| Today, Al Gore gave a major speech challenging the United States to generate all our electricity within 10 years from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources.
The first thing you might wonder: is this possible? Yes, it is.
No doubt, Gore's speech will bring out all sorts of opposition. His speech will be seen as a full out assault on the coal industry. (The major use of coal is, after all, electricity production.)
The spectre of lost jobs and wrenching economic disruption will loom large to generate fear of change. Read the entire speech and see Gore is sensitive to the plight of coal miners and others effected by the structural changes ahead:
America's transition to renewable energy sources must also include adequate provisions to assist those Americans who would unfairly face hardship. For example, we must recognize those who have toiled in dangerous conditions to bring us our present energy supply. We should guarantee good jobs in the fresh air and sunshine for any coal miner displaced by impacts on the coal industry. Every single one of them.
There are also reasons not to act, to maintain the status quo, but that does not lessen the urgency of action.
West Virginia's Decision
We face a stark choice in West Virginia. The days of King Coal are clearly numbered. We can continue to put all our economic eggs in the declining basket of carbon-based fuels or we can embrace diversified investments in a full spectrum of energy sources. Do we cling to the comfortable or take a bold step into the future?
The sooner West Virginia political, economic and civic leaders embrace the post-carbon future, the sooner we can began making the difficult transition that will inevitable come. The sooner we move on the opportunities that alternative fuels represent, the sooner we can reap the economic and environmental benefits. The sooner we recognize the direction the country and the world is heading, the sooner we can assure our place as a leaders in the new energy economy, not laggards.
The time is now. |
