Renewable energy has become much more cost-competitive over the last several years, yet it is still lagging behind as a percentage of total energy usage.  Renewable energy has many benefits and it really helps to diversify our energy supply, but it still only makes up 11% of all the energy used today (EIA).  My interest in renewable energy began in 2013 when Tesla was named car of the year.  Tesla is a car brand that receives the highest ranking by the Green Car Guide.  The car is all electric and is beginning to include solar panels to help prolong the life of the electric batteries.  Tesla is very impressive, innovative, and is well beyond any car brand in electric car technology. Tesla's early use of renewable energy in a new industry was very inspiring and got me to look deeper at what our country was doing in this area.  While Tesla and others are making a great strides in renewable energy use, 80% of the energy sector is still made up of fossil fuels. This is very concerning because of the harm fossil fuels can do to the environment. One reason for the low renewable energy percentage, is that the government is taking a much less involved role in the renewable energy sector, as compared to how they were with the fossil fuels industry.  If we want to one day move to a truly 100 percent renewable energy future, we need the government to play a more pivotal role.   The government should look at previous policies during other energy phases, they should use the environmental issues to back and shape their policies, and they should spend more time analyzing the economic benefits of renewable energy.  Together these actions could have a tremendous impact and help accelerate growth in this area.

In the early stages of developing energy sources such as coal, oil, gas and nuclear, the government played a crucial role in helping these industries get started. “For example, during the key growth years of what would become our oil and gas industries, tax expenditures on behalf of producers averaged the equivalent of 5 percent of the federal budget. By contrast, the current support for renewables is barely a fifth that size, comprising less than one percent of federal spending” (Pfund). Renewable energy has not gotten the funding it has needed and the funding is slowly decreasing over the past few years. This makes it difficult for the industry to stabilize and become self-sufficient.  The government has provided tax credits for producing renewable energy products that are clean for the environment. However, “coal companies can still take advantage of a measure passed in 1950 that originally allowed them to ‘temporarily’ avoid a tax increase enacted to help fund the Korean War” (Johnson). The government is still providing these industries with very good benefits which is why they aren’t being replace because the sources are so cheap. The government needs to keep making policies for the renewable energy sector because “this kind of stable government policy would provide certainty to the private sector and ensure that investment dollars keep flowing to drive clean energy technologies down the cost curve” (Pfund). Additionally, more government backing of the industry will attract investors to invest their money into this sector. These public and private investments will ultimately bring prices down and make it more affordable for the average citizen.

Some, however, think that funding to renewable energy by the government should be cut. They believe that “one of the problems with some renewables is that they don’t produce consistent baseload power like fossil fuels” (Yonk). Therefore, they do not think that it is reliable enough to allocate federal taxes to. Renewable energy is new and it does have some flaws such as inefficiency and cost, but with additional investment those should improve drastically. “Recent research conducted by Harvard University has shown that advances in battery capabilities could lead to renewable energy technologies becoming more efficient and cheaper. The research states that by using new batteries, costs can be reduced and more energy can be stored” (World Finance). Investment are really starting to help improve technology and help it become more affordable for companies. People are not buying renewable energy right now because fossil fuels continue to be much cheaper and in business most times saving money wins out over saving the environment. A cost effective renewable energy will help change this attitude. But, if investment were to stop, the technology could not improve and renewable energy could not be used because it is too expensive. The government also gives investors security when investing because they know that with a government backing this industry will keep improving.

The widespread negative impacts of fossil fuel use are something that needs more attention of our country and the world.  The best voice for these issues is the government.  The burning of fossil fuels severely impacts the environment by pumping harmful pollutants into the air. These air pollutants and sulfur dioxide emissions trap heat in our atmosphere and have caused a global increase in temperature. The increased temperatures upset our ecosystem and its inhabitants and have contributed to a number of health problems in both humans and animals.   The fuel pollutants also contribute to acid rain which has similar consequences on our water system.  Both of these effects can be devastating to our country if not stopped.   Fossil fuels have also been involved in many accidents where pollutants have leaked out into the ocean or onto land.  One notable example of this was the BP oil spill where a BP ship containing about 4.9 million barrels of oil leaked, which cost them 61 billion dollars to clean up (Associated Press).  The accidental discharge killed many species, did extensive damage to marine habitats and took years and millions of dollars to clean the spill up.  With all of these detrimental environmental impacts from fossil fuels, many would think that renewable energy is obviously a better path to the future.  However, "the fossil fuel industry has ‘spread disinformation’ to delay action on climate change in the same way ‘Big Tobacco’ mislead the public about the scientific evidence linking smoking to lung cancer and heart disease” (Gaither).  Many citizens do not know how harmful these fossil fuels are because the companies do not disclose all the harmful effects they have on the environment.  In contrast, renewable energy generated from solar and wind use natural sources of energy that ensures they are clean and less harmful to the environment. Renewable energy sources are not burned in the same manner as fossil fuels.  The only way to push the country to renewable energy is for the government to take action with policies and financial incentives to accelerate growth in this area. Policies such as the Clean Power Plan and the Production Tax credit will help our country become more environmentally aware of the importance of renewable energy.

Getting the government involved in renewable energy will help the US economy significantly.  With investment in this area it will naturally create more jobs and bring about more efficiency of resources.  For instance, Tesla, the innovative electric car company, is creating a huge battery factory in addition to manufacturing cars. This is the first of its kind and it has created over 1,000 jobs.  This however, was only possible with investments from many people (Lambert).  Also, when this is completed it will help drastically reduce the price of their electric car so the average American can afford them. Another example of corporate America making a switch to renewable energy is Anheuser-Busch.  This company is going to move from 7% renewable energy to 100% by 2025.  Both of these companies see the huge economic benefit of the switch and the secondary environmental benefits.  The problem is that both Tesla and Anheuser-Busch are large companies with a lot of backing.   However, most companies can’t afford this without government investment. Government incentives will be crucial to these companies that are ready to advance their ideas. But, “powerful oil and coal industries that often oppose incentives for renewable development; and energy policy that is heavily influenced by individual states” (Cohen). The government needs to take over this topic and not let the states have that much control over energy policies. They also need to be the voice for the smaller companies who are new entrants in the nation’s industry arena.  If the government invests in this area and makes it a priority, so will others.  And as renewable energy costs continue to decline, this will reap large economic benefits for our country and will build this energy sector to become the main source of energy.

The other side of the argument is that the government should not be involved with renewable energy.  One reason is that people should be able to choose what they want. People have different preferences and they shouldn’t be forced to use this. Also, “when companies and consumers do not take full advantage of efficiency gains, it is because they are weighing other factors that influence decision making. Markets have driven the energy economy in the right direction” (Loris). He believes that the market should decide what sector will survive. However, this process is taking too long and more fossil fuels continue to be used.  In the United States, 1/3 of the population still has doubts about climate change (Gaither). The only way to change that is for the government to create a mandate. The argument in the counterargument is that people should be able to choose what they want, but obviously they don’t know how bad fossil fuels are effecting our environment. Also, letting the market decide how the energy sector should go is taking too long and the environment continues to suffer. A mandate will help increase the size of the renewable energy sector causing an improvement in the environment because there are less fossil fuels.

The environmental and economic benefits of renewable energy is why the government needs to be involved in the growth of this energy sector.  Renewable energy will be the energy source of the United States, but this needs to occur more quickly. While some believe that the market should decide what stays and goes, this topic is much too important to let the market decide. People are often concerned with their own selfish motives and these are often short-sighted.  The lack of action on the part of the government in the energy area is having a lasting negative affect on the environment. Renewable energy can provide the United States with clean and safe energy, and more importantly this will come from a source that cannot be depleted.  Oil and coal have dominated the energy sector for so long that these companies hold a great deal of power over the energy marketplace.   The government needs to work to slowly reduce this power, and initiate policies for the betterment of our country.  This will provide new jobs and long lasting economic success. The government is the deciding factor on what industries will survive. They provide huge investments which help these smaller industries grow to become a huge part of the economy. The government is very cautious in the information it disseminates and does not elaborate on the actual effects of climate change as shown in Gaither’s journal. They want to protect the people of the United States.  In addition, President Trump has clearly stated his position on climate change and the fact that he is skeptical of the science behind it. Given his business background, however, he should quickly realize the tremendous opportunity the renewable energy industry is for the economy. Everyone will benefit from the additional jobs and clean energy it produces, but the industry needs the right resources behind it to push it forward. The government is the only entity with enough power to increase the use of renewable energy so that both the citizens and businessmen can enjoy the benefits.    
