How To Save The Earth with Wind and Solar Power

Humanity is standing at an intersection. The signpost pointing in one direction reads “How to save the Earth.” Lining the road leading in that direction are the houses of people live chosen to install home solar panel systems or build home wind generators as part of their efforts to reduce the amount of fossil fuels they use. At the end of this road is a healthy planet which can sustain billions of healthy and happy people.

The signpost pointing in the other direction reads "How to exhaust the Earth's fossil fuel supplies.” At the end of this road are vanished glaciers, air to journey to breathe, a planet too warm to produce the food we need, and endless suffering from countless millions of people."

While none of us may have asked to reach this intersection in our lifetime, the reality is that the decisions we make will dictate the quality of life for billions of people yet unborn. Science has made clear that the most important way we have to save the planet and create a green and sustainable future is to find ways to supply our needs for energy which don't involve fossil fuels.

Knowing how to save the Earth, however, is not the same as actually doing it. Although we are gradually beginning to seriously develop alternative energy sources, the reality is that we have a very long way to go. Wind, solar, tidal, and geothermal energy are all there for the taking. You, as a homeowner, can tap into wind and solar power today by building home wind generators or installing home solar power systems, or doing well!

You can choose to help save the environment no matter where you live, because no matter where you are the sun shines and the wind blows. They are simply waiting for you to capture them and put them to work! If you're in your 20s now, imagine looking forward to the day in fifty or sixty years when you tell your grandchildren how you helped lead the charge to save the planet. Because of your efforts they won't be living in a world obsessed with dwindling fossil fuel supplies and struggling with the effects of global warming!

If the home you live in relies on electricity from a utility which burns oil or coal, you’re contributing to the amount of greenhouse gases (not just carbon dioxide, but nitrous and sulfur oxides) released into the air. If you've noticed that summer seems to be getting longer and hotter each year, you're not wrong. The International Panel on Climate Change, in its 2007 Report, says that winters are becoming milder and summers hotter.

Longer warmer summers are just one sign of the climate change the Earth has been undergoing over the past half-century, but they are a sign of serious consequences awaiting us all if things don’t change. Hotter summers can mean higher global water demand and reduced global food production.

The installation of home wind generators or home solar power systems will not only reduce the pollution caused by burning fossil fuels; it will go a very long way toward relieving international tensions which could erupt into something much uglier. Some nations of the world are simply blessed with enormous fossil fuel reserves, giving them an unfair advantage over other nations.

Because the Middle East has more than two thirds of the known oil reserves on the planet, any political disputes in that area assume disproportionate importance, and any war in that area threatens the economic stability of every nation on Earth. Knowing how to save the planet must include an acceptance of the reality that until every nation has access to unlimited energy, no nation will be completely secure.

Homeowners are at the forefront when it comes to answering the question of how to save the Earth, because they have the power to choose where they will get their energy. By using home solar power systems or home wind generators, they will free themselves from their local utility companies. Enough of them doing so will force the utility companies to begin offering wind and solar power to a far greater extent than they already do.

If you're a homeowner, the next time you drive down your street, picture it as one of the streets leading away from that intersection. Then ask yourself if you like the direction in which you’re headed. If the answer is no, the next time you feel the sun shining and a cool breeze on your face, you'll know exactly what it takes to get turned around!

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