The title of this post is the beginning of a more extensive comment, as follows:<\/p>\n
Few things threaten America\u2019s future prosperity more than climate change.<\/p>\n
But there is growing hope. Every 2.5 minutes of every single day, the U.S. solar industry is helping to fight this battle by flipping the switch on another completed solar project.<\/p>\n
According to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the United States installed an estimated 7.4 gigawatts (GW) of solar last year \u2014 a 42 percent increase over 2013 \u2014 making it the best year ever for solar installations in America. What\u2019s more, solar accounted for a record 53 percent of all new electric generation capacity installed in the first half of 2014, pushing solar to the front as the fastest-growing source of renewable energy in America.<\/p>\n
Today, the U.S. has an estimated 20.2 GW of installed solar capacity, enough to effectively power nearly 4 million homes in the United States \u2014 or every single home in a state the size of Massachusetts or New Jersey \u2014 with another 20 GW in the pipeline for 2015-2016.<\/p>\n
Additionally, innovative solar heating and cooling systems (SHC) are offering American consumers cost-efficient, effective options for meeting their energy needs, while lowering their utility bills. In fact, a report prepared for SEIA outlines an aggressive plan to install 100 million SHC panels in the United States by 2050. This action alone would create 50,250 new American jobs and save more than $61 billion in future energy costs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Where do we find this quote? In a rather unexpected place. It is from a 2015 report by The AmericanPetroleum Institute.<\/p>\n
The American Petroleum Institute (API) is a national trade association that represents all segments of America\u2019s innovation-driven
\noil and natural gas industry. Its more than 600 members \u2014 including large integrated companies, exploration and production, refining, marketing, pipeline, marine shipping and support businesses, and service and supply firms \u2014 provide most of the nation\u2019s energy and are backed by a growing
\ngrassroots movement of more than 27 million Americans. The industry also supports 9.8 million U.S. jobs and 8 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers $85 million a day in revenue to our government and, since 2000, has invested more than $3 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n