By Jim Turnage
Reality; fossil fuel will not last forever. Solution; renewable energy is the answer, and it is becoming a reality.
Less than one-percent of the world’s people remain in denial about climate change, and that the major culprit is fossil fuel. Although some construction costs are expensive, the long term results make it affordable. Solar Power has proven to be the most effective source of electricity for homes and businesses alike. Solar collectors absorb the rays of the son, and transfer this energy to storage batteries. Wind farms can supply electricity to a small community; and geothermal can do the same.
Monday Vermont completely disengaged from its singular nuclear power plant. The ‘Vermont Yankee’ had been in operation for more than 42 years. When the plant completed its 30th cycle, workers placed control rods into the core to cease all nuclear reaction.
Peter Shumlin is Vermont’s Governor. He had been campaigning for the plant’s shutdown. At present, the low price of natural gas to fuel electrical generators made the power plant unnecessary as the state moves towards renewable energy. Shumlin is proud of the fact that the use of solar energy is creating new jobs, lowering the cost of electricity for the residents of Vermont, and that his state will contribute less to climate change.
Chris Recchia is the Vermont Public Service Commissioner. He says that the state has not used power from the plant for three years, and that the state is very aggressive in its move towards the use of renewable energy sources.
More renewable energy is available than most Americans are aware. New York State already has three companies which sell renewable energy. A visit to ‘solutionsgrasroots.com’ will tell you if there are companies in your area.
There are eight states which receive 80 percent or more of their energy from renewable sources. Fifteen others are powered by 40 percent or more. At one point skeptics believed it was impossible to receive and store sufficient energy to operate a single home; now an entire city can operate on renewable energy.
By James Turnage
Sources:
Tre'vell Hill 
Jeanette Smith