Why Going Renewable is a Good Investment in Our Current Economy, and Why This Economy Must Change Eventaully

            Do you remember when gas used to be $0.20 a gallon? Me neither. Sure, inflation of U.S. currency makes today’s numbers larger, but there is no escaping the fact that the cost of fossil fuels, and thereby gas, is increasing, and will continue to increase. It’s simple supply and demand, a concept taught in high school economics. There is a finite amount of fossil fuels on our planet, so as they get more and more scarce and the demand remains the same (or increases) the cost to us, the consumer, will rise higher and higher.

            Also, because fossil fuels are a finite resource on this planet, when they’re gone, they’re gone. And if we as a species are not prepared for that day when it comes (if humans even live long enough on a warming planet to see that day) there are going to be major problems, and most likely a new World War or other such global conflict in an effort to secure other various sources of energy.

            So what’s the solution? If only there was some source of energy that is getting cheaper by the day, clean for our planet, and that we have unlimited access too…

            Oh yea, there is. Like, a lot of them. Solar, wind, hydroelectric, and even geothermal meet all of these criteria.

            So why haven’t we already committed to these seemingly blatantly obvious gold mines of power? Well, in the current economy, it is still a little bit cheaper to just keep burning coal, or keep drilling for more oil, or even fracking into deep reserves of natural gas. By doing this we are keeping our day-to-day costs cheaper, which is unfortunately what we have to do to keep investors happy.

            This is an unsustainable model. If we keep putting off converting to renewable sources of energy, then we are eventually one day going to be “left in the dark” so to speak. Other countries, such as China, Japan, Sweden, Germany, and India, among others, are doing everything they can to become self-sustaining and users of clean energy. Each country has its own myriad of reasons for doing so, but I’ll explain just one reason why we should begin making the change here in America.

            Looking at the graph below, we can see that while the value of fossil fuels relative to their cost decreases because they continue to get more expensive, the value of renewable sources of energy increases because they get cheaper to construct, maintain, and store energy. And on the day those two lines meet, meaning that it is finally more economically sensible to use renewable sources of energy than fossil fuels, something very interesting will happen. All of the countries that have already built a framework on the foundation of renewable energy will be in an incredibly strong position. They will sit calmly on their investments as they save them more and more money, while other countries who never made the switch begin to scramble to develop these complex systems.

Source: Myself with Windows Paint

            Now the economist reading this has already realized that once this change occurs, and countries are desperately trying to get their own renewable resource grid running, the demand for solar panels and other sources of renewable energy are going to be experiencing a massive increase in demand, therefore making them much more valuable, and therefore expensive.

            So instead of building this infrastructure while it was relatively cheap, they are now paying a premium price to receive the same product. Would it not make obvious sense to build and develop this infrastructure, that we must have to survive, while it is a fraction of the cost it will be in the future?

If you still believe that this is unlikely to happen, or if you believe that this is just not how it works, ask anybody if they would go back 30 or 40 years in time and investment a company named Microsoft. Or Apple. Or Google. Talk about missing the boat on that ship sailing.

            Furthermore, another problem with our economy, and all economies before us, is that they have all been centered around the concept of steady, endless growth, no matter the means of attaining it. The heads of businesses and governments are constantly trying to squeeze more and more money out of any market that they can, and the people who suffer are always those of a lower social status, such as people in third world countries, or even the middle class of America. The “elites,” as they are commonly referred to as, will stop at no means to obtain more money, even if it means bringing about poverty, starvation, and even death, just to name a few of the hardships that people face.

            But why do these super-elites go to such lengths to get more money than they can spend on even the most grand luxuries? Because money translates directly into legislative influence, and legislative turns into power. And that is what these people want more than anything in the world: power. And with this power they generate more money, and the cycle continues. Noam Chomsky has an incredible documentary on Netflix right now that documents this process and explains it very thoroughly, I highly recommend each of you to watch it.

            Though there are many paths to take in this discussion from here, I will talk about how governments are not using their power to even save the planet that they so desperately want to control with absolute authority.

It is nothing new for the powers that be to attempt to bully out an aspiring movement that may take away even a tiny portion of their power, or to squash with an iron fist any true opposition to their seat of power. And while we are fortunate that we live in a society where overt violence such as public executions of “enemies of the state” do not take place, it does indeed seem to keep the masses woefully ignorant of the controlling that does take place. While we may not live in conditions comparable to that of Stalin-led Russia, or Castro-led Cuba, the problem arises that our society as a whole is rarely able to build up enough momentum and support behind any one movement to enact real change for the better. I specifically chose the word “rarely” because we have proven before that, when conditions get truly bad enough, people begin to fight for the changes that they believe need to take place. The most notable of these, in my opinion, would be the Civil Rights Movement. The oppression of African Americans had become so blatant, that the movement hit a critical mass of support and was able to truly bring about change in our society.

Source: Getty Images

And I believe that is what will have to take place in our time with regard to the environment. Things may have to reach a boiling point in our economy and in our environment, and when this happens, all of us must be ready to stand together and truly fight for a better America and a better world. And this time could come sooner than any of us may think. If things go as bad as it appears they have the potential to in our current political environment, there could be enough civil unrest and enough disenfranchised citizens to actually make a real change in the world that we live in. But when the time comes, we must all be ready to stop looking at change, and the ability to take true control of our own lives and live the way that we know we should, as something that exists in the future, and instead view it as the present. We can become the masters of our own destiny just as the Ecotopians did, we just have to be truly willing to take the reins.

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