Earth Day in Southern Arizona

Think globally - Act locally

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

Earth Day - progress through community action
a guest editorial originally published in the Arizona Daily Star on Earth Day, April 22, 2000

Earth Day reminds us that we are all members of a community – not just our local community of homo sapiens, but a greater community that embraces the whole world and everything in it.

No matter what our spiritual beliefs, the scientific reality of this becomes more clear with every passing year. In fact, it seems like science and spirituality - once perceived as being at odds - are now trending in a common direction: there is a unity in our world and the universe that is wondrous and profound.

The more we explore and study our world, the more we appreciate the nature of that unity. An amazingly intricate web of life connects and sustains all living things.

On the first Earth Day in 1970, over 20 million people around the U.S. celebrated Mother Earth's web of life and sought unity in protecting it. Today, with the new millennium, over 500 million people in every nation in the world are uniting to save the environment. It is the largest organized event in history. More and more people are recognizing how serious our situation is.

After thirty years of environmental progress, it is shocking to find that the biggest threat to our world and the focus, again, of this year's Earth Day campaign is still the same – energy. Energy production and use continues to be the single most destructive human activity on planet Earth. And it's getting worse with each passing year.

The United States has a special responsibility in this. With less than one twentieth of the world's population, we use almost one quarter of the world's energy. The world also looks to us as a trendsetter in lifestyles and technology.

We knew what to do about our energy problems thirty years ago. Local, state and national energy policies all agree: we need to switch to renewable energy and use energy more efficiently. Doing so would help with all sorts of other social, economic and geopolitical problems too.

It's not as if we don't have lots of good alternatives. For example, 40% of our energy is devoted to buildings. Passive solar design and currently available technology can easily cut residential utility bills by 75% and those of commercial buildings by over 50%.

In fact, solar design is the basis of a veritable revolution in home building that can cut the costs of home ownership by over 50%. For those buying an average home in Tucson today, this means hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings over just the 30 year period of the mortgage. Other highly cost-effective opportunities abound in virtually everything we do with energy.

Tucson, and Arizona, are blessed with the greatest solar resource in the nation. Using current technology, roof areas are more than enough to provide energy for homes and other uses. An area the size of Tucson is more than enough to supply the electrical needs of the entire state. An area the size of Arizona's smallest county is more than enough to supply the electrical needs of the entire U.S.

Over these 30 years, Tucson has become recognized as a leader in solar energy, alternative building and sustainable development. Exciting progress is being made and the potential benefits of these new, softer paths to each of us and our community are enormous.

So, what do we do? The experience of the last 30 years has shown us that the big energy interests based on the old technologies will not, of course, willingly give up the control they have of the lucrative energy market. Try as they may, they have not been able to figure out how to control the sun or profit from less energy use.

Nor has government led the way. There are some fine exceptions, but for the most part public energy policy continues to be set by special interests focusing on their own bottom lines rather than the needs of society.

Instead, we might look to community and choice. These are fundamental to American ideals and our chosen way of life. The way to a brighter future lies in sharing our knowledge and experience, hopes and dreams and creating our own future through our own personal choices. When people lead, their government and industry follow.

Yes, we should insist that our elected officials make energy and environment a top priority. And, yes, we should support and vote only for candidates who really care about this and are committed to real solutions.

Also, each of us as "consumers" and investors, has an important opportunity to effect change with each financial decision that we make. Collectively, our buying decisions move entire industries.

But to effect those changes, our best choice is to join in working together through community. There is a lot of good work being accomplished in Tucson and many groups contributing to such solutions. As a community, we can empower and help each other to accomplish the needs and desires we share.

With each decision we make, we consciously contribute to the creation of our individual and collective futures. Believe in your power. We caused this problem and we have it within ourselves to create alternatives. If we are mindful of the important things in life, we can change our world for the better.

A physicist, Paul Huddy is former Director of the Arizona Solar Energy Commission and a founder of the Solar Institute, a non-profit community research and educational organization which is a member of the Earth Day Network.

© Copyright 2000 et seq, Paul Huddy. All rights reserved.

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