There’s nothing I hate more than pointless, feel good statements that are utterly devoid of reality. The latest is the clamor for ending evil fossil fuel and switching to 100% renewable! Yay for me, I love the planet! Let me forward a meme on the Facebook so everyone knows I’m an eco-warrior.
Here’s the percentage of renewable energy use for the major regions in the world:
| Country | Renewable | Fossil Fuel |
| China | 3% | 86% |
| US | 6% | 83% |
| Europe | 9% | 75% |
| CIS | 0% | 87% |
| Middle East | 0% | 99% |
| India | 3% | 92% |
| Central America | 8% | 69% |
You can be as optimistic and hopeful as you’d like… but single digit percentages are a not a bridgeable gap right now. Until some fancy new technology is invented, the U.S. is not going to generate the 4,000+ terawatt hours of annual electricity use by recycling used banana peels.
I’m sorry if this crushes your green spirit animal. Renewable energy, as it stands today, is not a viable source of sustainable energy. Period. That doesn’t mean we should abandon all hope and stop trying. Eventually (we hope) someone is going to create a fusion reactor powered by unicorn tears and used tires and we’ll all be saved from the evils of climate change.
Until then, stop with the unrealistic green campaigns and tax schemes. I pay too much in taxes already and current government spending is not sustainable. If you’d like to support green research, be my guest. Don’t just be a keyboard warrior echoing Facebook memes – you can write a check to the company or university of your choice today. You are also welcome to pay more than required this tax season. Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? Hello?
troutdog 