Cheryl Long is the Editor in Chief of Mother Earth News magazine.  She asserts, “If the $2.2 trillion we are spending in Iraq had instead been spent to build wind turbines, it would give us enough electricity to provide roughly 150 percent of total U.S. energy consumption!”  Hear Cheryl speak to this galling fact and it’s relation to Step It Up in her guest blog below--a great way to conceptualize and achieve the reductions we need!  Also, if you're looking to fly an Earth Flag at your Step It Up event,  check them out here through Mother Earth News.


Greetings.

As we prepare for the Step It Up rallies on April 14th, some still doubt that human activities are causing global warming. Others are worried, but unsure what we can do to end our addiction to oil and shift to clean, secure renewable energy.  To those, let’s offer this tidy fact from the ace researchers at the Earth Policy Institute:

The Iraq war will cost American taxpayers $2,200,000,000,000—that’s 2.2 trillion dollars—according to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. If instead, we had invested that $2.2 trillion in wind turbines, we would now have enough electricity to provide roughly 150 percent of total U.S. energy needs.

 That’s right—if we spent that amount of money in renewable energy just once, it would provide more than enough energy to replace all our fossil fuel energy consumption—including coal, oil and gas--plus nuclear!  A one-time investment in renewable energy would pay giant dividends for years to come, including reducing air pollution, curbing the global warming crisis and permanently ending our dependence on foreign oil and natural gas!
 
Of course, shifting our natural gas heating systems, gasoline-powered vehicles and coal-burning power plants all to wind-generated electric power is not our best option.  In fact, our energy future will undoubtedly be quite diverse.  But the point is that renewable technologies can provide all the energy we need at a price tag we can afford.  Wind power is already competitive with natural gas; solar photovoltaics are close behind; hybrid cars are hot; battery improvements are coming on fast.

What we have to do is Step It Up and insist that our tax dollars are spent wisely.

The message we need to send to our elected officials is “Invest in Wind (and other renewable energy), not War.”

The Internet lets good news spread so widely and so quickly that a huge shift in public understanding can happen very fast, both in the United States and around the globe. Let’s spread the word that renewable energy is ready to come to our rescue.

P.S.  To help put that $2.2 trillion Iraq war price tag in perspective: There are about 100 million U.S. taxpayers and if we each paid an equal share of the bill, the cost per taxpayer would be $22,000!

P.P.S. Note to rally organizers: News of the Step It Up campaign will go out to over a million people in mid-March, in the next issue of Mother Earth News.  
 


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Comments

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2. Comment by robert veach, Feb 21st, 2007 9:23pm

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3. Comment by Carol Yamarino, Feb 19th, 2007 7:20pm

   I, too, enjoyed thoroughly the article! Wind turbines instead of war -- yes! But unfortunately, as Barbara aptly points out in her comment, there are WAY too many ill-informed(or non-informed) residents, and here in Western New York as well! We need an action that speaks loudly and in the ears of NIMBYs who are too concerned with their 'backyards'... please, do they realize their 'backyards' will forever be changed with climate change?! Great article. I hope to get involved April 14th!




4. Comment by Barbara Perry, Feb 17th, 2007 11:36am

   I loved this article. I am a wind advocate in upstate New York and am standing up in favor of commercial wind projects where the resource exists. However in our midst there are many a "NIMBY" Please speak out in your local areas. Help your neighbors understand the urgency of the situation. Dare to live the sustainable dream!