To the Editor:
The recent article on Providence Business News’ Web site (“R.I.’s abysmal year continued in September,” Nov. 10, PBN.com) discussed Rhode Island’s recent movement to becoming the state with the highest unemployment rate in the country and how there were no real signs for a potential improvement anytime in the near future. Rhode Island’s economy will take a long time to recover, but there is some hope with what was showcased recently.
The University of Rhode Island held its first Annual Energy Solutions Expo. More than 5,500 people attended the event. It showed the potential that renewable energy and energy-efficiency development could have here.
Environment Rhode Island recently released a report that discussed exactly what was on display at the Ryan Center arena for the event. That report – called “Renewing America: A Blueprint for Economic Recovery” – discusses how to achieve a clean-energy economy through energy efficiency and the accelerated development of renewable energy, including solar, wind and geothermal.
We have the technology to get 100 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable energy and the ability to reduce our fossil-fuel consumption.
In fact, the Environment Rhode Island report makes the case that the United States of America has enough renewable energy potential to power the country several times over, providing the following examples:
• Concentrating solar power on just 9 percent of the land area of Nevada could produce enough electricity to power the entire United States.
• The United States’ Atlantic, Pacific and Great Lakes coastlines could host enough wind turbines to nearly match the capacity of all of America’s current electricity generators combined.
• Geothermal energy, heat from below the earth’s surface, has the potential to meet about half the total electricity production capacity in the United States today.
(The full report can be viewed at www.EnvironmentRhodeIsland.org/reports.)
With a new year approaching and with President-elect Barack Obama and a new Congress coming into power, there is a feeling based upon the results of the election that our country will go in a new direction. The word “change” was thrown out a lot during this presidential campaign, it is time that we follow through on that promise.
Environment Rhode Island
