This Morning's Radio Show: Clean Energy's Good and Bad Ideas

I was a guest on a radio program this morning on socially responsible investing (SRI), hosted by a very amiable local woman, Robin Eschler.  The discussion was quite positive and uplifting overall.  How could it have been otherwise?  Robin is delightful, and there are many ideas in energy efficiency and clean energy that are such obvious slam-dunks that they couldn’t possibly fail as our planet’s population continues to grow and our remaining natural resources continue to vanish.  Who doesn’t want to make money and do the right thing at the same time?  Some of these ideas boil down to exactly that simplicity.

That’s where it gets tricky.  Some of these ideas boil down to that, but not all.  Or, to put it more precisely, some, but only a very few out of thousands of concepts, most of which don’t offer any real value at all to a civilization trying to solve a huge and potentially lethal problem. 

That’s where the conversation in situations like these can get a bit awkward.  What to say about ideas that, though they come from well-meaning sources, that I simply think are doomed to failure?  How should I deal with very direct questions which, if answered truthfully, could be construed as questioning the judgment of the host and the people whose ideas she’s supporting?  Personally, I don’t sweat it; I just tell the truth, but then try to be diplomatic by explaining that this is just my opinion; I could be wrong; I’ve been wrong before, etc. – all perfectly true — and then quickly move on. 

This, btw, is one of the dozens of reasons that I wouldn’t last in government for 10 minutes.  Politicians eat this stuff for breakfast.  They can provide an answer to far more targeted and aggressive questioning in ways that are so slick and so evasive that the viewer hardly even knows he’s just been bamboozled.  Further, politicians don’t apologize, they don’t admit uncertainty, and they appear to feel exactly zero remorse when they tell bald-faced lies.  They could be explaining that two and two are five, but by God, you’re going to get it with conviction. 

Often, I’m awestruck when I see the best in action.  Yet it’s a skill-set I don’t have, and I certainly don’t care to develop.

In any case, I’ll post a link to this interview, about 45 minutes in length, as soon as it’s available.