The next time you hear a politician talking about clean energy, just remember this: A new study from Bloomberg shows that government subsidies for fossil fuels around the world are really, really big.
They’re 12 times bigger, in fact, than support for renewable energy!
Now, not all subsidies are bad. Neither are all politicians (or all their promises).
What this shows us, though, is how entrenched fossil fuels are in the lives of people from Berlin to Beijing, Tokyo to Topeka.
It shows us that if society is to move to a clean-energy future, it will take efforts from all of us. We can all do our part, taking actions that add up to something bigger than ourselves – actions that have a real impact.
Do More for the Earth
In the U.S., a large percentage of the fossil fuels that everyday people use come from two places: their cars and their homes.
Of course, most people can’t stop driving everywhere, and it’d be pretty tough to shut off the power and go back to living in caves.
But what if you:
- Drove 25% less this year? You’d cut your greenhouse gas emissions, the stuff that traps heat in the atmosphere and causes climate change, by more than a ton over the course of a year. And you’d save a lot on gas – at least hundreds of dollars.
- Installed a home energy meter? Just by figuring out how you can power your house more efficiently, you can cut your annual emissions by as much as 6.5 metric tons. That’s more than 14,000 pounds. All that energy you’re not using also disappears from your power bills.
Drive less. Or install a home energy meter. They’re two small things … but they can make a big difference in your life.
Act now. Join Team Earth and pledge to make the world a little bit better.
