Renewables solve world's energy crisis; just ask Texas

Early last Sunday morning, wind turbines in Texas were producing so much energy with such little demand that electricity prices became negative for several hours, reaching negative $8.52 per megawatt hour. There are a few factors that make Texas's energy infrastructure unique, but we still need to acknowledge this event as further proof of the effectiveness of renewable energy sources.

This is not the first instance of electricity prices going negative, either; nuclear, solar, and hydroelectric power have been known to do so as well. While this presents a problem for the energy companies who may pay buyers to take electricity, it shows us that — with further research into storage techniques and restructuring of power grid — these renewable resources could be our future.

With renewable sources that work, we must seriously begin to reduce our dependency on energy sources that are finite and damaging to the environment, such as natural gas, coal, and oil. Not only does the process of mining these resources harm the local environment, their use is harmful to the atmosphere by creating greenhouse gases and pollutants that infect the air we breathe. Despite massive drawbacks, these "unclean" energy sources still receive massive governmental subsidies annually.

Renewable energy sources do not come with the same warning labels. Once a wind turbine is installed, it has extremely low operational costs and does not pollute the environment around it. The only pollution and price tag associated with hydroelectric dams is in the initial construction, after which they require little maintenance and are very flexible sources of energy. Though nuclear energy is not technically renewable, the world has enough uranium to last 80 years. Solar energy is equally promising.

Proper funding into the research and implementation of renewable energy sources could overcome the current barrier of a high entry price and consequently sustain our future and our planet. Texas has disproved conservative arguments that renewables will blow up energy prices. Renewable energy does not create nearly the same environmental impact as fossil fuels do, and it undoubtedly works.