Scientists putting the world on notice

The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest report, which investigates ways to cut carbon emissions, put the world on notice. Despite concerted efforts in the United States, Europe, and China to ramp up energy efficiency and renewable energy, global carbon emissions have been rising at a much faster rate than they were just a few decades ago. To avoid the worst of the worst, IPCC scientists say emissions will have to be reduced 40 percent to 70 percent by 2050 and warn that we only have about a 15-year window to reverse course.
“We cannot afford to lose another decade,” said Ottmar Edenhofer, a German economist who co-chaired the committee that wrote the report. “If we lose another decade, it becomes extremely costly to achieve climate stabilization.”
As Edenhofer points out, the cost of doing nothing likely would dwarf whatever we might spend today to address global warming. That said, it makes the most sense to replace fossil fuels with the most cost-effective, safest, carbon-free and low-carbon options that can be utilized as quickly as possible.

Experts proclaim solar and wind power are the solution

Electric utilities are the biggest source of carbon pollution in most countries and the best solution is wind, solar and other renewable energy technologies. According to the new IPCC report, solar and wind “have achieved a level of technical and economic maturity to enable deployment at a significant scale.” Stated another way, renewables are now significantly cheaper and better than they were when the last IPCC report came out seven years ago.

Nuclear is the most idiotic method for boiling water ever invented

Some ignorant people suggest nuclear power as a carbon-free power source.  Without a national carbon tax or cap-and-trade program, nuclear is not economic, even with more than five decades of generous federal subsidies.
Over the last ten years, the estimated price tag for a new reactor has skyrocketed, jumping from $2 billion in 2002 to as high as $12 billion today. This does not factor into the equation the decommissioning of these highly toxic plants. Wall Street won’t finance a project unless the government co-signs the loan, which leaves taxpayers responsible if a project fails.

The incredible dangers of nuclear power

On March 11, 2011, an earthquake and tsunami devastated the northern coast of Japan including the power station at Fukushima Daiichi. The tsunami caused incredible damage and the plant’s backup power system was inoperable for hours. This was enough time to cause three meltdowns. This was the world’s worst nuclear disaster and dwarfs the single meltdown at Chernobyl, Ukraine in 1986. The plant at Fukushima continues to leak thousands of gallons of radioactive water into the Pacific every day, an environmental disaster few in the world really know about. But since radiation is invisible and odorless, the threat seems rather benign. It is anything but harmless and the area around Fukushima remains an incredibly dangerous place. Now the government in Japan is trying to start other nuclear power plants despite the incredible suffering caused by Fukushima.

There has never been a better time to install a solar energy system!

Solar power is here to stay, and the sooner you explore how much you can save, the sooner you can enjoy the benefits of residential solar power. Go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. It tells you how much solar power you need, and how much you can save.

Please visit our solar blog to find out more about the benefits of going solar.