Earth Day. A day once a year when we collectively are reminded that we live on a fragile, singular planet. One planet. No backups, no reboots. As Carl Sagan called it, one “pale blue dot” spinning around a rather average star in a somewhat backwater part of this particular galaxy. Dramatic, huh?.. but also, unavoidably true.
While we’ve spent over a century burning through ancient sunlight (read: fossil fuels) like there’s no tomorrow, technological developments have been patiently improving, allowing us now to directly use actual sunlight, and wind, and the rhythms of tides, waste heat, biomass and more to power our energy-hungry lifestyles. And now we’re at the place where, if we wanted it so, then energy would not be the major climate problem anymore.
What is still missing is the collective will to very swiftly wean ourselves off from our fossil fuel addiction. Also prevalent is the lack of willingness to look at long-term full-cost economics of the energy we use, i.e. the cost that includes the true costs of carbon emissions on health and the planet and our ability to thrive here. For that latter one, we have developed, in a lot of cases, some world-class skills at “can kicking”!
But some still use myths and obfuscation to drive sloth. The excuse that “we don’t have a practical solution” is outdated and also untrue for most of our needs. The idea that changing our ways is impractical; well, no again, only true if we continue to fool ourselves about full life cycle costs and impacts of our choices. That climate change is not real; well, those who still have that perspective really do need to wake up and do some reading! Or perhaps that me as an individual am too small to make a difference; again untrue, absolutely wrong, we can all do our part, and collectively that adds up to a whole lot, and we can influence our leaders to make good long-term decisions.
Look around. The price of solar PV has plummeted by over 90% in the last decade. Wind energy gives fossil fuels a proper run for their money. Energy-saving and efficient solutions are widely available. Where needed, ample audited and credible carbon offsetting schemes can be accessed. Choices abound to reduce pollution emissions; we just have to choose to use them. Here at TII, we’re working on driving and supporting the next phase, rethinking energy from the ground up. That means ultra-efficient solar coatings and panel designs, low-energy cooling systems, new materials that extend device lifespans, and even turning organic waste into usable energy in the form of diesel replacements. Central to our goals is to make our solutions cheaper, better, easier to use than their polluting competition, basically removing the green premium (that is added unreasonably in some circumstances), to get rid of that last excuse of “it’s too expensive” …
We’re at a point now where celebrating Earth Day shouldn’t be about symbolic gestures. It should be about scaling solutions. Rethinking infrastructure. Investing in systems that work with the planet instead of against it. Because if we don’t, Earth Day becomes less of a celebration and more of a eulogy.
So here is to Earth Day 2025. Not a day for guilt, but a day for clarity and renewed purpose. We all need to remember that “All it takes is for good people to do nothing” is demonstrably true, so let’s not let misinformation about climate change win the day.