Climate change is a topic we cover frequently in this blog. In fact, just this week, we wrote a piece about how concerns about the environment tend to break along party lines:
- Liberal Democrats overwhelmingly believe that global warming is indeed happening.
- Conservative Republicans tend to believe that the problem isn’t that bad (or doesn’t exist at all).
But if you live in California, it’s hard to deny reality when it stares you in the face.
For the past 5 years, the Golden State has been dealing with record droughts. And all this dryness has continued to disrupt local agriculture and tourism. California’s droughts have also made access to potable water a serious issue. This explains why the state continues to explore any number of desalination technologies to help transform ocean water into drinkable H2O.
And these problems are only becoming worse as California enters another record-breaking year of drought conditions.
Water Year 2016: Record Droughts Expected to Continue
The period from October 1 to September 30 represents California’s official “water year.”
And according to state regulators, we have just entered our 6th straight year of record droughts. Aquifers are at an all-time low. Crops are in constant danger of drying out. And seasonal wildfires are no longer seasonal – they happen all year long.
This backdrop partially explains why climate change isn’t a partisan issue in California. In fact, Republicans throughout the state are actually 5 times more likely to install solar panels than their liberal counterparts are. And San Diego has a Republican mayor, despite being one of the most active cities in the nation when it comes to solar power.
And perhaps this is what it takes to move the needle. If every American had to deal with the drought conditions that Californians do, there probably wouldn’t be as many climate change skeptics out there.
But we really hope that it doesn’t reach that point. Because if the rest of the country did face what California deals with, it would probably be too late to improve the situation. In fact, many scientists agree that we’re already past the point of no return.
We hope that isn’t the case. But who can say for certain? Humans have never had to deal with carbon levels this high. There really isn’t a roadmap for what to expect.
The good news is that there are positive, actionable steps you can take to mitigate (if not help reverse) the damage.
By going solar today, for example, you can help reduce the amount of CO2 that gets released into the atmosphere. As an added bonus, your solar investment will also reduce the amount of money you pay to the utility company every month. In fact, many of our customers end up with $0 electricity statements – some even receive negative utility bills.
To learn how we can do the same for you, for a free consultation.
