Public Education in the Value of Environmentalism, CleanTech

Here’s a reader who believes that public education on the subject of environmentalism is required.  Hard to argue with that.  Our discussion:

Paul:  What we need most is education of the public.  People are too afraid of “change”.  Change to geothermal from HVAC, but then they’ll gripe about energy bills, always climbing. It should be “law” that all new construction has geothermal and solar.  Once it takes hold, and people see how much they save, it will hit the remodel scene like crazy.  Now, it’s just the “educated fringe” that sees the benefits.

Craig:  You’re absolutely right.  In terms of education, however, I see this happening VERY quickly; the whole subject is coming to the fore at an extremely rapid pace.  Why?  Renewable energy is starting to impact the world, affecting the trajectory for success of the fossil fuel industry.  Wind is almost 5% of the U.S. grid mix, and the cost of all flavors of renewables are falling steadily.  This is in the process of causing a very loud discussion about the legitimacy of the traditional energy industry.

Obviously, the oil companies aren’t going down without a fight.  But their PR refrains, i.e., that global warming is a hoax, that renewable energy is a job killer, that fossil fuels are plentiful and benign, etc. are all so patently false that people, especially young people, are starting to cry “BS!”

Expect quite a ruckus over the next few years—one from which the whole cleantech industry will emerge victorious.