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News Roundup: The Many Sides of Al Gore
Despite his dual passions for technology and the environment, Gore has been slow to embrace investment in technology as a solution to the climate challenge.
Al Gore has been a leader both technology development and the struggle to raise consciousness about global warming. His visionary support for the Internet paved the way for its commercialization; his award-winning film, An Inconvenient Truth, raised national consciousness about global warming to a new level. And yet despite his dual passions, Gore has been slow to embrace investment in technology as a solution to the climate challenge. In the past, he's been heavy on the doomsday rhetoric, emphasizing "sacrifice" as a solution to global warming. But Gore's thinking on the issue may be evolving -- in a landmark speech in the summer of 2008, he called for large public investments in clean energy. Who will win out -- Google Gore or Gaia Gore? Breakthrough's coverage of the many sides of Al Gore: Continue reading "News Roundup: The Many Sides of Al Gore" » Arguing Both Sides at Climate Progress
Those guys at Climate Progress seem to want things both ways -- the analysis in our article is both "debunked" and an authority. Maybe Joe Romm should set the record straight?
by Roger Pielke, Jr. I haven't engaged much with Joe Romm of late, but I can't let this one pass. When Tom Wigley, Chris Green and I published our analysis of the spontaneous emissions reductions built into all IPCC scenarios (PDF), Joe Romm put up a post titled: "Why did Nature run Pielke's pointless, misleading, embarrassing nonsense?" Go To Them: New Energy Jobs and the Populism We Need
It's not just about framing--"new energy jobs" are the best and only shot at bringing down the political impasse between America and the energy policy it needs.
By Keith Brower Brown, Breakthrough Generation The effort to pass a sensible climate and energy policy is not working. I don't just mean we're not getting the right content in legislation--whether it's trading or taxing or new investment. I want to face facts: right now there isn't serious political support, or even interest, for an "energy bill" with climate change solutions at its heart. Not from most Democrats in Congress, and not from the vast majority of Americans, whose support is desperately needed by us climate and clean energy advocates. This can be our crucial moment--a point of deep popular unrest over energy hikes and economic decline. In the self-righteous furor of "drill here, now" and in the sparring over loafers and houses, we see a political establishment desperate to connect with a distrustful electorate. At this sudden crossroads, both we and the defenders of the fossil economy have an incredible opportunity to define the way ahead. So now, we can't spend one more day still trying to convince 41% of America to come to our 10% side. We have to go to them, and meet them where they're at. Continue reading "Go To Them: New Energy Jobs and the Populism We Need" » Both Parties' Conventions Put the Spotlight on Energy
Energy is the number one issue of the 2008 presidential election and it is taking center stage at both parties' conventions this week and next. Republicans have been able to effectively capture this issue and run with it, bringing the American people with them and leaving Democrats in the dust. It is not, however, game over for Democrats. The American public is all ears for what the Democrats will say at their convention this week, and if they find the right message they will garner significant voter support.
By Alisha Fowler, Breakthrough Generation Breaking news! Energy is still the number one issue of the 2008 presidential election and it is taking center stage at both parties' conventions this week and next. So far this election season, Republicans have been able to effectively capture this issue and run with it, bringing the American people with them and leaving Democrats in the dust. The Republicans are winning an energy debate set entirely on their terms. They have been enjoying the strong voter support that accompanies an "all of the above" energy strategy, even if their message is only full of empty promises. Democrats, conversely, have been entirely left behind as they have struggled to find their voice in the debate and been hammered for being unable to restrain energy prices. Continue reading "Both Parties' Conventions Put the Spotlight on Energy" » A Pivotal Moment
With Americans focused on energy prices as never before, a game-changing shift is occurring in the American political climate. The time has come for climate and clean energy advocates to adopt a new strategy and policy agenda. Next year will see the inauguration of a new president, a new Congress, and a new international agreement on global warming. The moment is far too urgent to fall on our swords for a cap-and-trade agenda developed in an entirely different political environment.
There's one thing at the top of Americans' minds these days: energy prices. Prices at the pump have been hitting Americans hard for months now, and an overwhelming majority (87%) do not foresee things getting any better before the end of the year. As of June, concern for energy prices eclipsed the Iraq War as #2 on the Gallup monthly poll
of top American concerns (just behind concerns over the ailing
economy). And as Republicans and Democrats enter their conventions still sparring over oil drilling, energy is now the #1 election issue.
All of this paints a very clear picture of where Americans are at: they are focused on their pocketbooks, grimacing every time they head to the gas station to fill 'er up. This new focus on energy prices is a game changer for the world of energy and climate policy. Google Invests in Underground Energy Sources
More than 2,000 times the entire annual energy consumption of the U.S. is available deep underground. Google's $10 million investment in advanced geothermal technology will help tap this potential resource and pipe it into our electricity mix.
By Alisha Fowler, Breakthrough Generation I can't really think of a better headline for this article than one I came across earlier today: "Looking for energy, Google goes to hell." Except, maybe: "Google goes to hell (in search of energy)." Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org, is in fact sinking $10 million into the advancement of technology that harnesses energy coursing deep below the Earth's surface. While this technology, advanced geothermal technology (AGT), has not received as much attention as solar or wind, its potential is simply enormous. According to MIT, by investing $1 billion in AGT over the next 40 years, the U.S. could develop 100 gigawatts of electricity that emits zero air pollution and provides even more reliable power than coal-fired power plants. Scientific American reports that more than 2,000 times the entire annual energy consumption of the U.S. is available deep underground. Continue reading "Google Invests in Underground Energy Sources" » Why I'm Sticking with Pickens -- even after "Drill, Drill, Drill"
Taken in context, Pickens' call to drill was actually an indictment of the false promise of drilling.
T. Boone Pickens advocates a massive investment in wind power as a way to get off foreign oil, but in a new video segment he says we should "drill, drill, drill." Progressives and environmentalists were tentatively accepting the oil-man turned wind-champion as an ally in the quest for more renewable energy, but his latest ad is likely to scare some of them off. It shouldn't. Continue reading "Why I'm Sticking with Pickens -- even after "Drill, Drill, Drill"" » Why We Can Disagree to Agree
In a debate at the Cato Institute, Shellenberger and Nordhaus argue that liberals and conservatives don't need to agree about the seriousness of global warming. We can all embrace investment in energy infrastructure, technology, and education for reasons that have nothing to do with climate change.
For 20 years, liberals and conservatives have been locked in a debate about the relative seriousness of climate change. Conservatives have either denied that it was happening or played down its significance, while liberals and environmentalists have tended to see it as ecological apocalypse meriting either extreme personal sacrifice or a supposed cost-free regulatory fix. That debate is now undergoing a major shift. Conservatives like Jim Manzi, Newt Gingrich and others recognize that humans are affecting the climate and that something should be done about it. Liberals and environmentalists, like Joe Romm and most recently Al Gore, are beginning to recognize the political futility of peddling sacrifice, and have started emphasizing the need to make clean energy cheap. To be sure, both camps are still far apart in their view of global warming, with Romm seeing it as a future hell on earth and Manzi viewing it as little more than a rounding error. But if we fixate on these radically divergent views of the problem we risk missing some signs of agreement over what should be done about it. Tribes Building New Coal Plants
"As the nation searches for new sources of energy, tribes are at a crossroads," Climate Wire reported today. "They hold 30 percent of the nation's coal reserves and have an abundant supply of oil and natural gas, but also face a growing climate change movement determined to stop development of fossil fuels and spur renewable energy."
"As the nation searches for new sources of energy, tribes are at a crossroads," Climate Wire reported today. "They hold 30 percent of the nation's coal reserves and have an abundant supply of oil and natural gas, but also face a growing climate change movement determined to stop development of fossil fuels and spur renewable energy." Last week, the Crow Nation announced plans to build a coal-to-liquids plant in Montana that may provide fuel for the Air Force. That followed news of a potential coal-fired power plant on Navajo Nation land in New Mexico. Unlikely Allies
Odd bedfellows sometimes make for difficult coalitions, and I have no doubt there will be many bumps in the road to a sustainable energy system. But the Pickens plan tells me that the coalition we need could extend very far beyond the usual suspects. This could be quite a ride.
By Frank Laird, Breakthrough Senior Fellow I kept wanting to title this blog "Hell freezes over . . ." Seeing T. Boone Pickens on TV promoting wind energy and implicitly criticizing the current administration was more than a little disorienting, not to mention quite a bit of fun. But it also has important implications for promoting a clean energy system. The Pickens plan proposes using wind to help reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil. At first glance, this seems unlikely to work, since wind produces electricity and the United States uses very little oil to produce electricity. The Pickens plan squares this circle by calling for another change: promoting cars that use natural gas instead of gasoline. The rapid expansion of wind power could displace natural gas electricity generation, which then frees up natural gas to use in transportation, which reduces the need for oil and so dependence on imported oil. The obvious problem with this plan is finding ways to put large number of natural-gas powered cars on the road and create the accompanying fueling infrastructure. Whether or not the Pickens plan will work, we shouldn't miss the larger point: Pickens's announcement shows how large the potential political coalition is for an innovation policy focused on making clean energy cheap. For those of us who have watched the energy scene for many years, it's hard to overstate how shocking it is to see T. Boone Pickens promoting wind power. And his promotion of wind is concrete; he's putting the largest windfarm in the world near Sweetwater, Texas. Pickens is the classic conservative, hard-nosed, Texas oil man, right out of central casting. He has been an outspoken opponent of almost anything associated with liberal politics or environmentalism. He was a funder of the infamous Swiftboat ads in the 2004 presidential campaign. If people like him can get excited about clean energy, the potential coalition for clean energy is much bigger than I had imagined. Michael and Ted have been promoting an innovation-based energy policy precisely because it could break the old political stalemates and mobilize a new coalition that could put in place a vastly larger, long-term set of policies to make clean energy a reality. I thought they were right and had already seen people like the hip Silicon Valley venture capitalists, and even some folks from the fossil fuel industry, getting interested in renewable energy. But I never thought I'd see the like of T. Boone Pickens putting up a website that extolled the virtues of renewables. Odd bedfellows sometimes make for difficult coalitions, and I have no doubt there will be many bumps in the road to a sustainable energy system. But the Pickens plan tells me that the coalition we need could extend very far beyond the usual suspects. This could be quite a ride. | |
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