Solar is an Emerging Economic Engine
A robust solar industry in the U.S. is an economic engine that will help relieve a struggling American economy. With aggressive and effective national policy, solar power will create tens of thousands of jobs across the country and will spur billions of dollars in economic growth and tax revenue. Consider the growth of solar in 2007:
- New solar installations nationwide increased by more than 40 percent from 2006 to 2007.
- Expansions of solar energy companies resulted in 6,000 new jobs, 265 megawatts of energy and more than $2 billion of investment in the U.S. economy by Wall Street firms such as JP Morgan, Chase and Goldman Sachs.
- The first utility-scale solar power plant in the U.S. in 18 years went online.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimates that an additional thirty gigawatts of solar energy will be deployed as a result of the recent eight year extension of the solar investme. This is enough energy to power more than five million homes! NREL also estimates that the solar market would continue to drive increased deployment even after the tax credits expire.
An expanding solar market creates thousands of new jobs - jobs like electricians, construction workers, plumbers, line workers, roofers, engineers and high-paying manufacturing positions - for a struggling economy.
Solar Leads the Way in Stabilizing America's Energy Security
Energy security is increasingly finding its way into the national consciousness. Whether in terms of national security or our ability to respond to domestic challenges such as natural disasters, energy is one of the most critical issues facing the U.S. Solar provides crucial energy supplies vital to the function of homes, businesses and the entire economy.
The hurricanes in the fall of 2005 were a stark reminder of the vulnerability of our domestic supplies of oil and natural gas to severe weather and environmental factors. Not only does solar energy provide reliable access to energy where it is used, but it can supplement energy needs in blackouts and disaster recovery for electricity, water pumping and hot water.
With the cost of oil rising to more than $130 per barrel, a gallon of gasoline to more than $4 at the pump and skyrocketing electric bills, Americans are feeling the squeeze. Complicating matters, most of America's energy supply arrives from politically volatile regions of the world. Rapidly growing economies, such as China and India, are staking larger and larger claims to dwindling global energy resources. According to the Energy Information Agency, two-thirds of the petroleum and 20 percent of the natural gas consumed in the U.S. is imported from other countries, and U.S. production of both is dropping while consumption continues to rise.
A fully-developed U.S. solar market will decrease our overdependence on foreign sources of oil and natural gas and meet long term demands for domestically produced clean energy. The U.S. must make a long term investment in a diverse, clean, and renewable energy portfolio - with solar in the lead - if it is to have a secure energy future.
Harnessing the Power of the Sun to Confront Global Climate Change
As global climate change impacts the way the U.S. addresses environmental policy, conducts business and harnesses energy, the solar energy industry is leading the way with a renewable energy source that creates economic growth and reduces carbon emissions. Solar is an pollution-free source of electricity and hot water that can be immediately deployed to reduce the nation's growing carbon footprint.
As the federal government considers climate change legislation, Congress should create carbon output-based market rules that encourage carbon-free technologies and allow energy sources such as solar to be rewarded for producing
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