Environmental Optimism

Marigolds' post on Friday, "Clean, Affordable, and Safe?" got me thinking about our ever growing demands for energy, and the impact it has on the environment. As resources become scarce, I worry that we are seriously unprepared for the future, and that no one in this country is preparing for the coming years when oil will become even more scarce, and exponentially more expensive.

Okay, that's not entirely true, the Pentagon has had plans for the coming environmental meltdown for a few years now.

I have mixed feelings about the energy crisis. While I realize that people's lives will be made difficult, and that many people believe that we have already reached the peak of oil production, I have always thought that the one thing that may save the planet, is oil running out before we reach some point of no return. The OPEC cartel's refusal to increase production, may actually be helping the planet. And while I know logically that many Americans are hurt by rising fuel costs, the expense of gasoline seems to be the only thing that motivates Americans to buy hybrids, or drive less. The warning signs of changing weather patterns and serious drought are not sufficient to motivate the population to use less water, but if the nuclear plants shut down, and folks have to pay through the nose for scarce electricity, you can bet that most everyone will get the message.

What our country should be focused on today is alternative energy. If we were smart and forward thinking, we would have already spent billions on an infrastructure and technology that could efficiently produce massive amounts of ethanol and wind power. We have no such infrastructure, and the only alternative energy sector in which we are ahead of the rest of the world is solar technology, which as an alternative to other types of power, is still in its infancy, and will not give us any relief if a large part of our nuclear sector should have to go off line because of a serious drought. Our country has very few wind farms, and if nuclear facilities shut down, we will have to purchase power, and that is expensive.

As our economy deteriorates, and America continues to consume much more than we produce, I think the time has come for a Green Economic Revolution. The country needs energy. The world needs energy. We cannot survive without it. We need to create a task force much like the Manhattan Project during WWII, only instead of death and destruction, let's bring the planet clean energy solutions, and hope for the future. Two Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, have ideas about how to create jobs in America, and at the same time, impact the environment by employing Americans in "Green Collar Jobs". And even if we only succeed in cutting our oil consumption by ten percent in the next decade, as the biggest consumer of oil on the planet, and thereby, the greatest danger to the planet, a cut by 10 percent of consumption is huge. It will also help the economy, not just by placing American workers in these green jobs, but by eliminating the imports of foreign oil by 10 percent.

Energy independence is key to America's economic future. Green technology is key to the future of the planet. We are way behind the rest of the world in alternative energy.

It's time we catch up.

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