Organizing for America | Todo Chronicles: Rooftop Resources-Its a Win/Win

Rooftop Resources-Its a Win/Win

By Sue - Jul 3rd, 2009 at 8:13 pm EDT

Also listed in: Energy Policy for Obama | Energy: Restoring Integrity and Truth to Science & Engineering | Solar Energy Advocates for Obama

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I am a member of SMUD Greenergy program. Am in receipt of request to enroll in SMUD Carbon Offset Program, costing me another $10/month. I was the chair of the Subdivision Review Committee for the City of Sacramento Planning Dept. I personally saw to it that 80% of the residential lots created in Sacramento in the 1980shad adequate orientation to take advantage of solar energy. Very few of those rooftops were fitted with solar panels & rooftops are a wasted resource. Solar energy is still regarded as some sort of new age oddity when in fact the technology has changed very little since the 1960s. So instead of joining another greening of CA effort I'd like to suggest that SMUD take advantage of an existing resource that is over our heads. The answers to our energy & environmental problems are no longer beneath our feet. All these token programs are not nearly as efficient or effective as putting solar panels on rooftops in the CA sun. There are few, if any localities in CA that couldn't take advantage of a vigorous program to put solar panels on residential rooftops. I know SMUD has other efforts for solar panels. But state & federal rebates aside, the net obligation to the homeowner is far more than my first home cost & I am not willing to obligate myself to that kind of debt. Wind & solar farms are fine & dandy but they require significant expense for the infrastructure to get power from source to usesr. & wind & solar farms repressent significant encroachment into wildlife habitat. Quit reinventing the wheel when you've got readily available resources to reduce SMUDs & the state's carbon footprint, reduce energy bills & individual energy consumption. SMUDs role in a new Smart Grid would be to monitor the system for efficiency & maintain the infrastructure. It's a win/win.

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