00:00I'm standing here on a green roof run by the New York City Parks Department with some beautiful solar panels
00:04right next to me.
00:05There's a lot of misinformation going around about solar panels, but I'm here to tell you the truth.
00:09You may have heard a lot of bogus talk about renewable energy, specifically solar panels being an unreasonable threat to
00:14public health.
00:15Now, this isn't anything new, and some of these worries are understandable, but all of them are easily refuted.
00:20So, let's debunk some myths about solar panels.
00:23Myth number one, solar panels are too noisy.
00:25I'll tell you, these solar panels are making no noise whatsoever.
00:29The noise that you get from any solar farm is not nearly enough to harm your physical or mental health.
00:34Inverters that change electricity from direct current to alternating current for the grid produce about 70 decibels of noise, which
00:40is just about as much as a window unit air conditioner.
00:42So, you get 100 feet away, that noise disappears into the background.
00:46Myth number two, solar panels are ugly.
00:48That's, of course, entirely subjective.
00:50I kind of think where I am right now is pretty nice, but if you don't like the look of
00:53them, you can put them in remote locations or surround them with beautiful agriculture, so you don't have to look
00:58at them anymore.
00:59Myth number three, solar panels are toxic.
01:01The amount of materials like cadmium and lead that are in solar panels are really tiny, plus they're encased in
01:07tempered glass.
01:08If the solar panels burn, these materials are trapped inside the tempered glass, but these panels don't burn very easily.
01:14And you can't talk about the health and environmental impacts of solar without talking about the impacts of the alternatives.
01:18Burning coal produces far more toxic materials like lead and cadmium that harm human health and agriculture.
01:24The estimated two million unplugged, unused oil wells in this country are releasing toxic materials into the ground all the
01:31time.
01:31Plus, they're releasing planet-heating methane gases.
01:34Myth number four, solar panels' electromagnetic fields make people sick.
01:37If you stand really close to an inverter, you will get a little electromagnetic radiation, about as much as you'd
01:42get standing next to an electric can opener.
01:44Microwave ovens produce far more electromagnetic radiation in your kitchen.
01:49Myth number five, solar panels are hard to decommission and clean up.
01:52Most solar panels are recycled these days.
01:54Solar developers are usually obligated to clean up the panels once their life ends, an obligation that's usually secured with
02:00a bond.
02:00And any waste associated with solar panels is not even a rounding error compared to the waste that comes from
02:05burning fossil fuels, such as toxic coal ash waste.
02:08Climate change is making the planet hotter, raising the risks of drought, wildfire, storms, and other things that harm human
02:14health and productivity.
02:15This is going to cost us trillions of dollars in lost economic activity and millions of lives if we don't
02:21do something about it soon.
02:22The human brain is hardwired to trust things that are familiar and distrust things that are new.
02:27That doesn't make people dumb, it just makes them susceptible to fear-mongering.
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