Desperate times lead to desperate measures, and this is one of the good ones. Ohio lawmakers plan to introduce a bill to require solar panels to be installed in all schools to lower electricity costs, stimulate the market, take advantage of the 30% federal tax credit, and boost the state’s green energy industry.

This is not so much a mandate as a survival tactic. The downturn in the economy and all its business difficulties have proven one thing for sure. Alternative energy is where it is, there is growth, there are jobs, and there is hope with alternative energy.

A mandate is change, something that people are always hesitant to do. But change is exactly what is needed for this country. We cannot keep draining fossil fuels from the ground to produce energy that can be done just as well or better with solar panels. Solar energy is free energy, clean energy, sustainable energy, and an energy source that is set to grow by leaps and bounds in the coming decades.

Mandates for Ohio schools must be taken at the national level and enforced at the federal level in order for all schools in the country to have solar power. How many millions of jobs would that kind of mandate generate, as well as how many billions of dollars would be saved by getting our energy from solar power rather than coal from oil?

We must face the facts, we must end fossil fuels to feed our needs. We are at the mercy of those who pump oil or extract coal, instead of taking our kidneys into our own hands, demanding the use of solar energy in all areas and being free from the nightmare of fossil fuels, along with all the pollution. , the high prices and wars that are being fought.

Fossil fuels are a dead end, while solar energy and other sustainable fuel sources are the real bright light. The sooner and faster we get out from under the scourge of fossil fuels, the better this planet and the economy will be, even if that requires mandates to do so.