Sustainability

Environmental sustainability and economic sustainability go hand in hand.

A healthy economy and a healthy environment go hand in hand. Communities need both for long-term prosperity.

People need clean water, clean air, clean sidewalks, parks and other common areas. They need good housing serviced by quality public utilities. They need healthy, affordable food and quality medical care. And they need jobs that allow them to pay their way, support their families, and to pay their taxes too, taxes that support federal, state, and local government, including quality schools.

Safeguarding and improving the environment can be done in ways that strengthens the local economy and that promote hiring.

Government incentives that help underwrite the cost of installing solar-electric systems for businesses, reduce greenhouse gases, helping clean the environment and the air we breathe, while at the same time cutting the cost of doing business, making businesses more competitive.

Competitive businesses have higher sales and employ more people. People that have jobs are able to take care of their families, homes, cars, and communities, attracting home buyers and more employers.

When solar is installed by a business it is usually installed on previously commercialized land, so there is no destruction of open land or habitat.

Local businesses typically install solar on rooftops or parking lots of previously commercialized land, so there is seldom any aesthetic, zoning, or environmental impact considerations.

Although the wisdom of installing solar for on previously commercialized land seems obvious, there are many solar projects being planned on open space. Because these projects are usually in remote areas, they are typically connected to the grid by the new high-tension wires that also despoil habitat and create eyesores.

Because of the size of their size, these utility-scale projects are typically owned by outside investors, who sell the green energy to the local utilities, which in turn provide it to their customers at market rate, so there is no reduction in the cost of energy for local residents or businesses, providing the local communities with clean energy but leaving their long-term economic prospects unchanged.