| I hope my title adequately conveys the absurdity of | | | | home, but I had to travel considerable distances to |
| our current energy plans. Even though every | | | | find stores open. Stores nearby were closed because |
| president since Richard Nixon has called for energy | | | | they didn't have electricity to run their cash registers, |
| independence, we are farther from it today than we | | | | refrigerate their perishables or pump their gas. Living |
| were then--and we remain doomed to continue failing | | | | without air conditioning through a week of steaming |
| as long as our energy future is shaped by energy | | | | heat was miserable but not deadly as it would be for |
| corporations or by politicians. | | | | many trying to survive a week of freezing |
| We citizens must be the leaders on this issue. Oil | | | | temperatures up North. Thank goodness I didn't need |
| corporations and politicians are the butterfly nets in | | | | a hospital during my outage, but if I had, I could have |
| my little analogy-the wrong tools for the wrong job. | | | | found one nearby operating on emergency power. |
| Oil companies can't do the job because they are | | | | Where would those of us needing food, gas or |
| multinational corporations. By law, their only loyalty | | | | medical care go during a month long blackout |
| can be to their multinational investors. If they are | | | | affecting the whole country? No store would be |
| swayed by patriotism, by environmental concerns, or | | | | open and even emergency generators would run out |
| even by the overwhelming public good, they can be | | | | of fuel. |
| sued by their shareholders. Shareholders might | | | | Again, none of that is our energy companies' concern. |
| consider a certain amount spent on PR to be a good | | | | As long as estimates of the revenue loss from an |
| investment, but not if it's backed up with real action | | | | outage don't exceed the estimated cost of increasing |
| that cuts into the bottom line. | | | | grid security, they are legally constrained from making |
| Politicians can't be trusted to help us achieve energy | | | | the investment. |
| independence because corporate campaign | | | | A real energy independence plan needs to |
| contributions, especially from big oil, are the lifeblood | | | | decentralize power generation and make individual |
| of Washington politics. | | | | homes and businesses as energy self-sufficient as |
| Any plan for energy independence that does not | | | | possible. The power grid has a place, but top priority |
| include corporate restructuring and political campaign | | | | needs to be securing our basic energy needs without |
| finance reform is as imaginary as a unicorn. The | | | | having to depend on the grid. |
| pampered pet unicorn currently favored by big oil and | | | | Our most patriotic slogan must become: A solar |
| politicians looks like this: Instead of spending billions of | | | | power plant on every roof, a wind turbine in every |
| dollars on oil from the Middle East, we need to drill, | | | | backyard. |
| baby, drill. We need to drill right down to the last | | | | We need to insist that our legislators pass a law that |
| drop of US oil, even if it's in ecologically sensitive | | | | all new residential and business construction has at |
| areas or in areas dangerous to reach. No risk is too | | | | least enough on-site solar or wind capability to meet |
| extreme to break our dependence on foreign oil. | | | | emergency needs. |
| What most of us don't know is that oil drilled in | | | | To get existing buildings to go green, and get all |
| Alaska or in the Gulf of Mexico no more belongs to | | | | buildings to go greener than minimums, we need to |
| us, the American people, than the oil drilled in Saudi | | | | pass a new federal energy tax on power received |
| Arabia. Oil drilled here gets sold to the highest bidder | | | | from the grid. The tax would start out low and grow |
| on the international market just like oil from | | | | significantly each year. Revenue from the tax could |
| anywhere else. It can go to China or India just as | | | | then be used for grants and low interest loans to |
| easily as it can go to Indiana. The only advantage to | | | | help people get their green technology in place |
| US taxpayers for oil drilled here is that we get to | | | | before their rates increased. |
| keep fractions of a penny on the dollar for oil lease | | | | Things would change fast if we could directly |
| fees and royalties. | | | | compare the rising cost of buying electricity from the |
| As we've learned from the big Gulf oil disaster, oil | | | | grid with the generous cash payouts we would get |
| that we have been duped into believing is ours isn't | | | | for selling back our excess electricity. Each month |
| even always being drilled by US-based multinationals. | | | | when we got either an energy bill or an energy |
| Not one of these corporations, foreign or domestic, | | | | check, it would be quite an incentive both to |
| cares a whit about helping the US achieve energy | | | | conserve and to add to the percentage of energy |
| independence. They simply want to help themselves | | | | that we could generate for ourselves. |
| to maximum profits and will use any excuse to get | | | | Shills for big oil and big coal like to pooh-pooh solar |
| us to rubberstamp their greed. | | | | and wind, but existing green technology is already |
| Their myths of new drilling, clean coal, and green | | | | much better than they will admit. Once we can count |
| nuclear power each deserve and will eventually get | | | | on a reliable market for alternative technology, |
| their own articles, but in this one, I'm going to focus | | | | investment will explode causing quality to skyrocket |
| on the myths of solar and wind power because even | | | | and costs to plummet. |
| supposedly green technologies won't be green when | | | | Imagine if abacus makers had been a dominant |
| energy corporations get through with them. | | | | monopoly that ridiculed the huge early computers and |
| Energy corporations work on a model of producing | | | | were successful in blocking investment in the field? |
| electricity as cheaply as possible, sending it out | | | | You certainly wouldn't own a desktop computer |
| through the power grid, and charging us as much as | | | | today, and the invention of the semiconductor might |
| possible when it's delivered to us. Solar or wind | | | | still be decades away. Do we really want the likes of |
| power is just an afterthought to them, but to the | | | | entrenched abacus manufacturers controlling our |
| extent that they have a plan for it at all, it follows | | | | energy future? |
| the same model. | | | | We have to expect energy corporations to flood us |
| Here's the problem--any energy future that depends | | | | with propaganda about what a bad idea solar and |
| primarily on the existing power grid is not energy | | | | wind are. But since our common welfare has never |
| independence. The grid cannot even assure us of | | | | been a concern of theirs, I don't see why helping |
| reliable delivery much less independence. A terrorist | | | | them maintain huge monopolistic profits needs to be |
| bombing of a key power plant or a successful cyber | | | | a concern of ours. Why should we let them try to |
| attack on the computers that control the power grid | | | | define freedom as their right to continue to make a |
| could leave the whole country without power for | | | | killing when we're the ones getting killed? |
| months. | | | | We need to stop allowing federal lawmakers and |
| Although that scenario would devastate the country, | | | | their big oil buddies to strut across the political stage |
| energy corporations aren't responsible for preventing | | | | pretending to serve our needs when all they are |
| it. Remember that CEOs have a legal responsibility | | | | doing is trying to convince us that their beautiful but |
| only to their investors, and energy execs don't | | | | imaginary unicorns are within reach. We need to insist |
| consider it cost-effective to make the huge | | | | on a plan that moves immediately toward real, |
| investment needed to reasonably secure the grid. | | | | achievable energy independence-independence not |
| My power was out for a week after Florida's | | | | just for the US as a whole, but for ourselves as |
| hurricane Charlie. During that time, not only was I | | | | individuals. |
| faced with spoiled food and other inconveniences at | | | | |