Level Playing Field for Renewable Energy

I’m always delighted when I come across supporters of the idea that I’ve referred to as the “level playing field” for renewable energy. That is, I’m not asking for a subsidy for solar, wind, geothermal, etc. Rather, I’m asking that producers and consumers of fossil fuels simply pay the full cost of these forms of energy, including the costs of healthcare (caring for victims of the mercury, arsenic and other pollutants that cause lung damage and birth defects) as well as cleaning up the vast environmental damage. If we were somehow able to get such a system in place, we’d make the migration to renewable energy in the blink of an eye.

Here’s an op-ed piece in today’s New York Times that speaks to the very issue. Given the watered down discussions in Copenhagen, I think it’s more than a little relevant.