Rising Temperatures Create Climate Change Emergency Across the Pacific Northwest

As sweltering temperatures set record highs across the Pacific Northwest this week, media attention balloons once again around the issue of climate change and the solutions communities might implement to combat it. On Sunday, the temperature in Portland spiked to 112 degrees Fahrenheit, with Seattle breaking records at 108. Highs across the area typically average in the 70s for this time of year. While these high temperatures may be more common fare in Arizona, the record heat spikes in areas like the Pacific Northwest are dangerous for several reasons.

Many residential houses and small businesses in affected rural areas have minimal to no air cooling solutions in place while a rising homeless population in urban areas has run parallel to rising rental costs. Due to Covid-19 precautions, closed public bathrooms and no access to working water fountains have left city leaders scrambling for last minute alternative solutions to help citizens keep cool and safe during the heat wave. A lack of thorough preparation has placed the burden of mutual aid on non-profits and neighbors to create makeshift water, shower, toileting and cooling solutions.

On Monday, Spokane's electrical company, Avista, began unplanned rolling blackouts throughout the city in order to curb strain on the overloaded power grid. A public outcry followed on social media as these outages came without notice. As wildfire season is just getting started, this week feels like the beginning of an apocalyptic blockbuster.

The Pacific Northwest heatwave is a wake up call toward a rising global awareness regarding our climate impact on Earth. It is just one of many permanent climate change emergencies emerging across the globe. While climate change is often a less popular subject in the media, it is imperative that we start conversations and take immediate steps to combat it now.

Really Clean Energy has solutions for cities, government institutions, businesses, and residential areas affected by climate change. To meet the United States commitment to the clean energy and sustainability goals put forth in The Paris Agreement, a reduction in net energy emissions through the use of solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, tidal, biomass and gasification technology must be put in place. We offer cities and businesses renewable solutions through our Really Clean Energy planning and consulting services.

We believe renewable energy is the way of the future, however, there is not a one size fits all solution. The optimal operating conditions, costs, and ROI for solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, tidal, biomass, and waste-to-energy vary significantly from region to region. We will help you identify which renewable energy solutions are most suitable and economical for your project taking into consideration existing infrastructure, resources, location, available incentives, and regulations.

There are often steps which a government or business operation can take to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions to meet new regulations which also have an attractive ROI. Our "reduce before you produce" mentality allows us to work with existing equipment and processes as much as possible to minimize project costs. We will analyze your operation for cost saving opportunities as a Phase 1 effort while building a longer term program to work on together. We may also collaborate on studying and securing local, state, and federal grants and rebates for qualifying projects.

A worldwide movement to transition away from fossil fuels towards renewables to achieve net-zero carbon emissions is well underway. What does this mean for your business or your community? Work with us to analyze, design, and implement solutions to meet regulatory compliance and remain economically competitive while taking steps to achieve a net-zero emissions status.