Imagine a future where everyone owns their own solar panels free and clear, where we all have equable access to power. The Center for Social Inclusion has a nifty new definition of energy democracy, and has released a new report on the efforts of our friends at Solar Mosaic.
What is Energy Democracy?
Imagine a community of farmers in the heartland harnessing the wind
for clean, reliable power or an urban neighborhood generating solar
energy in a public space that feeds the energy needs of a whole
neighborhood. This is a future that is possible today. It’s a future of
people coming together, solving local, national and global problems. We
call this Energy Democracy and it produces solutions for everyone.
Energy democracy means that community residents are innovators,
planners, and decision-makers on how to use and create energy that is
local and renewable. By making our energy solutions more democratic, we
can make places environmentally healthier, reduce mounting energy costs
so that families can take better care of their needs, and help stem the
tide of climate change.
To create this future today, we need an “all hands on deck” approach
and this requires that we recognize that all Americans have a role to
play, including people of color. There are no effective national
solutions that exclude people of color because a majority of the US
population will soon be Latino, Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and
Native American. Policies, capacity-building, and engagement around
green energy solutions must support diverse communities to ensure
meaningful innovation so that these solutions can be scaled for more
impact.
Read more and download the report at: http://www.centerforsocialinclusion.org/ideas/energy-democracy/
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