Word: gore
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...Gore's speech was less a step-by-step plan than a sweeping call to action. His path to a decarbonized electrical supply doesn't surprise: more investment in solar and wind, keeping nuclear in the mix, maximizing energy efficiency and implanting carbon capture and storage for existing fossil fuel plants, plus a shift to electric cars. But Gore's message was subtly different this time. The man who has in the past called climate change a "moral and spiritual challenge" sounded more pragmatic notes. While sounding the alarm on melting Arctic ice and strange weather, Gore also emphasized...
...clear just how much Gore wants us to shift, and how quickly. Speaking in Washington on July 17, Gore called on Americans to completely abandon electricity generated by fossil fuels within 10 years, and replace them with carbon-free renewables like solar, wind and geothermal. It is a bold plan, almost to the point of folly. But at the very least, it's one that certainly matches the scale of his rhetoric. "The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk," he said. "The future of human civilization is at stake...
...That fits with a growing concern among some conservatives, including Republican Sen. John Warner, who co-sponsored the Senate's recent legislation to cap carbon emissions. It's also a good sign for Gore. It remains impossible for most people to connect what comes out of our wall sockets to morality, or to believe that the nation needs to embark on a massive restructuring of its energy policy. But national security, or foreign oil dependency or high energy prices are all talking points that just might get a majority of Americans to support going green...
...doing it in 10 years? If the earlier, personal solutions to global warming - drive a hybrid, put in better insulation - were far too little, Gore's goal seems far too much. Less than 28% of our power currently comes from carbon-free sources, and the vast majority of that is hydroelectric and nuclear. High-tech renewables account for less than 3%. Wind and solar are growing far faster than fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas, but considering that we don't even know if economical carbon capture and storage will ever be possible, it's hard...
...Gore must have anticipated this skepticism. "To those who say 10 years is not enough time, I respectfully ask them to consider what the world's scientists are telling us about the risks we face if we don't act in 10 years," he said. He's right. A number of scientists, though not all, warn that the world has a decade at most to reverse the growth in greenhouse gas emissions, or risk catastrophic climate change. But here's the fact that keeps me up at night: Gore and his allies could be right. We may simply be technologically...