Fossil fuels, one of the cheapest forms of stored energy, are often viewed as a commodity rather than a pure public good. A public good is a common resource necessary for existence that cannot be easily marketed without causing uneven distribution and social and economic injustice. Though it is cheap, the overuse or misuse of fossil fuels could create tragedies through degradation and depletion which negatively impacts many people. However, because it is so inexpensive, people wrongly desire it and consequently end up relying on the fuels for everyday life. One of the major problems with our economy is that we heavily depend on the import of oil. Our nation does not possess enough of it so we spend billions of dollars gathering it from foreign nations which only benefit their economies instead of our own. Other countries can set their prices to anything they want and we must purchase it because we can not live without it; consequently, when prices of oil per barrel increase, the price in gas increases as well and directly hurts the economy. Every dollar spent on imports is a dollar lost from the local economy. People are spending so much on gas that they do not possess enough money to spend in stores. This creates a domino effect because now that people aren't spending as much money, businesses cannot stay open and people begin losing their jobs. The domino effect assists in our nation's current recession but people are so blind to it because they feel it is necessary and will not find alternatives to make the situation better: renewable energy. Renewable energy is not only vital to the success of our economy, but also in the success of our nation as a whole.
There are two main reasons why renewable energy technologies offer an economic advantage-they are labor intensive so they generally produce more jobs per dollar invested and they primarily use indigenous sources so most of the energy dollars are kept in the nation. According to the Wisconsin energy Bureau, "investments in available renewable energy generates more jobs, greater earnings, and higher output...than a continued reliance on imported fossil fuels. The economy benefits when a technology such as renewable energy can replace an imported fuel at a reasonable price. In addition, the taxes paid by renewable energy companies also strengthen the area's economic base; in fact, generating power from renewable resources contributes more tax revenue than generating the same amount of power from conventional energy sources. Using renewable energy emits countless benefits and besides being productive, they are cost efficient as well. For example, wind turbine areas continuously generate power and only take up between five to fifteen percent of the land it sits on. The rest of the area can be used for things like farming, making the land fully productive. Now, land that was not being used at all helps the nation's economy through agriculture and energy. By integrating renewable energy into our lives, energy usage can change for the best.
There is economic superiority of renewable energy integration in the place of fossil fuels because things such as wind, water, and sunlight will always exist; natural gas will not. The energy economic problem is much like the situation of people buying costly vegetables; instead of having to purchase vegetables that only have so much stock, people can simply grow them in their own backyards for free and have an abundant supply. Also, many costs related to renewable energy have dropped while the prices of oil and gas have only risen over time. Without the integration of renewable energy, the economy is sure to fail in the future and the lives of many will be ruined. Converting to renewable energy is one large step to saving and improving the economy.
Michael Ridge
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