Earth Day 2019 has a special meaning this year in the midst of increased extreme weather, discussions of a Green New Deal and America’s new era of rising carbon emissions.
After 14 years of dropping, because as we replaced coal plants with natural gas plants, our carbon emissions began to rise again in 2018, in large part because of increased gasoline and diesel use.
The clean energy tech company, Inspire, put out their “Climate Awareness Report” this morning that uncovers consumers’ lack of understanding around how their homes are being powered.
And the impact that climate change has on their stress levels.
In order to lower fossil fuel use to near-zero by 2040, we have to electrify almost everything, including transportation. This is a big lift that seems to be stressing people out.
Consumers are generally unaware of how they can take their energy use into their own hands and help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and ultimately, the impacts of climate change.
Inspire commissioned Researchscape International to conduct a survey of 1,000 respondents from April 2 to April 3, 2019. The survey results were weighted by age, gender, and region to reflect the overall U.S. population aged 18 years and older.
The report provides some interesting results:
- 54% of millennials stated yes, when asked if they have the power to reverse climate change.
- 60% of baby boomers don’t think they have the power to reverse climate change.
- 73% of U.S. consumers with children 25 years old or younger showed an increased interest in changing their energy to a renewable power source.
- 78% of the total U.S. population says that increased awareness of climate change is causing them undue stress. The number is higher for millennials (87%), compared to boomers (41%). The generation with the most to lose is feeling the most pressure.
- 74% of millennials are feeling actively stressed from the potential consequences of climate change, compared to 59% of boomers, who report they are not stressed.
- 38% of U.S. consumers in red states stated that they did not believe they have the power to reverse climate change.
- 42% of U.S. consumers in blue states do feel empowered to reverse the effects of climate change.
- U.S. consumers in red and blue states were equally stressed about climate change (37% to 36% of respondents marked that climate change is “very” or “extremely” impactful on their stress levels)
- 35% of U.S. consumers think their power comes from renewable energy sources like wind, solar, hydro, biomass or geothermal, even though only a sixth of the electricity generated in the U.S. comes from these sources and two-thirds comes from the fossil fuels natural gas, coal and little bit of oil. 20% comes from nuclear, which is actually a renewable energy source since we have the ability to extract uranium from seawater which is immediately renewed through steady-state crustal processes.
- 65% of U.S. consumers would switch their power source to a renewable option if given a choice. But few consumers have any say in the type of energy that they can use to power their homes, or where their energy comes from.
Unless you have solar panels on your roof, or a small wind turbine, that directly powers your home or electric vehicle, you get power from the electric grid. All energy generated goes into the grid, gets lost among all the other electrons, and eventually gets to your home.
Depending on which regional transmission organization controls your regional grid, and what electricity generators are within a thousand miles of you, in general, 30% of America’s electricity comes from coal, 34% from natural gas, 20% from nuclear, 7% from hydroelectric, and 9% from wind, solar and biomass. You can pay for wind, but it can’t be guaranteed where the power is coming from.
On the other hand, you can take action by supporting nuclear and renewable energy, buying electric vehicles, putting solar on your roof, greening your commute and your diet, consuming less, voting and investing in clean energy companies that support non-fossil fuel sources.
A Yale study found that seven in ten Americans (73%) think global warming is happening, an increase of ten percentage points since March 2015. Only about one in seven Americans (14%) think global warming is not happening.
Since Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who think it isn’t by more than a 5 to 1 ratio, we seem to be ready to move in some direction. That direction is to embrace all these green strategies, and all non-fossil fuel energy sources, in order to have any chance for real change.
So don’t stress out – go green.
