, all are usually covered by national health insurance.”
3) Cost of giving birth- The United States is the most expensive place in the world to have a baby. So what do mothers get for their money? If you thought the answer was better care, you’re wrong. In fact, America has one of the highest rates of infant and maternal death among industrialized countries.
4) Energy use per person- The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that Americans account for nearly 19 percent of the world’s total primary energy consumption. Of the many reasons for this is the cost of heating and cooling increasingly large homes, as well as electricity used to power home electronics.
5) Defense spending- According to Care2, “The U.S. government actually spent about $718 billion on defense and international security assistance in 2011, compared to 2% that it spent on education. That includes all of the Pentagon’s underlying costs as well as the price tag for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which came to $159 billion in 2011.”
To read more about each, go to care2.com.
Illuminate 