Energy Policy — Where's the Solution?

We see a great deal of social criticism, lambasting us Americans for being fat, lazy super-consumers. In that vein, frequent commenter Dan Conine writes:

Most of the electricity people get (including myself) isn’t necessary. Most of the activities we perform are useless to the future and only serve our entertainment … and our pollution of the world.

I don’t dispute that. But where’s the solution here? Change hundreds of millions of people’s way of thinking about their responsibilities and their overall lifestyle choices? Sounds like a challenge – getting through to a nation of people who are busy driving their SUVs out to Walmart to stock up on Budweiser and guacamole for the Super Bowl.

There is no doubt to you, me, and most other 2GreenEnergy readers that Americans’ indolent lifestyle cannot sustain itself. I think we’ve already proven that with our child cancer rates, financial bailouts, ceaseless wars, obesity, school test scores, etc.   And if you want to see some real social chaos, wait until you see what happens when the world (especially the US with its sense of entitlement) comes face-to-face with the impact of peal oil in the not-too-distant future.

But again, I ask: Where’s the solution? I like to think of myself as a man of action. I like to solve problems. So when I look at this energy problem and all its implications in public health, national security, global climate change, empowering evil, and so forth, I look for a big, broad solution – and that’s renewable energy.

All I’m asking is that *we the people* put pressure on our elected officials.  Force them to create legislation that levels of playing field on which renewables compete against fossil fuels. As I’m fond of saying, take away the subsidies and get everyone to pay to true and full costs of the energy we produce and consume — and see how long coal and oil last as industries.  They’ll be gone in an afternoon. 

In any case, we either make a lot of noise and create a difference in the trajectory of energy-related policy, or we’ll get exactly what will have so richly deserved.