I’ve decided to make this an annual tradition starting this year. There’s no time like the present to start another yearly tradition. Some of you may already know of my annual Independence Day Open Letter, but this is the first time I’ve done an Earth Day Open Letter.

Earth Day this year is especially important given all that has happened in the few years. The radioactive incident in Japan, Deepwater Horizion, the new reports about Fracking, sweeping droughts, weather pattern changes, all are very real reminders that changing our world is not a “tomorrow” problem. It is a today problem.

We have the technology, but can we overcome our apathy?

One of the primary things plaguing us and preventing us from solving the very real problems today is apathy and ignorance. I still hear people today claim that climate scientists have it all wrong and that there is nothing to worry about, so we shouldn’t change our lives. The argument is nonsense. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe climate scientists are wrong and we aren’t going through global climate change (regardless of what the data shows), why can’t we still clean up our act? We know that fossil fuels are finite resources, and the argument against renewable energy augmenting a huge part of that demand (I don’t see it ever completely going away, but being a much smaller percentage) is that it is too expensive. It will be too expensive if we don’t change our ways now, rather than later. Of course I would love to run out and buy a Nissan Leaf or Chevrolet Volt, but like many of you I don’t have the money to do that.

However, what I do have the funds to do is to rebuild my credit, get out of my current debt, and upgrade my car to hopefully a full electric, or a hybrid electric, or if nothing else a highly economical car, like the Smart Car. Sure, until the cost of the Volts and the Leafs come down many of us won’t be able to upgrade, but they will come down, and hopefully that will be when the life cycle of our current cars have come to an end. Until then, we can reduce trips, carpool, use mass transit, or telecommute. Lifestyle changes that can make a big impact.

There are other things we can do: diminish our use of plastics. This can be as simple as changing from Plastic Bags to canvas and other types of reusable bags when going to the grocery store, to reducing the use of plastics in the home (swapping plastic dishes for glass, etc.).

Time to go solar!

If you’ve been thinking about solar power for a while now, but found buying solar arrays outside of your ability, there are other options. Planet Forward at George Washington University, broadcasting on PBS (yes, that PBS) just named Sungevity as Innovator of the Year. Why? Because they found a way to help finance solar installations. You lease your solar panels from Sungevity, and they maintain the installation, you get to keep the savings on your electric bill. Now isn’t that a bright idea? They also have options to buy. But either way, if we all put solar panels on our roof tops we will decrease the amount of energy needed to be generated by coal and natural gas power plants.

No Magic Bullet

I hear a lot of people talking about looking for that one fuel that will replace Gasoline for our cars, coal for our power plants, etc.

I don’t see that happening. I see our transportation energy especially coming from multiple sources, with different fuel types being available, whether it’s biofuels from algae, Liquid Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, all-electric, ultra-efficient petroleum engines, the days of just being able to pull up to a pump and not worry about the label is over.

The same, I think, holds true for electricity generation. We will need a mix of solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, hydro, natural gas, and hopefully soon fusion power plants. In the mean time, reducing our energy consumption through efficiency, lifestyle, and culture changes is important. The need for bright electric billboards in cities is not there, it may look pretty, but it is ultimately a waste of energy.

Time to kill apathy

Ultimately, going green is more about killing our apathy than anything else. Changing how we live our lives is the first and greatest step.

In my household we recycle more than we throw in the trash. We use energy-efficient bulbs where possible, we watch our water usage, and we use green household products. I use reusable bags whenever possible when I go to the grocery store, saving money as I typically only purchase what I can fit into three reusable bags.

We have the technology, we have the capabilities to reduce our impact on the globe, the question is, will we?