Here’s the thing: Collective action works.
And boy oh boy do we need it. Our individual actions (and inactions) brought is to this juncture. We burned the fossil fuels. Most of us still do, every moment of every day. Turn on a light. Cook a meal. Charge a battery. Drive a car.
In 2023 we saw collective action work, through strikes as well as voting in off-year elections like in Ohio. We The Majority turned out and beat those would would dominate us. We did that in 2018, 2020 and 2022 as well.
We know how to win. Each of us takes action which accumulates to tens of millions, hundreds of millions taking action. Alone our actions can at least make a difference and, importantly, inspire others. Together we can save our environment, the flora and fauna, and thereby ourselves.
For 2024 I am asking every DKos Reader to both talk the talk and walk the walk.
And write about it on the comments section of this diary. This encourages others to do what you have done. It demonstrates our collective action.
I am talking about our direct energy use. You can seek out other lifestyle changes yourself.
COP28 showed us we cannot simply await governments and industry to save us from increasing global warming.
www.theguardian.com/…
Each of our actions encourage others and build to our collective success.
Your action starts at home and extends to work. Here are examples. There are plenty. Get creative and get moving. And tell us here at DKos what you’re planning & then what you did. If you’ve already taken action tell us now.
Renters:
Buy an electric vehicle. Ask the car dealer where the charging stations are. They should also be on your mapping app in the car. Ask your landlord to install chargers at your building. There are plenty of subsidies for them to do this. They can also have a solar PV system installed on the building and earn back >2/3rds of the cost in federal tax incentives.
Change every light bulb in your home to an LED. You’ll save money by reducing your electricity usage 10-20%.
Acquire a subscription to a community solar project. You pay for the clean power produced instead of the dirty power from the utility.
Homeowners:
Get an energy audit. Often the utility will cover most or all the cost. You’ll have a checklist of improvements you can make. Each improvement has a cost and most have local, state or federal incentives. These are in the form of cash rebates and tax credits.
Think about it- this is the only type of improvement that pays for itself. Everything else might add to property value but that only matters when you sell. You improve your home for comfort and style. Producing carbon-free energy by your solar PV, solar thermal, geothermal and/or air source heat pump yield improvements on style, comfort AND pollution. Plus they pay for themselves.
Meanwhile, change every light bulb in your home to an LED, reducing usage 8-15% (by my own experience with an energy auditor and homes who convert). This means when you buy your solar PV system you need a smaller system to cover the rest of your electricity usage. Voilá! You already saved money.
Buy an electric vehicle and a two phase charger. Buy US made an get 30% back as a federal tax credit. Build that solar PV system a bit larger to cover your EV electricity use.
My wife & I did the above. Our utility bills for gas & electric are usually the meter fees, total $22/month. We don’t track what gasoline costs. We don’t need oil changes. The savings in all these ways is phenomenal.
Business Owners:
Do everything I noted above. But absolutely get a solar PV system. That 30% tax credit can be 40 or 50% of project cost. The depreciation is all year-one and covers up to 37% depending on your tax rate. So you’re looking at 2/3rds or more of the cost coming back to you in the first year. Plus you’ll reduce your overhead in knocking out your electric bill. If you’re paying for peak electrical loads as well as usage, talk to me about equipment that is guaranteed to reduce the peaks.
If you finance it get a 20 year loan. The amortization, even at today’s interest rates, mean the annual payments total will be far less than all those incentives and utility bill savings. It’ll be cash flow positive. If you amortize a tenth year loan it might be cash flow positive but 20 is certain. The solar contractor can run the cash flow for you. Get your accountant to vet it. My non-profit will develop it pro bono then you can shop for local contractors.
If you have a business in a rural location a USDA grant is available as well. Now that solar PV system cost can come back to you 100% in Year One.
See? We can do this. Together. We’d better start right the hell now.