20 July 2008: More Than a JFK Wannabe, or “Al Gore Rhythm”
I
know that Al Gore’s famous challenge to his fellow Americans to achieve 100
percent renewable energy usage in ten years is now old news. But does anyone
know that he began his speech by quoting Woody Allen to the either/or effect
that we can be down in the dumps or else self-immolate (something like that,
anyway)?
I
offer a summary from someone who was there, braving the crowds waiting outside
the huge DAR Memorial auditorium on D Street not far from the heart of DC and
our country.
Greeting
the various dignitaries present, including Sen. Bernie Sanders and his own wife
and daughters, Gore told us that the environment is a nonpartisan issue, that
the board of the sponsoring organization, Alliance for Climate Protection,
comprised four Democrats, four Republicans, and one Independent.
Big
changes are exigent; the survival of our country is at risk—the survival of
human civilization actually. Many things are going wrong simultaneously, he
said: the economy, oil inflation, the subprime crisis and foreclosure epidemic,
the future of our banks, the descent of the automotive industry giant GM
There
is a 75 percent chance that the Polar Ice Cap will disappear this summer, which
will jeopardize Greenland. We must also consider the implications for our
national security as hundreds of thousands of refugees demand sanctuary into
unthreatened terrains.
Were
we to lose access to foreign oil, an “energy tsunami” would result. There is
war in Iraq and Afghanistan; the inequitable distribution of wealth is
worsening, and there are wildfires all over the world. For every one percent
increase, the amount of lightening that goes off increases by 10 percent, and
lightning is the primary cause of wildfires, kindling acres of thirsty
underbrush in a flash.
The
solutions we offer are outdated and separate, worsening other crises. The
common thread is over-dependence on carbon-based fuels. The dramatic increase
in Chinese oil consumption is another sort of wildfire that must be curtailed.
Scientists and other experts say that the real solution to these multiple
crises, to control the deterioration of the climate, to rebalance the economy,
and guarantee national security is not war.
At
present we have enough solar and wind energy sources in the western part of the
United States to meet one year of this country’s needs, including all the
electricity we will use. The use of geothermal energy to produce electrical
energy holds additional promise, said the politician-turned Nobel laureate.
We
need a new start, a bold new strategy to repower the United States: 100 percent
use of electric power and carbon-free fuels within ten years, an entirely
achievable goal. While the price of oil skyrockets along with demand, in the
case of demand for green energy, prices fall.
Consider
that earlier it was determined that when the price of oil rose to $35 per
barrel, the expense of converting to alternative energy sources would be
justified.
We
have entrepreneurs to bring about the needed changes. New sources of energy are
free forever. The number of green-collar jobs will grow proportionately.
Those
who defend the status quo ignore the inevitability of the demises of carbon
fuel sources, including coal. If our exigent needs are not addressed in ten
years, the planet will never recover from the ongoing damage we are allowing to
happen. Our economy cannot take ten more years of environmental abuse, rising
oil prices, and rising troop deployment.
Think
back to the miracles wrought by the Marshall Plan, Social Security, interstate
highways. Remember the 1961 inaugural address in which JFK promised this
country a man on the moon within ten years—and the promise was kept, a “giant
step for humanity.”
We
can overcome the obstacles; the grid is as yet insufficient to connect the
various sources of alternative energy to those who need it.
Switching
to plug-in electric cars is part of the solution. We must also recognize those
toilers in constant danger, coal miners, and restore them to the light of day.
We must tax what we earn, not what we burn.
We
must rejoin the international community, cap our carbon dioxide emissions.
Politics these days rewards special interests and takes token, baby steps
toward the correct solutions—not drilling for oil in new places, not showering
the Middle East with our fortunes with the hope that prices will go down.
We
suffer from the highest oil prices in history and the greatest profits ever
enjoyed by oil companies.
Driving
electric-powered cars will cost the equivalent of one dollar per gallon of
gasoline. Have we lost our appetite for bold policy solutions? Special
interests are in our way. People are interested in bold approaches to solving
problems, changes at the international level.
This
country must move first—in our own interests. We must call on every political
candidate at every level to act beyond empty rhetoric. We must act now. This is
a generational moment. Join the We Campaign to change not light bulbs but laws.
We
need new leadership. On July 16, 1969, humankind first landed on the moon. Gore
himself witnessed the launch of the moon rocket; he will never forget the
deafening noise and subsequently watching Neil Armstrong change the history of
the human race.
Now
is the time for our next journey of exploration—that giant leap within the next
ten years that is needed to save the world.