By Frank Dalene
There is no question that climate change is a divisive subject. Recently, President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the UN Conference of the Parties held in Belém, Brazil, (COP30) and declared climate change to be “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.”[1]
Distrust in the concept of climate change and the havoc it might wreak on the planet and the economy is also sown by the retraction of high-profile studies, like the oft-cited study in the prestigious journal Nature on the economic damage from climate change that was just retracted in the first week of December.[2] This isn’t the first time something like this happened, and it plays into why many people—including those in the highest offices in the country—won’t buy into the “climate-scare-narrative.”
All of this is why I try to steer clear of the climate change debate all together—and instead, focus on the financial benefit of adopting renewable energy. The financial benefit of adopting renewable energy is not theoretical or based on faulty projections. It’s a known fact—and I’m living proof of it every day.
This is something I have focused on for much of my career. It goes all the way back to when I chaired the Town of East Hampton Energy Sustainability Advisory Committee where I made sure the concept of a financial benefit was included in our Comprehensive Energy Vision. It goes all the way back to when I founded the Hamptons Green Alliance (HGA) to promote sustainable, resilient building and maintenance practices. It goes back to how we were trained when we became a Building Performance Institute (BPI)-Accredited Contractor and to when we became part of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Home Improvement With Energy Star program.
This entire program was based on doing a scientific energy audit on the existing inventory of homes and NYSERDA paid for the audit, not the customer! Before making a proposal to a customer—we would use BPI software to estimate the cost. Say we were weatherizing a building to stop air infiltration, which is the number one cause of heat loss. We would calculate the energy savings based on our local costs for electricity (which is one of the highest in the country, by the way!) and whatever the client was using to heat the building and use that to justify the cost of the proposal we presented to the client. Factoring in the financial benefits of energy efficiency was always part of everything we did.
Even my peer-reviewed paper published in the American Institute of Physics, Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy on the ultra-green luxury home the HGA built included a cost analysis and payback period based on the energy-saving innovations and technologies we used!
I have a whole career’s worth of proof of the financial benefits of renewable energy—and that proof continues through today. The solar panel system I have installed at my house has produced over 18,000 kWh more electricity than we consumed over the past six years. That includes charging a Chevrolet Silverado EV pickup truck with over 13,000 miles on it for a full year and a half. This pickup truck has only been charged at our home—and the sun is providing the energy for free. It literally hasn’t cost me a single penny to operate this truck since I bought it.
The manufacturer of our solar panels tracks our electric production and the positive environmental impacts they are having. As of today, our solar panel array has produced 85,103 kWh of electricity in its lifetime. The electric cost on our grid is $0.30/kWh—so that equals $25,530.90 savings in electric costs. Our out-of-pocket cost for the materials and installation of our solar panel system was $23,858.00. Therefore, in less than six years, the cost of our solar panel system has paid for itself in electric savings.
And now, the real savings begin. The life span of the system is 30-40 years; the warranty is for 30 years. That means we will have free electricity for our home and an EV vehicle for the next 24 to 34 years—which, given I am 71 years old, could mean I am going to get free electricity for the rest of my life.
This is not a con job. It is not a scam. It is a fact, a real-life example of the financial benefit of adopting renewable energy. I will go as far as to say anyone who doesn’t install solar panels as I have is fiscally irresponsible and a fool!
Moreover, in addition to the financial benefit—which, honestly, was my primary motivation—the environmental benefits to date are: 66 Tons of CO2 emissions avoided, which is equivalent to 1003 Trees planted and fully grown, 149,300 Miles not driven, and 6,770 Gallons of gas not used.
This is the actual math. This is real savings. It’s no longer a theory or a projection, it’s a fact—an indisputable fact.
Ultimately, we don’t need to get embroiled in the climate change debate. We just need to be motivated by saving money. After all, everyone is motivated by money. We all want a sale, a deal. With the state of our economy, we all want to and need to save money. That should be our motivation—and the environmental benefits will follow. That is the beauty of our free market economy, where we have the freedom to choose.
Being so divided is not good for our country—or the world. If we continue to have the division we have in this country, we are never going to solve the problem. If we can bring people together, if people are willing to work together, even if they initially disagree on certain points, then we can actually create real change.
Frank Dalene, an Amazon Best Selling Author in Green Business & Environmental Economics titled, Decarbonize The World: Solving The Climate Crisis While Increasing Profits In Your Business, and Founder of the Hamptons Green Alliance, a 501(c)(3) Public Charity. Learn more at frankdalene.com and hamptonsgreenalliance.org.
[1] Valerie Volcovici, “Trump Tells UN That Climate Change Is ‘greatest Con Job’ Globally,” sec. COP30, Reuters, September 23, 2025, https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/trump-tells-un-that-climate-change-is-con-job-2025-09-23/.
[2] Aylin Woodward and Ed Ballard, “Climate Change Study Predicting Dire Economic Damage Is Retracted,” Science, Wall Street Journal, December 3, 2025, https://www.wsj.com/science/environment/climate-change-study-retraction-nature-454cd61b.