I believe most advances, whether technological, political, social, or otherwise, seem to come along at the right time. Some too soon, some way too late, but these breakthroughs are vital. Technology, for example. The most important inventions in history came along when a need was expressed. And we need technology more than ever. If the population continues to expand as projected, technology is crucial for the expansion/our survival.

We also need democracy and capitalism. Because capitalism drives technology. It ain’t perfect or pretty, but we need it.

Capitalism isn’t about money-hungry sharks. It’s about the biggest consumer society in the world, and how we Americans vet the new technologies using our purchasing power, making them better and cheaper the more we “buy in”.

If you told me 20 years ago that someday I’d have a device in my back pocket that has thousands of songs on it, I would’ve thought you were on crack. Hover boards seemed more plausible.

Now think about solar technology: it’s getting better, but not nearly good enough yet. Why? Because it doesn’t have quite the same consumer lure as, say, smartphones.

Solar could get so good so fast if we threw more money at it. And in 20 years, someone like me could be saying, “Wait, 20 years ago a solar panel that big only produced that little energy?!” I think about my kid, all our kids, and their kids, and their kids, and wonder what this planet will be like when the population doubles. How will we feed all these people? How in the hell will there be enough water? We don’t have enough water now.

What’s the solution? Technology, my friends. Cause most people don’t want to be told how many kids they’re allowed to have or that they should give up their precious power-consuming gadgets.

So, liberals (and anyone else who cares about the future/environment), if clean energy isn’t happening fast enough for you, put your money where your mouth is and start buying solar panels. They will get better and cheaper and, eventually, the polluting factories of the world will buy in, too. Inevitably, clean energy will become cheaper than fossil fuels.

Our dollars (and where we spend them) have a lot more power than we realize. When we want smartphones, we get ‘em. When we want more storage and better sound and picture quality, we get it.

We regular people are certainly capable of shifting the energy industry ourselves, without carbon taxes or waiting for corporations to get greener on their own. As the biggest consumer society in history in both size and discretionary income, why not use that power?

I wish we bought solar panels long ago; we just couldn’t afford it. But I’m looking into those companies that “rent” your roof, but own/maintain the panels themselves.

I’ve always joked that “Better Late Than Never” will be inscribed on my tombstone. Well, solar panels are another thing that will get checked off my “better late than never” list.

My name is Suzanne Jacobetz, aka The Cursing Gourmet, and I am Bridget’s older (not necessarily wiser) cousin. I’m Generation X all the way and do not enjoy it when I hear 80s/90s rock on classic rock stations. I live in the mountains in Colorado with Mike, my husband of 10 years, 15+ miles from a grocery store. It’s a very quiet, peaceful life, or at least it used to be:  a year ago we had our first kiddo, a sweetie pie named Isabelle ❤️