# ENERGY
Let's reduce our energy use, ditch fossil fuels, shift to decentralized renewables, bring our energy systems under local control and diminish the political power of huge energy corporations.
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# Highlighted Energy Actions * [ ] Build Community-Owned Renewable Energy sources. (Expand Action)
* [ ] Use Passive Renewable Energy (non-electric). (Expand Action)
* [ ] Use or start a Bike Share program. (Expand Action)
* [ ] Policy action: Advocate for a shift in Energy Subsidies. (Expand Action)
# Explore the Energy topics
* [ ] Electric Power
* [ ] Transportation
* [ ] Energy Policy
* [ ] Energy Conservation
* [ ] Appropriate Technology
# The Big Picture
By now it is widely understood that burning fossil fuels is a leading cause of the **climate crisis**, and that we need to drastically reduce – if not eliminate – the use of this energy source. That energy shift is a recurring theme among the initiatives described in this section. Another theme is the importance of **bringing our energy systems under local control** – something best done by relying on community-owned sources of renewable energy.
Local control is important for a number of reasons. When large and distant corporations control the energy we rely on, we have little say in where that energy comes from. Most national electric grids currently contain a relatively small proportion of power from renewable sources, with power also coming from **nuclear, coal, or fracked natural gas**. Even “renewable” sources of energy include large-scale **hydro-power** projects, which have their own serious social and environmental costs. While we may pay extra to our utility so that the power we use is renewable, the reality is that the electrons that flow to our homes from the electric grid can’t be segregated by their source.
**Decentralizing and asserting local control** over the energy we use helps to diminish the political power of huge energy corporations – power they use to bend public policy to their own profit-seeking ends. Fossil fuel corporations have a well-deserved reputation for ignoring their impacts on local communities and the environment, but it is wishful thinking to believe that renewable energy corporations – if they become equally large – will behave in a fundamentally different manner. Just as the “hip” and “alternative” tech companies of the 1990s have turned out to be just as socially irresponsible as other corporations, we can expect that pattern to be repeated with renewable energy companies that today sell themselves as environmental saviors. In any case, some of the biggest players in the renewable energy field are also fossil fuel companies. [1]
What’s more, it’s a **mistake to believe that renewable energy is somehow ‘clean’**. Solar and wind projects require metals and rare earth minerals whose mining and processing have disastrous environmental impacts, and require large amounts of cement, one of the worst greenhouse gas emitters. [2] In some places forested land is being clear-cut to make way for large-scale solar installations, and in others they take up prime agricultural land. [3] Because of noise issues, industrial wind turbines are often sited in remote areas, where they can disturb wildlife habitat and disrupt migration patterns, and kill significant numbers of birds and bats. [4] Large-scale hydropower involves huge dams that flood upstream ecosystems, while putting downstream communities at risk. [5]
For these reasons, the shift towards renewable energy needs to be accompanied by equally important efforts to **reduce overall energy use**. After all, there is no way that – in its present form – the growth-obsessed global economy can be run on renewable energy alone. If we hope for a world run on renewable energy, in other words, we need to take steps to **dramatically shrink the scale of economic activity**.
Localization provides a way to do exactly that. In part, that’s because localizing minimizes the energy currently devoted to transporting people’s basic needs all across the planet. But there are other ways localization reduces our energy needs. When we localize our food systems, for example, we not only cut down on food miles, we reduce the need for energy-dependent packaging, processing and refrigeration; small farms selling to local markets, meanwhile, use more human labor and less energy-intensive equipment.
On a more fundamental level, breaking free of the chains of the global economy means **freeing ourselves from the consumer culture’s treadmill**, in which mindless consumption – fueled by planned obsolescence and a constant barrage of advertising – leads to endlessly rising demands for energy. When we localize, we give ourselves the opportunity to **live far richer lives while consuming far less energy and other resources**.
# References [1] James Murray, “How the six major oil companies have invested in renewable energy”, NSEnergy, January 16, 2020. https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/features/oil-companies-renewable-energy/ [2] Jason Hickel, “The Limits of Clean Energy”, Foreign Policy, September 6, 2019. https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/09/06/the-path-to-clean-energy-will-be-very-dirty-climate-change-renewables/ [3] Naila Moreira, “A Choice: Forests or Solar Panels”, Daily Hampshire Gazette, October 10, 2018. https://www.gazettenet.com/which-to-choose-forests-or-solar-20732082; Ron Heiniger, “Solar Farming: not a good use of agricultural land”, Coastal Agribusiness, December 11, 2015. https://coastalagro.com/solar-farming-not-a-good-use-of-agricultural-land/ [4] “Environmental Impacts and Siting of Wind Projects,", US Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/environmental-impacts-and-siting-wind-projects [5] Don Fitz, “Dammed Good Questions about the Green New Deal”, Local Futures Blog, November 27, 2019. https://www.localfutures.org/dammed-good-questions-about-the-green-new-deal/
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We must avoid freezing or frying.
We must have energy for temperature regulation as well as for cooking and power.
We must behave within our knowledge that our current rate of use of fossil fuels and nuclear fuels are not compatible with life. We must change our ways and use dramatically less energy, at the energy we do use must come from the sun in the year we use it.