Earth Day 2020
On Earth Day 2020, communities and businesses alike are grounded — hunkered down until the “curve flattens” and the threats posed by COVID-19 pass. But a prevailing concern is that as American enterprises enter recession-mode, they will cut back their efforts to reduce air pollution.
That’s a mistake. For starters, new research is showing that the regions with the greatest pollution levels are the ones most at risk for lung disease and thus, succumbing to the current virus. And second, other studies indicate that continued investment in cleaner fuels and modern technologies reaps a positive return — one that benefits both economies and ecologies.
“The crisis has exposed deeply embedded vulnerabilities of the current system,” says IRENA’s Director-General Francesco La Camera. “By accelerating renewables and making the energy transition an integral part of the wider recovery, governments can achieve multiple economic and social objectives in the pursuit of a resilient future that leaves nobody behind.”
The group’s Global Renewables Outlook concludes that greater investment in green energy would improve the cumulative gross domestic product by $98 trillion by 2050 and bring with it 42 million jobs. The return on investment: $3 to $8 for every $1 invested. The report also found that the same capital would cut CO2 emissions by 70% by 2050; renewables would replace fossil fuels used for both the industrial and transport sectors.
The study coincides with one by the published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, which says high levels of air pollution are probably linked to the fatalities caused by COVID-19. It looks at regions throughout France, Germany, Italy and Spain and finds that the pollution levels and virus deaths equate in those places. High nitrogen oxide, or pollution from the transportation sector that creates smog, is a critical factor.
“This chronic exposure could be an important contributor to the high COVID-19 fatality rates observed in these regions,” the analysis reads. “As earlier studies have shown that exposure to NO2 causes inflammatory in the lungs, it is now necessary to examine whether the presence of an initial inflammatory condition is related to the response of the immune system to the coronavirus. Hence, poisoning our environment means poisoning our own body ...”
Similarly, a Harvard University study finds that air pollution and COVID-19 death rates are closely tied: they rise by 15% in places that are the most polluted. “A small increase in long-term exposure to (particulate matter) leads to a large increase in COVID-19 death rate,” it says.
Stay the Course
HOBOKEN, NJ - APRIL 22: The sun sets on the skyline of lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center on ... [+]
The paradox is that companies are producing less and preparing for a prolonged downturn. The resulting cutbacks are therefore working to cut pollution levels, alleviating further pressures to spend more money or make further investments in new technologies. In other words, if businesses are hurting, it would be counterproductive to add to their burdens.
At least that is the Trump administration’s thinking. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is suspending — indefinitely — regulatory oversight during the coronavirus. Just this week, oil prices tied to the West Texas Intermediate crude benchmark went into negative territory — despite exhaustive efforts by the president to limit supply levels and raise prices.
“EPA is committed to protecting human health and the environment, but recognizes challenges resulting from efforts to protect workers and the public from COVID-19 may directly impact the ability of regulated facilities to meet all federal regulatory requirements,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said earlier, adding that the agency will seek no penalties for any violations tied to the virus.
Community activists and environmental groups plan to challenge the ruling in court, leading the Sierra Club to label those actions “illegal and reckless.”
The good news is that many beacons of the American economy ranging from Google and Microsoft to General Motors and General Electric will stay the course and pursue carbon-neutral goals. EDP Renewables North America, meanwhile, is helping rural communities with wind and solar farms battle the impact of COVID-19 by setting up healthcare facilities and food banks.
What’s Next?
Another stimulus measure is now afoot that would incentivize investment in renewables, energy storage, microgrids, electric transportation and the transmission grid. The mechanism? To extend the 2.3 cents per kilowatt-hour production tax credit for wind and solar energies and to expand them into distributed technologies. Or, in the alternative, it would be to provide a 30% investment tax credit for developers who build green plants or localized grids.
Post-apocalyptic landscape. A man in the desert looks at the city after the effects of global ... [+]
A total of 3.4 million clean energy jobs existed in 2019. However, 106,000 of those positions have been lost because of the 2020 virus, says Environmental Entrepreneurs. It says that as many as 500,000 could be gone by summer.
“Future stimulus legislation will be able to find new ways to protect these 3.4 million new jobs,” adds Greg Wetstone, chief executive of the American Council on Renewable Energy. It worked in the aftermath of the Great Recession, he says, noting that “we can’t wait much longer.”
Earth Day 2020 has the potential to be life-changing: The axis could either tilt toward retrenchment or reinvestment in the New Energy Economy. The natural inclination is to hold back and to wait for the storm to pass. But experience has shown that the time to move forward with cleantech investments is during a recession. The latest studies confirm that premise and underscore that our lives depend on it.
