Renewable Energy is Coming – But Why?

The other day I wrote a post on my Renewable Energy World blog which garnered a number of interesting comments that I thought I’d pass along. I began the post by indicating that important events in the world generally happen because powerful people make them happen, and that these actions tend to be indifferent to the wellbeing of the vast majority of the world’s population. As an example, I cited George W. Bush’s fixation on removing Saddam Hussein from power and how, in the process, the real threat to world peace and our national security that was developing next door in Afghanistan and Pakistan went unnoticed.

I pointed out that, according to this theory, that although the migration to renewable energy will happen – it will occur for reasons that have essentially nothing to do with the health and safety of our planet, of our nation, and of its people. I provided short explanations of what I see the true drivers: peak oil, public outcry, corporate embrace of renewables, the advent of the smart grid, increases in efficiency of mature clean energy technologies, and the maturation of new technologies.

Of 20+/- comments, most were quite positive. But I was amused by a commentor who wrote:

Do you lefties have to be such drama queens and continue to bring up G.W.? Some of us would like to forget his nonsense. It’s not really much different than what the far right did to the Clinton presidency. Besides, is continuing to make RE a political topic really going to help?

The answer, as I told him, is yes, renewable energy is, in its very essence, a political topic — quite independently of whether he or I want it to be.  As I’m fond of saying, the moment you take away the subsidies and force everyone to pay the true cost of the energy they’re producing and consuming, you’ll have ubiquitous clean energy in about 10 minutes.