Avoid another oil tragedy, look to renewable energy

The tragic explosion at BP’s offshore drilling facility in the Gulf of Mexico, and its devastating aftermath, underscores the need for America to reduce its reliance on gasoline and other fossil fuels and embrace clean-energy alternatives.

Regulation and oversight is one part of the equation. Congress must pass meaningful legislation, not only to prevent future offshore-drilling disasters, but also to stimulate the production and supply of renewable energy.

We also need to change our consumption habits in order to reduce American reliance on oil. While not everyone can afford residential solar panels, many New Jersey residents can enroll their homes in a clean-energy program for a few extra dollars a month. That will help replace coal consumption with wind, small hydroelectric power and other renewableenergy sources.

Once we switch to cleaner electricity, we can then replace gas-powered devices, such as grills, leaf blowers, and hedge trimmers, with electric ones. Not everyone can afford an electric car, but we can switch to fuel-efficient vehicles, reduce unnecessary gasoline usage and take mass transit whenever possible.

If Americans make smarter energy choices now, we can avoid tragedies such as the BP oil spill in the future.

Eddie Konczal

Monroe