Taylor Hale is a campaign organizer for Environment Missouri.
Environment Missouri is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization that is fighting for global warming solutions.
The sun, a constant throughout our history, holds the key to a more sustainable future. We now know it is possible to utilize the the sun to power our lives.
Solar energy is growing, renewable and more popular than ever.
The amount of solar energy installed in the U.S. has quadrupled since 2010, generating enough energy to power 1 in 20 American homes.
In 2016, the United States witnessed its 1 millionth solar installation and the industry expects to hit 2 million solar installs in just the next two years.
There is enough solar energy in Missouri to power 15,000 homes, and $50 million dollars was invested on solar installations in 2015 alone. Missouri homeowners with Power-Purchase Agreements, the most popular form of third-party solar, save on average $94 dollars a year. This saving is estimated to grow to a total savings of $3,138 over 20 years. Solar also provides other finical benefits, including tax breaks associated with loans for solar.
Solar can lower energy bills over time as an energy source with zero fuel costs and also creates local jobs; in 2015, solar employed 1,854 in Missouri. The median wage for a U.S solar installer was $21 dollars in 2015. Expanding solar creates high paying jobs for Missourians.
Going solar saves consumer’s money, making it a wise long term investment. Solar energy and its growth has the potential to economically benefit many Missouri communities. But there is more to solar than just monetary paybacks. It is also a clean, sustainable source of power.
Environmentally, solar power reduces the need for harmful fossil fuels and cuts pollution that science shows us causes climate change. Here in Missouri, we know we need to act now to reduce the worst impacts of climate change, as we already see its effects in increased air pollution, heatwaves, and flooding.
Civically, solar power fosters engagement between decision makers and energy stakeholders, from homeowners to school principals and small business owners, creating more invested parties in the future of clean energy in Missouri.
Solar energy saves Missourians money, gives us power, and helps save the planet.
All of these benefits mean that solar power is tremendously popular, even across the political spectrum. Recent polls show that majorities of Republicans and Democrats support the advancement of clean energy.
Now here’s the bad news.
As solar power has grown, it has been attacked by incumbent energy interests who especially see rooftop solar as an existential threat to their bottom line.
A new report by Environment Missouri Research & Policy Center, Blocking the Sun, documents 17 fossil fuel backed groups and electric utilities running some of the most aggressive campaigns to slow the growth of solar energy throughout the country.
Rather than value the full benefits of distributed solar energy, these utilities and their fossil fuel backers have attempted to cut credits to solar customers and charge them extra fees. In some states, they have even attempted to do away with renewable energy standards altogether.
The fact is we can not maintain a status quo mostly filled with an energy portfolio of coal, oil, gas, and nuclear power plants that threaten our environment and our health. We need to tap into solar and renewable energy sources on rooftops all across Missouri and beyond.
The report documents how the Koch brothers have provided funding to the national fight against solar by funneling tens of millions of dollars through a network of opaque non-profits; the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has provided utility and fossil fuel interests with access to state legislatures and inspired anti-solar legislation.
In mid-2016, there were at least 84 ongoing policy actions in U.S. states that could impact the growth of solar energy, including limitations to net metering or new charges to make rooftop solar power less economically viable.
In Missouri, renewable energy has faced many road-blocks. Prop C, a 2008 ballot initiative to increase usage of renewable energy annually until it reached 15 percent, passed with a 2/3 majority. Yet, regulated utilities fought against Prop C and a joint legislative panel tasked with reviewing state rules and regulations removed two important clauses when implementing the mandate in 2010, curbing renewable energy growth within Missouri. The Missouri Supreme court is currently ruling on whether state lawmakers interfered unconstitutionally with the renewable energy mandate. Solar energy is being targeted in Missouri and all across the country.
With all the advantages of solar energy, we can’t just turn our back on tapping the power of the sun. Governor-elect Eric Greitens must stand up for solar and push back against attempts to stunt the growth of renewable energy, next year and beyond.
Benjamin Peters was a reporter for The Missouri Times and Missouri Times Magazine and also produced the #MoLeg Podcast. He joined The Missouri Times in 2016 after working as a sports editor and TV news producer in mid-Missouri. Benjamin is a graduate of Missouri State University in Springfield.
