By Will Power / East County Magazine / August 22, 2011
How could the US put five million unskilled workers on the job in three months without raising taxes? Simple- invest in a self-payout revolving fund which would underwrite putting solar panels on residential roofs all over America. Much of this labor is pretty much unskilled labor. You certainly don’t need a college degree to haul solar panels onto a roof and screw them down.
In just a few years the energy savings would pay back the installation costs and our electrical grid would be robust, not subject to local failure, and in the event of disaster, totally self-sufficient.
We have had the technology for years. What we lack is the political will to fight Big Oil and Big Energy, who see this as the death of their corporations.
Big Oil does not want you to have an electric car you can plug into your roof. It’s the Antichrist!
Young people in their twenties are currently out of the job market. This effort would provide jobs that require minimum training and maximum payback.
This programs could also kick-start other infrastructure jobs such as road and bridge repair. As the US acquires solar power, the price of oil would drop and allow some big projects, like bridges , tunnels, and solar farms.
Where is the leadership needed to make the switch? When will stop oil wars in favor of expanded solar like Germany has sponsored. And Germany is extremely cloudy. Just one Southwestern state could provide all the power the US could use. Where there is no vision, the people perish! But somebody has to stand up to Big Oil, Big Coal, and Big Energy and say “Enough!”.
Will Power is a retired history teacher and creative writing instructor.
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If this is to be a government program, if this program is also aimed at jump starting the industry, I think there should be a requirement that the panels be manufactured here in the US.
IMO, we also need tort reform in the plan to prevent delays in supplying construction of the infrastructure grid.