Americans love solar energy and 92 percent of them are demanding greater access to it.
It’s hard to get that many Americans to agree on anything – let alone something as politically charged as energy. And yet, solar energy generates that kind of support.
Americans understand that solar is a solution to many of the problems facing us today. Solar reduces pollution. It reduces our use of finite energy sources. And it reduces our dependence on foreign sources of oil.
Despite these real and immediate benefits, the solar industry continues to face restrictions on its growth. Some local governments have enacted time-consuming and/or expensive solar installation procedures. Yet other limitations are imposed by neighborhood associations who are supposedly concerned with solar “aesthetics,” while completely ignoring the dozens of power lines lining their streets.
While these types of regulations are counterproductive to solar’s growth, the biggest obstacle to the solar industry is the billions of dollars in subsidies Big Oil and Big Coal continue to receive from the federal government.
For almost a century, dirty fuel companies have used tax credits and other public funds to grow their coffers and political reach. But today, the finite resources they’ve been pulling from beneath the earth are diminishing as quickly as their toxic carbon footprint is growing. As this year’s mining and drilling accidents have shown us, the past and present course of tax subsidies, aggressive digging and unintended environmental consequences have now reached a very scary point.
A shift must be made.
The solar industry recognizes this and is ready with needed solutions. The Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) has launched the Solar Bill of Rights Campaign, a grassroots movement working to educate Americans about solar energy and provide the answers to our energy needs.
Driven by frustration created by the climate bill collapse and the continued pressure by dirty energy industry lobbyists, Americans are no longer remaining silent. Over 30,000 of us have signed the Solar Bill of Rights in the past few weeks, creating a growing movement for energy change. Later this fall, SEIA’s president, Rhone Resch, will march the Solar Bill of Rights into the halls of Congress and demand the roadblocks to solar’s growth be lifted.
Be a part of this important moment and add you name to the Solar Bill of Rights today. Help change the destructive course we are on and create the kind of future we deserve.