ABC had no problem running an ad from Chevron during the Presidential debates. But guess what? They've turned down an ad supporting clean energy from Gore's Repower America campaign.
Anyone interested in a solution to the triple challenges of oil dependence, global warming and the sagging economy has to read this new book by Van Jones on how (and why) we should birth a green-collar economic revolution in America.
It is true that we cannot drill and burn our way out of our present economic and energy problems. We can, however, invent and invest our way out. Choosing to do so on a massive scale would have the practical benefit of cutting energy prices enough—and generating enough work— to pull the U.S. economy out of its present death spiral. But the true benefits would be much greater than that.
A serious shift in our energy strategy would open a new chapter in the story of human civilization.
Flip through the book and you'll see that the "new chapter" in question reads like a wish list for massive change: cleantech revolution, millions of good jobs that can’t be outsourced, the birth of a just and green American economy.
Google likes to tout Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) as "the sleeping giant" of clean power. The United States Geological Survey (USGS), it seems, would wholeheartedly agree.
This week, USGS scientists released the agency’s first assessment in more than 30 years of the electric power generation potential of the nation’s geothermal resource.
What'd they find?
If developed, geothermal could generate 556,890 MW of electricity in the United States. That’s more than 200 times the installed geothermal capacity in the nation today, which stands at 2,500 MW.
Watch for a showdown this September 27th between those who want an endless fossil future -- an extremely well-financed bunch led by Newt Gingrich -- and a coalition of grass roots activists running the Green Jobs Now campaign.
The video captures the choice in this fight succinctly.
In one corner, weighing in with the blood and burden of 150 years of the fossil fuel era, wearing a business suit, is Newt Gingrich. And in the other corner, almost weightless with the audacity of hope, wearing work clothes and holding a caulk gun, is....Patrick!
Cost and safety are the two big dark clouds that hang over a nuclear revival. Now, news out of Finland concerning construction of the world's first "next-generation" nuclear reactor shows both issues hitting the project with a double whammy: costs are now 50% higher than originally projected because of faulty welds done by unqualified workers, overseen by unqualified supervisors.
We're not talking about a few welds here and there. We're talking about one billion Euros worth of work that needs to be done over. On a nuclear plant.
And we're not talking about internal quality control that efficiently discovered sub-standard construction. The red flag was raised by a Greenpeace report.
