As you travel through the countryside in Northern Europe, you’ll see wind turbines turning in the distance like fast-paced clocks on the horizon, dutifully doing their part to reverse our climate’s breakdown.
According to Drawdown – a document created by a qualified and diverse group of researchers from around the world to identify, research, and model the 100 most substantive, existing solutions to reverse global warming – onshore wind energy has been rated the second most effective way for us to reduce climate breakdown by 2050.
❈ WIND ENERGY ❈
Wind energy is by no means a ‘new age thing’. Human beings have harnessed the power or the wind for longer than most history remembers, capturing the gusts, breezes and gales in their sails and windmills since 500 to 900 AD. By the late 1800s, wind energy was already being converted by inventors into kinetic energy, and by the 1920s, wind turbines were dotted across America as the dominant energy source.
It wasn’t until the 20th century that fossil fuels sidelined nature’s greatest gift, and began wreaking havoc on the planet, contributing heavily to our climate’s breakdown.
In response to the obvious issues with oil as a source of energy, wind is picking up pace again. Currently, Denmark supplies more than 43% of its electricity needs with wind power – and in the United States, the electricity demands of the country could be provided by capturing the wind whipping through the plains of Kansas, North Dakota, and Texas alone.
❈ CLIMATE IMPACT ❈
In terms of conservation, wind farms are our best course of action as they work in conjunction with farming, conservation and population, taking up only 1% of the land they dwell on. Recent upgrades, such as slowing blade rotation and placing the turbines outside migration paths of bird have mitigated any past issues with wind as an energy source.
Wind power has much less impact on resources as well, using 98% less water than fossil fuels, Thermoelectric power (created from burning fossil fuels) uses 22-62 trillion gallons of fresh water – more than agriculture – provided to the oil industry for free by the federal government.
❈ MONEY TALKS ❈
Subsidy wise, coal, oil, and gas are freeloaders, relying on $5.3 trillion in subsidies (10 million a minute) to compete with the increasingly cheap renewable energy, meanwhile pumping 37.1 billion tonnes of carbon into our atmosphere in 2018 alone.
To replace oil with onshore wind alone, it would cost $1.23 trillion total (a 5th of what oil is receiving in subsidies yearly), and would, in turn, save us $7.4 trillion in operating costs from 2020 to 2050 … a sound investment financially … without even considering the 86.6 gigatons reduction of CO2 this switch would relieve our atmosphere of.
Currently, 82% of the G20 nations (all the countries who signed the Paris Agreement here in Paris to reduce emissions) are still relying on fossil fuels. Mainly because of the lobbying pressure from the heavily funded lobbyists putting pressure on governments to aid them in their evil efforts.
❈ 3 EASY WAYS YOU CAN HELP REVERSE GLOBAL WARMING ❈
1. SPONSOR A WIND TECHNICIAN
March 5-6, 2019, AWEA Wind Power (a lobbyist group which works against the fossil fuel industry) is holding advocacy training for wind techs and wind tech students. This training will create a larger force of representatives who can educate (lobby) legislators and their staff on the wind industry’s top policy initiatives at the federal level. A number of the people interested need sponsors to aid in the travel and participation costs. as the costs are at a $1k, $5k, $10k or $20k level, I’ve started a money pool HERE (its under my Husband’s American $ paypal account) which you can donate towards, and all funds will be sent to Pam Poisson at AWEA to aid as many people as possible to participate. I have 59,000 monthly pageviews on this blog these days, and the majority are American, so it is possible, with small donations, to send at least 50 or people to Capitol Hill if we all chip in.
2. STAY INFORMED ON WIND ENERGY POLICY & CONTACT YOUR LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS
Click here and fill out the form to find out who your current state and federal elected officials are, as well as their contact information online and in office. Be sure to get alerts delivered to your inbox on important policies affecting wind energy in your state. They’ll also send you periodic emails about breaking news in clean energy and ways for you to get involved.
3. ELECT CANDIDATES WHO SUPPORT AWEA ‘s LEGISLATIVE GOALS
Elect candidates to the U.S. Congress and state legislatures who support AWEA’s legislative goals for growing wind power.
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PHOTOS: Unsplash
SOURCES: The Guardian, Drawdown, Dansk Energi, Oxford DNB, Forbes, National Geographic, Scientific American
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