An Era of Enlightened Change

While many believe the next three to five years will be viewed as a dark period in American economic, social and political history, I remain modestly optimistic that global citizens in decades yet to come will see this as an era of enlightened change. Today, we are at an energy/technology crossroads; when the development of sustainable alternative energy and the efficient means by which to tap into solar photovoltaic, wind, geothermal, hydro, and biomass energy sources are rapidly gaining momentum and critical mass. This is a time of fear and retrenchment, but it is also a time of opportunity, creativity and outreach among those of us who see a new future for powering the world.

I just returned from the ACORE-hosted Retech Renewable Energy Technology Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas where over 3,000 of the world's long-standing eco-warriors met in the wash of inspiring words from President Obama's State of the Union address. The President's three-minute-long focus on renewable energy served as a much-needed refreshing breeze of optimism during these days of increasing unemployment and business failure. The venerable renewable energy folks at the Retech Conference were especially exhilarated by Obama's words about a subject they have embraced since the mid-70's. While most of us have shamefully wasted over three decades of time since the last oil crisis by doing virtually nothing to further the cause of renewable energy, these dedicated people have continued to push against an oil-soaked, coal-choked system in hopes of a day when we can finally rid ourselves of a dirty fossil fuel-supported energy grid.

Well, that day has finally come. I wish the world could have heard the brilliance and passion of Hermann Scheer's speech at the opening session of Retech. Scheer is a Social Democrat member of the German Bundestag (Parliament), President of Eurosolar (The European Association for Renewable Energy) and General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy. In 1999, Scheer was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for the promotion of solar energy worldwide.

Scheer sees renewable energy as being the only realistic alternative to the environmentally damaging current patterns of energy supply and use. An author of several books on the subject of renewable energy, he has concluded that it is technically and environmentally feasible to harness enough solar radiation to achieve a total replacement of the current fossil and nuclear energy system by a global renewable energy economy. Hermann sees the primary barrier to such a change as being political, not technical or economic. Through his tireless efforts, in 1999 he initiated the German feed-in tariffs, which led to the rise of renewable energies in Germany. Scheer believes that the path to his vision begins with the creation of macro economic policy, which will ultimately lead to micro economic incentives for energy producers and ultimately consumers. In the future, he envisions many energy producers supplanting the current "few" suppliers and generating revenue at the regional/local levels. At Retech, he tied the renewable energy platform to peace and human equality, pointing to 40 countries in the world that spend more on importing energy than their total GDP's. He called for a reversal of this unsustainable energy program by migrating from energy imports to indigenous energy creation.

During a breakout session at Retech titled "National Security and Defense Applications," former CIA Director, Jim Woolsey and retired General Wesley Clark, spoke of the need to place security at the forefront of the development of a new, sustainable energy grid. Woolsey pointed to the vulnerability of the current grid saying, "…terrorists are a lot smarter than tree branches" as he spoke of the current grid's disastrous failure during the summer of 2003, which was brought about by a felled tree branch at a Cleveland sub-station. A failure to trim trees led to the shut down of more than 100 power plants and a blackout felt by more than 50 million people in the U.S. and Canada.

Woolsey also spoke of the dangers of oil dependence. He rhetorically asked participants in the breakout session, "Who do you believe is funding the terrorist network in the Middle East?" Although predictable, his answer was still worth hearing. "The next time you pull into a gas station, use the rear view mirror to look at yourself. You are funding terrorism." Woolsey, who walks the talk by employing renewable energy in his personal life (he drives a Prius he converted to operate completely on batteries), called for the end of oil as a strategic commodity.

He compared today's oil dependence to the salt dependence of the pre-19th century world. In ancient times, salt was so valuable it was used as currency. The root of the word, salary, is in the Latin phrase Salarium Argentum or salt money. Before refrigeration, salt was used as a means to preserve food. It was vital to life and society. Salt was a life-or-death substance. Wars were fought over it. Some historians believe Rome was founded as a salt trading center. Salt has been taxed by governments throughout history, beginning with the Chinese and Romans (at a 100% rate). New York State funded the Erie Canal with its salt tax! Ironically, the advent of the energy grid ended salt's reign as a strategic commodity and replaced it with oil. Now Woolsey calls for oil's demise.

In the same session, Robbie Diamond, the president and CEO of Securing America's Future, stressed the importance of energy diversity on security and defense applications. In February of last year, the Defense Science Board (DSB) issued a report titled "More Fight, Less Fuel" as a roadmap for Department of Defense (DoD) energy strategy. In a sentence, the report contends that more capable wartime fighting is enabled by less fuel usage and dependence. In a play on words, Diamond suggested "More Fuel, Less Fight" as he emphasized that it's not the number of oil-producing countries that matters but rather the number of alternative energy sources available.

Back in the plenary session, Cathy Zoi, CEO of Alliance for Climate Protection, stressed the importance of communications and marketing in moving the renewable energy platform forward. Hired by ACP founder Al Gore, Zoi developed a breakthrough campaign to educate the public and raise the sense of urgency to help facilitate an energy revolution.

ACP's initial research indicated a low sense of public urgency with 21% in denial, 24% confused, 40% engaged and 15% activists. More recent research shows an even lower sense of urgency. To turn this around, ACP created the "Repower America" ad campaign based on three key points, namely national security, the economy and climate change. In one television spot, the ultimate "Odd Couple"-- Al Sharpton and Pat Robertson -- share a small couch on a beach, indicating that even "polar opposites" can work together toward a better energy future. Zoi went on to stress the importance of alternative energy sources and made it painfully clear where she stands on coal, saying "There's no such thing as clean coal." Reading between the lines, she seemed to indicate efficiency played a lesser—but still "important"—role and suggested that it be measured separately.

Following Zoi in the plenary session, Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, underscored the importance of efficiency. She may well be correct in her thinking, especially when you consider the impressive results seen in the State of California. In a recent Rolling Stone magazine article, the author (Jeff Goodell) suggests that the Obama Administration "look west" in developing an energy policy "that creates jobs while protecting the environment." According to the article, since the mid-70's more efficient buildings (tied to tougher building codes) have saved consumers $30 billion in energy usage or roughly $2,000 per household. On a national basis, a $21 billion investment in building efficiency translates to $8 billion in energy savings per year. That ROI is impressive even by Wall Street standards.

The author further contends, "If the rest of the U.S. followed California's lead in energy efficiency, we could more or less kiss new coal plants goodbye." Goodell quite clearly joins Cathy Zoi in her disdain for coal. Of course, job creation is at the top of President Obama's lengthy priority list and, according to California's Labor Department, nearly 2 million new jobs with an annual payroll of $50 billion are linked to the state's energy policies. Perhaps the most compelling set of facts about California's leadership: Per capita electricity consumption in the United States has increased by more than 50 percent since the early 70's, yet California's usage remained FLAT despite a DOUBLING of the state's total economy. That's compelling enough data to ensure a rightful place for efficiency within any national energy policy.

Other than the election of Barack Obama as President, perhaps the second most important event to bring us closer to the start of the Energy Revolution is the appointment of Steven Chu as Energy Secretary. The disorganized and confused DOE could not have a better leader—a leader who is certain to leverage technology and throw status quo out the window. Greater efficiency. Renewable energy development. Creation of a cleaner and more secure energy grid. Macro economic policies that provide micro incentives to generate indigenous energy. The stage is set for the energy revolution to finally begin. It couldn't come at a better time—a time when our nation's political, social and financial systems are all in dire need of a jump-start.