New York Times Op-Ed (Nov 16, 2016)

Read the New York Times Op-Ed by Thomas L. Friedman

If you don’t want to read a political rant about the results of the presidential election, then gloss over the first several paragraphs of this article. Once you get past the politics, Thomas Friedman makes an excellent case for the clean energy industry in the US under a Trump administration. As a renewable energy company, we have admittedly had uncertainty around how the election results will impact us, but if we look at it from a business perspective “a clean future now costs less than a dirty one” and that’s just good business.

The renewable energy industry is an undeniable force as costs continue to drop. Another point to keep in mind is that most (if not all) renewable energy generators do not have operational costs as do traditional carbon powered generators. Translation: Once a renewable energy generator is built, you don’t have to keep buying fuel to keep it running. So even through the upfront cost to build a renewable energy generator may appear marginally higher than building a new coal or natural gas power plant, the lifetime operational costs of a carbon power plant are significantly higher (and subject to the market fluctuations of coal, natural gas, and oil).

Because costs are dropping and adoption of renewable energy solutions is more attractive to communities on a utility scale and home owners on a consumer scale, our industry is growing and it’s growing fast. Before his grand entrance on the political scene, Donald Trump was a business man. And whether or not he acknowledges the reality of global warming, it doesn’t change the bottom line. The cost of renewable energy sources is now competitive with its carbon counterparts and a growing industry means more US jobs. That’s good business for all of us. #energyindependence #greenjobs