It is beyond refute that the world in the 21st Century could not
function without a steady and reliable supply of fuel to produce the
electricity necessary to maintain the world’s economy. What would be a
monumental benefit to humanity would be a power source that was free,
unlimited, and readily available and accessible in every corner of the
world. Fortunately for Earthlings, there is such a source of power that
intelligent nations are taking advantage of while in the richest, most
technologically advanced nation on the planet the dirty fossil fuel
industry is working tirelessly to block Americans’ access to the Sun
because they cannot charge the people for using sunlight.
While the rest of the world’s governments are exceeding America in
tapping into the unlimited sunlight to power their nations’ economies,
the Koch brothers are leading the effort to block Americans’ access to
the Sun for their power needs. It is appalling that the nation that
invented the first practical solar cell in New Jersey (1954) is falling
behind the rest of the world in producing and installing solar cells,
also called “
photovoltaics” (PVs), to take advantage of a free, clean, available, and unlimited source of energy.
The first PVs were extremely expensive and stayed out-of-reach until
the 1973 Arab oil embargo that drove governments and private companies
to pour billions into research and development to pave the way for the
solar revolution taking place today in forward thinking, environmentally
mindful, and economically intelligent societies. America may have
invented and led the world in manufacturing PVs for a brief period, but
since fossil fuel companies, and of late the Kochs in particular, have
not figured out how to charge Americans for using the Sun’s free energy,
they have used every asset at their disposal to block expanded use of
solar power. For the record, the sunlight striking the earth’s surface
in just one hour delivers
enough energy to power the entire world economy for one year.
All the while, as America falls behind world leaders like China,
France, Germany and Japan in solar energy production, the dirty energy
fascists are actively thwarting efforts to expand solar power
nationwide. Along the way, the efforts of the Kochs and their fossil
fuel cohorts to obstruct solar power has allowed several other countries
to surpass America in the production of PVs that has hurt the economy
and stifled major job creation.
When the demand for PV cells began growing around the world, and
America being retarded by Republicans and big oil, China entered the
solar panel industry and took over. Subsequently with Republicans
blocking solar power investment and usage, the Chinese PV industry
massively expanded global production, drove prices down, and the
Communist nation now produces two-thirds of the world’s PV cells; more
than the previous leaders the United States, Japan, and Germany
combined. Remember, America invented the technology and led the world in
production until the Kochs and fossil fuel industry realized they would
lose money if America advanced the use of free solar power.
The fossil fuel industry has been on a tear, with the Koch’s
Americans for Prosperity and the American Legislative Exchange Council
(ALEC) doing the legislative
groundwork, to restrict Americans from tapping into the free energy
from sunlight. In fact, a recent court ruling in Florida is just one
example of how the Kochs and dirty energy industry restricts solar power
usage. Florida is known as “the Sunshine State” and it would lead most
people to believe the state was awash in solar power, but they would be
wrong. It is true that despite the Koch’s efforts to roll back, or
eliminate clean and renewable energy standards, most of America is
beginning to catch up with other developed industrial nations embracing
free energy, but Florida is still woefully lagging behind.
The issue in Florida is a law that “prohibits residents from
purchasing electricity from a source other than an electric utility.”
Subsequently, third-party solar rooftop companies installing rooftop
solar panels on a customer’s property at no cost and sell
solar-generated power to that customer at a reduced electric rate are
prohibited. However, after some legal wrangling, and an appeal to
Florida’s Supreme Court, it appears voters will get an
opportunity to decide
for themselves whether they get their electricity from dirty fossil
fuels or the Sun. The effort is spearheaded by Floridians for Solar
Choice and although the Supreme Court allowed the initiative on the
ballot, the solar activists are in for a fierce battle with fossil fuel
acolytes.
The primary proponent for keeping the solar ban in place is Florida’s Attorney General, hardcore Republican Pam Bondi, who
said
the ballot initiative is misleading and unnecessary. Interestingly, the
Republican Attorney General then joined up with the state’s fossil
fuel-powered utility companies in their crusade for a rival ballot
initiative focused on discrediting the Floridians for Solar Choice
initiative. They are not focusing on the validity of their opponents’
claim that the “
existing law prohibits customer choice and blocks the growth of an abundant, clean energy source.” No, the state’s attorney general and fossil fuel-powered utilities claim the group wants to “
establish the right to solar in Florida’s constitution,” and that the solar initiative is “
shady.”
What is shady, and suspicious, is the fossil fuel power cabal’s
concern that there would ever be a need for a constitutional right to
the Sun, for anything. But this is Florida and the national dirty fossil
fuel industry, so anything is possible. There is after all a
law prohibiting customer choice in a Republican state; a Koch Republican state.
Leading the charge against expanding solar power in the Sunshine
State are none other than the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity
(AFP). The Koch group has repeated the same tactics in Florida that it
has in myriad other states and has openly, and viciously, attacked the
ballot initiative to open solar markets in Florida. AFP has even
attacked conservatives working with clean, cheap energy activists
supporting the solar expansion initiative and issued a rash of typical
Koch Republican claims that are blatantly false, deliberately misleading
and confusing, and short on facts; anything to prohibit Florida
residents from choosing to get their power from the Sun.
America should be the world’s leader in both manufacturing and
installing solar panels, as well as getting most of its electricity from
a free energy source. Other nations are on the path to drastically
reducing their dependence on fossil fuels for electrical generation,
while in America the Koch brothers and their Republican legislative arm
are waging a mighty battle just to block new rules that decrease the
carbon emissions driving climate change and numerous health problems;
problems that do not exist with solar power.
It is a serious abomination that this country is lagging even one
developed industrial nation in generating power from the Sun, or in
manufacturing and selling solar panels to the world. One thing is
certain in America in the 21st Century; if the Koch brothers could
charge Americans for gaining access to sunlight, every stinking home and
building in America would have solar panels and they would have been
manufactured and installed by a subsidiary of Koch Industries.
![By Pete Souza (White House (P012813PS-0831)) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](http://i1.wp.com/www.addictinginfo.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Barack_Obama_at_White_House_gun_violence_meeting.jpg?resize=216%2C160)
