Kim Potter, a University of Colorado sophomore and CoPIRG intern has a letter to the editor (so far available only on line) on global warming. Points she makes are as follows:
GW is one of the most severe problem facing our nation
Rising sea levels effect our coasts and polar bears
Global warming pollution needs to be reduced 80% by 2050 and we already have the solution to make this possible.
The solutions include…
The entire country can be powered by putting solar panels on just 7% of America’s rooftops.
… improving fuel efficiency and making buildings more sustainable. Steps like these are important to take to help slow global warming down.
Hmmm, this is so “Boulder”. My response to Kim is….
Kim,
Take a course on critical thinking.
There is absolutely no shortage of polar bears, any research at all will enlighten you, but you must be willing to actually do some research instead of allowing yourself to be spoonfed by your immediate peer group.
You state: “The entire country can be powered by putting solar panels on just 7% of America’s rooftops.” Supply me a reference as I would like to learn more. Is there an assumption on solar cell efficiency? Is power cheaper in AZ, FL and the southern US vs. than Northern regions? How do we get power from here to there? Don’t you believe that such a claim needs some type of reference?
I have a friend with a solar panels on his house. Does it make a difference? Yes it does, but that’s just powering his own house. You expect me to believe that putting a solar panel (what size, direction steering, etc, etc?) on only 7 out of every 100 houses (anywhere?) in the US will provide enough energy to power the whole United States? Is that only households or does that included industrial America? How will we charge our electric cars at night? Well I suppose if you collect enough unused energy during the day that you either run the meter backwards or store it in batteries that you can charge the car at night.
You’ve teased us, now do the hard work and supply us with facts from reputable sources.
