Nkwame’s climate conundrum
The other day, as I was cruising around New Hampshire in my shiny new Chevy Bolt and proudly proclaiming the merits of solar-powered electric transportation, I received an unexpected message from South Africa. An old friend by the name of Nkwame had seen my recent writings on clean energy and wondered about the availability of solar power to combat poverty and unemployment in South Africa. “When is it coming down to south?” he asked.
I responded with my customary optimism that solar and wind have the potential to create millions of middle-class jobs and offset all 368 million tons of annual carbon pollution emitted by South Africa’s coal-fired power plants and other fossil fuels – not to mention extending electricity to the 7.7 million poor South Africans who still are disconnected from the grid. I suggested Nkwame find a local solar company and begin installing the panels in his community, one roof at a time.
Then I came back down to earth. Recalling the time my wife and I spent living in her native land, and the trips I regularly took into South African townships while working for democratic reforms with Nkwame, I had to acknowledge a pair of fundamental flaws in my idea.
Ruth