A Glimmer of Hope this Earth Day?

This Earth Day marks the first time in the last century that April 22 will see the pollution needle moved dramatically backward. And yet this victory is bittersweet. It is caused by a sweeping global pandemic, whose human and economic impacts have been all too real and drastic – and the reprieve the Earth has experienced may only be fleeting. Yet if COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is that through joint action and a nearly-universal commitment to a single goal, we can have a monumental impact almost immediately.  So imagine if we put even a fraction of that sense of universality and community behind an effort to stop climate change.

It is exceedingly difficult to welcome the now-clear skies in normally pollution-riddled cities while simultaneously lamenting the lives and livelihoods that have been and will be lost to this pandemic. But there is a small ray of hope that we can learn a lesson that can be applied more broadly – that collective and drastic action is sometimes required to reverse what could otherwise be inevitable.

SunShare’s subscribers have always been driven by a sense of personal integrity and responsibility to the community – and as they have led the charge in environmental stewardship for their own families and communities, we hope that this movement will take hold in a larger way. Our CEO David’s own sense of environmental responsibility was germinated by his mother’s teachings and burgeoned as he learned the differences – both positive and negative – individual decisions can have on the environment every day. He has always felt that one of the best ways for people to learn to value the environment is to have a personal relationship with nature through experiencing it first-hand. And as human interactions are restricted and indoor activities are limited, the opportunity to re-engage with nature becomes not only a welcome respite but in many ways a lifeline. David’s inspiration for future generations is all too relevant today, even in the face of this pandemic. This current plight only reinforces that we need to have a healthy respect for both the human and non-human inhabitants of our earth.

As we celebrate Earth Day, the time is ripe to commit to bold action to protect our environment and natural resources.  We're seeing now what communities working toward a common goal can accomplish – for the first time in 30 years, the Himalayas can be seen from parts of India without the fog of pollution.  At SunShare, we make the commitment each day to expand community solar and generate clean, renewable energy in place of fossil fuels that are far more harmful – albeit slower-moving – than this pandemic.

Now is the time to prove that we can and we will make bold changes to heal our planet.