Sustainable living and Solar power

Welcome to Eco-living.com. Our site is designed to educate about sustainable living practices and products and how political and economic conditions may impact the future of sustainable living practices.
Eco-living.com is purely informational and does not promote or endorse any particular product or method.

At the start of George W. Bush's presidential term the future of sustainable living looked bleak. President Bush refused to sign the Kyoto treaty which signaled the United States’ continued dependence upon carbon-based fuels.
Toward the end of President Bush's term, however, a shift toward green living occurred. Former Vice President Al Gore released a documentary entitled An Inconvenient Truth. The movie focused on the dangers of relying on carbon-based fuels and not moving toward practices of sustainable living. The film won an Academy Award and that same year Al Gore shared a Nobel peace prize for his efforts regarding environmental stewardship.

Public opinion seemed to be shifting, and more and more scientists acknowledged the validity of the greenhouse effect. Even President Bush recanted his policy and acknowledged the country would have to move toward sustainable living practices. More and more businesses popped up that sold green products, energy efficient products, and anything that could reduce carbon footprints.

During the 2008 presidential campaign both presidential candidates offered strong commitments to green products and alternative energy practices. Unfortunately, just as a major shift in the winds seem to be steering the United States toward sustainable living, a major economic turmoil descended upon the stock markets that analysts now fear may make the move toward sustainable living more difficult.

The backdrop to the economic crisis is a burst housing market bubble based on bad loans that led to a massive number of foreclosures. Major financial institutions ranging from national banks to investment banks lost tremendous amounts of money which led to unwillingness to extend credit. Banks refused to lend money to other financial institutions and to businesses and consumers. A wave of fear struck Wall Street and trillions of dollars in liquidity were lost in a matter of weeks.

Before this crisis politicians had been hoping to shift the United State away from foreign oil toward energy independence by encouraging sustainable living. (For example, both candidates strongly backed the use of solar power and solar panels among other renewable energy sources.) Unfortunately, analysts fear that these goals will now not be able to be met because they require loans and capital that are no longer available because of the Wall Street credit crisis.
For example, for a large company to shift from electric power to solar power it needs to make an investment in solar panels. In the long run the company will save money, but it will likely need to borrow money to build the panels, and if banks are not willing to lend, then progress toward green living will be slowed.
The same problems could occur in the consumer market because buyers need low credit card rates and home equity loans to purchase green products and residential solar products.

Environmental advocates and analysts hope that the federal government will be able to ease fears on Wall Street and offer incentives for those investing in sustainable living. Those factors combined with continued increase prices in gas may move the United States' population toward lower carbon footprints after President Bush is out of office. For environmentalists that would be one of the best green gifts for the new year.

 

Sustainable living | Solar power | Learning Center | Site Map | Links | Contact | Home

Copyright © 2008