Turning the Silver State Green

Well, time to get back to it.

For decades, being green conjured up Kermit and tree hugging. Since Al Gore (the inventor of the internet?!) brought much needed visibility with "An Uncomfortable Truth", being green has become the buzz for government and industry alike. We, as concerned citizens and business people my finally have the eyes and ears to radically change the way we live.

Now that we have been freed from the arrogance and ignorance of the Cheney Administration, we may now be able to set a course to free ourselves from our petro masters (more about petro-terrorism in another post).

We are in the middle of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression (though you'd think by the number of mood-enhancing drug commercials on the idiot box, the US is in the greatest of them all). The promise of our new President for the new New Deal offers the opportunity for our nation to build the skill sets that will allow us to again take the lead in innovation at the advent of a new energy age. There in lies the opportunity for the state of Nevada.

Renewable energy technologies are already in place to undo our ties to dirty energy. As with any technology, the more pervasive, the lower the cost. This year's auto show is a prime example. The number of hybrid and pure electric cars at the show (coming to a showroom near your...very soon!), tells of a turning of the tide. Even GM, an early adopter with the EVO in the 90's before the oil lobby crushed it (look up the film "Who Killed the Electric Car") is coming up with some novel concepts.

Nevada has at least 3 nearly inexhaustible resources: Solar, GeoThermal and Wind. The state, with the success of companies such as Ormat, is already a leader in Geothermal energy. Our entrepreneur community is also strong in the game with ever more cost-effective wind capture technologies, even turbines artsy enough for the backyard. As far as solar is concerned, we have more sun-drenched land than any state in the union. What we need is the investment in the technologies that will provide cheap, renewable energy and the jobs for those industries to lead us out of this dark financial hole. There in lies the opportunity.

Stopped being fooled by the ever-changing prices of a barrel of oil. Stop being lulled by the attraction of cheap electrons provided by filthy coal ("clean coal", please). Even our Senior statesman, Senator Harry Reid, sees through this ruse.

There’s not a coal-fired plant in America that’s clean. They’re all dirty,” Reid told reporters after speaking at a conference on renewable energy. “Unless we do something quickly about global warming, we’re in trouble.”
Reid said the U.S. should rely on renewable forms of energy in an effort to curb emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for climate change. Nevada and other Western states have an abundance of such renewables as wind, solar and geothermal power.

Bottom line, we can all pitch in. Write your elected officials (Senators, Congressmen, Assemblymen, Mayors, Councilmen. Speak with them when the opportunity presents itself. It is incumbent upon all of us. We can no longer mortgage our children's future. That money is already gone. Tomorrow was yesterday...act now!