Sometimes, US citizens have a hard time thinking globally. We get caught up in local politics and are less likely to read sources of world news. As the home of innovation centers like Silicon Valley, Americans also tend to have tunnel vision when it comes to recognizing the contributions to big ideas by non-Americans.
This is not to discount green energy efforts spearheaded in the States. Americans can easily find information on energy-saving efforts such as EVgo.com. People can easily find charging stations for electric vehicles and infrastructure for other conservationist ideas.
That said, there are a lot of people doing great things all over the world. Their efforts need to be recognized and applauded. Here are a handful that come to mind:
The ECO Bible
When one thinks about environmentalism, one seldom conjures the Hebrew scriptures to mind. Many only know of a few stories from the Torah that have been immortalized by Hollywood, and that few people accept as literal truth. They would be shocked to know that the Torah is also the inspiration for environmentalists. As reported by Karin Kloosterman in, “Eco Bible gives ethical green compass to the woke generation”,
A pair of eco-rabbis in Jerusalem have taken the Bible, also known as the Torah in Hebrew, and found hundreds of passages in it relating to ecology, animal rights, regenerative agriculture, the 3Rs and more, and have found a way to make old ideas relevant to us all in modern times.
From Jerusalem to Tel Aviv – From the Bible Belt to Baghdad, people of faith are recontextualizing their religion in terms of eco-friendly frameworks that are more inviting to younger adherents. Environmentalism begins with an idea. And the idea is extremely portable across all religions and geographies.
Offshore Wind Power
Wind power has always been an exciting source of energy. It has a certain WOW factor not shared by other types of power because you can actually see it. You can be driving along a lonely 2-lane highway and encounter row after majestic row of windmills. They are a glorious sight to behold. They are also clean, efficient, and relatively inexpensive sources of energy.
The only way to make them even more interesting is to put them out to sea. Being surrounded by the ocean, the UK was a natural candidate for offshore wind power. And they have invested heavily in the technology.
They currently have 10.4 GW installed with another 4 GW in the works. Britain is the leader in offshore wind power. And they intend to have 40 GW in 10 years. Ranking third in capacity, China is not far behind. They began a 12 GW construction 2 months ago. When considering the onshore muscle, China is a 236 GW power house. The winds of change are blowing throughout the world.
Investing in an Emissions-Free Future
If you want to know where a company’s priorities are, follow the money. In the case of Spanish utility, Iberdrola SA, 75 billion euros ($88 billion) is going to make them emissions free. Their goal is to triple their renewable energy capacity over the next 10 years.
In the States, there has been a race to carbon neutrality among the tech giants. It started with Apple declaring their intention to achieve it in a decade. Their competitors quickly followed with announcements of their own. Instead of competing for the share of $1,000 smartphones, the tech giants are now out virtue-signalling the others to see who can spend more money to get to carbon neutrality the soonest. In such a race, everybody wins. It almost makes those $1,000 smartphones worth it.
Regardless of the motives, US companies do a lot for the environment. It is good to know that other companies and nations around the world are equally, if not more committed to clean energy. Let us take a moment to recognize the efforts of leaders of world religion to give their people even more reason to value the planet. Let us raise a mug to the UK for reminding America and the world that the answer is blowing in the wind. And let us recognize Spain for putting their money where their heart is. With such efforts all over the planet, a better world is inevitable, and much closer than we thought.
