Energy secretary to give talk on environment

Environmentally friendly energy could also positively affect finances in the long-term.

09:04 06 June 2013

The Energy Secretary is expected to give a speech regarding the effects of climate change and criticising those who do not believe that people are significantly contributing to the issue.

 

A bill had been introduced previously for all energy to be generated by low-carbon sources by 2030, but that part of the bill was dropped eventually. One of the aspects that is often overlooked when discussing environmental issues is that of the financial implications. 

 

Switching to “green” energy sources does not necessarily mean negative financial implications, and the long term benefits are difficult to weigh against the short-term expenditure. Here are some ways that widespread “green” energy could affect daily life:

 

• Utility bills-depending on the methods used to implement environmentally friendly energy; utility bills may rise at first, but then should eventually become less expensive than traditional utility bills. 

 

• Products-”green” energy of this magnitude would affect everything from transportation to production. Again it’s likely that the immediate financial situation would mean that product become more expensive to pay for the changes, but then would reduce as the cost of making the changes is paid off by the less expensive renewable energy.

 

• Health care-this isn’t one of the issues that pops immediately to mind when discussing the financial implications of “green” energy, but it would be interesting to see if there is a potential for reduced health issues, which could mean more immediate savings for the universal health care system, and for patients. That doesn’t include a price tag for the benefit of good health, but one could argue that any cost is worth promoting improved health and life.

 

• Food-there may be other things that we don’t take into consideration much when talking about the carbon footprint and financial impacts, but it’s very possible that our food is negatively impacted by some of the environmental changes going on and switching to a “clean” energy source without toxic waste involved, or at least substantial minimizing of such waste, could make our food healthier. This could again potentially save us from serious health expenses.