• SJ_Zero@lemmy.fbxl.net
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    1 year ago

    Environmentalism must be local. One of my major criticisms of environmental political movements is that they advocate the same policies for Anchorage and Anaheim.

    I think it’s really stupid where I live to invest in solar because capacity collapses in winter and up here winter is a primary time energy needs to be used, and the geography for hydroelectric power exists and is proven to produce enough electricity to lower electricity prices enough to justify switching home heating from fossil fuels to electric. Texas on the other hand will pretty much always need the most energy in summer and particularly on sunny days, so it seems like a great choice.

    One thing we always always need to remember is that industrial scale electricity generation is always going to have an environmental impact, and not using energy is not an option. For that reason, we need to understand that solar farms are going to have an environmentally back. The production of solar panels is going to have an environmental impact. Action of hydroelectric energy is going to have an environmental impact. And of course, burning fossil fuels is obviously going to have an environmental impact. Our choice is not to let everybody die from lack of energy for essential services or not, it’s how to best balance long term environmental impacts with immediate needs for energy to make sure people survive and thrive.