As the passing of health care legislation appears imminent within the next few months, Senate Democrats and the Obama administration are beginning to focus more energy on climate change and revamping the energy industry. Although climate change is a growing concern for all countries, it is just as important to contemplate the logistics of developing renewable energies from an economic standpoint.

In my opinion, this concerted effort to spur innovation and development in new energies is long overdue for the US. While the rest of the world has been revamping their ideas about energy, we have been looking for ways to cut the price of oil and make fossil fuels more readily available. Whether you believe in global warming or not, new sources of renewable energy are still important.

A recent article in Newsweek shed light on the fact that many of our top scientists are having their efforts to develop new energy technologies thwarted by businesses and politicians who are benefitted by the production of oil and coal. This is a discouraging sentiment to hear, especially when there is so much promise for financial gain through clean, renewable options in the energy sector. We are already behind the rest of the world and the gap is only getting bigger.

“When the starting gun sounded on the clean energy race, the United States stumbled,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

Late in October, President Obama announced that the federal government will be investing $3.4 billion to improve the country’s electrical grid. The money will be released as grants to 100 utility and other energy related companies, all of whom have agreed to add a combined $4.7 billion in additional funds towards the upgrades. Grants will be given in amounts as large as $200 million down to less than $10 million. Earlier in October, the administration also announced that it would be handing out $2.3 billion in tax credits to manufacturers of clean energy equipment.

These sorts of stimuli will not only motivate development and innovation, but will also help create and retain jobs. One of the main benefits of the jobs created that are designed to improve the nation’s energy infrastructure is that they are long-lasting and provide highly competitive compensation.

In one of the first Senate hearings on possible energy reform, President Obama and Vice President Biden promoted capping greenhouse gas emissions and supporting new means to fuel homes and vehicles. The nation’s two head officials also outlined incentives and subsidies intended to promote energy innovation. The proposed bill, endorsed by Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer, will cost the average American family $100 a year, which equates to roughly 30 cents a day.

“For 30 cents a day, we will send a signal that sparks billions of dollars of private investment and job creation,” said Senator Boxer, one of the sponsors of the proposed legislation. “For 30 cents a day, we will be the world’s leader in clean energy technology.”

The saving grace from past recessions and depressions has been a sudden boon from a particular industry. Our involvement in WWII spurred manufacturing, and most experts agree that this was critical in fully recovering from the Great Depression. After the economic downturn of the 1980’s, the economy received a reprieve when Apple and Microsoft introduced the world to the concept of personal computers. And now, many see the necessity for a similar industrial innovation to spark the economy and help us return to pre-recession levels. All signs point to new, renewable energies as being the answer.

Oil is not a renewable resource, and with many experts agreeing that we are decades past peak production levels, there is increasing eagerness to produce a new chief source of energy. While there are multiple ideas in the pipeline, few people believe that there will be a “silver bullet” to solve the problem. Instead, energy reform will probably include many various sources of energy.

Up until now, the US has been behind the curve in new energy inventions and implementation. As of 2008, 60 percent of the US’s energy consumption was accounted for by petroleum and coal. Currently solar power accounts for less than 1 percent of the US’s electricity use, with the vast majority of solar usage coming from California. Thanks to tariff incentives, many European countries have much higher rates of solar energy usage.  

Nuclear energy has proven to be a reliable and efficient source of energy, but after the disaster at Chernobyl and questions about the removal of radioactive waste, there is much public skepticism. One of the strongest contenders for a new source of energy is natural gas, which currently accounts for 20 percent of our energy consumption. Although it burns cleaner than petroleum, it still has negative environmental effects and is not sustainable. Many see it as a bridge between the prominent fossil fuels in use today and the hope of a clean, renewable energy source in the future.

While new legislation and government subsidies will help to generate energy innovation, it is vital for people to recognize the necessity of energy reform. Coal and oil producers are reluctant for a major shift, but it is inevitable and will not only be a saving grace for the climate, but for the struggling economy as well.

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