Peter's Viewpoint

Who are those responsible for the destruction of earth’s natural resources?

Oil and electric companies place the blame on the consumer.  After all while the profit in the billions giving us the gas, oil, and electricity to make our lives more comfortable, they keep the economy going through production.

History is supposed to teach us that we should not repeat the same mistakes of the past but it appears that the energy companies may have construed that to mean not having a sinking ship destroy the coastline.  We as consumers began the campaign to reduce the use of oil and electricity back in the 70’s when we were awakened by the blackmail of the same companies.  Then the Valdez came to remind us again that we should be more conservative and respectful in the use of energy.  We may have managed to decrease the usage but then we were victimized by the vicious circle of the auto companies offering super powered larger cars with engines that increased the consumption of oil and gas, coalesced with air conditioning that spread world wide requiring enormous amounts of electricity.

Solar energy is now available but we are still not seeing the technology used as much as it can to develop an entire industry that can increase jobs while at the same time reduce demands on energy.

In Greece, the electric company has finally created a solution that is totally in their favor.  The government and the government owned electric company have delayed the use of solar energy until now.  The reason being is that they designed their business plan so that the consumer will fund the investment that will provide the government with the opportunity to resell the energy to northern European countries.

With an investment of starting at 20,000 Euros and a payback period of 10 to 20 years, the consumer is NOT allowed to use the photovoltaic energy that is generated from the solar cells and power regulators that will be installed on their homes nor is the amount to be offset against the energy bill.  Instead consumers are required to continue to pay their electric bills and wait for their money and return on investment that the electric company will pay based on a price that is set by the electric company.  In addition to that, they suggest that the consumer use a loan from a bank and they do not indicate what if any tax deductions will be made or whether income tax will be paid by the consumer.

So we have to ask ourselves, is it really their fault or ours?

Damned is we do, damned if we don’t.