Holding on to Hope for Renewables

 “Everyone’s got to hold on to hope because it’s the last thing that’s holding me” fitting lyrics for today’s economy and perhaps more so for the seeds of growth in the renewable energy sector.

 Just when things couldn’t look better for our infant industry, tax rebate extensions, a president elect, committed to developing a long term energy plan and media coverage out the ears, the economy free falls off the preverbal cliff.

 You might think that a bad economy does not necessarily hit any one industry harder than any other, but you would be very wrong. While it is true that everyone is hurting from this downturn, the unintended consequences of a slow economy are hitting the renewable energy sector from two sides.

 The first hit the industry is taking, is simply a condition of the economy as a whole. The declining demand for oil that is driving down the cost of gas at the pumps, would be viewed by the average person as a positive, but therein lays the hidden killer for an industry just starting to evolve.

 Back at the beginning of September 08, when gas was hovering around 4 dollars per gallon and the rising cost of everything from food to clothes seemed to have no end in sight, the general population really started to contemplate a truly independent energy future. So what does the general population contemplate when gas is under 2 dollars per gallon; not energy independence, for that I’m sure.

 Fact is, gas prices could have always been 2 dollars per gallon, even during the times of high demand, but the oil suppliers are shrewd business people and they know what they can get and when. You see, low demand has little to do with the recent decrease in cost, but more so because the Arab nations are getting spooked by the increase in America’s demand for energy independence.

 In the 70’s we had a very turbulent oil supply crisis and because of this crisis, American ingenuity started developing wind and solar power on a much larger scale. But as we progressed, this development scared the oil cartels and suddenly no more crisis.

 As a representative of the renewable sector, I have to hold on to hope, that Americans will not be blinded by the “gas price game” that is being played on us and keep the demand for energy independence alive and well.     

http://www.mygreenscene.com    Renewable Energy Education