In a speech delivered on Thursday in Washington DC, Al Gore challenged the nation to generate 100% of its energy with clean and renewable energy by 2018. If successful, his plan would sharply decrease global warming emissions while improving economic security in ten short years. However, the challenges are vast. Below are six of the biggest, technical, economic, and political challenges that will make Gore fail.

1. Solar and wind need steroids Wind and solar alternatives need to grow like gangbusters to make a difference in ten years. After years of record-setting growth, wind and solar barely contributed 1% of overall electricity last year. Gore’s plan calls for electric cars to hit the road en masse, which will require even more wind and solar to replace gasoline. To put things in perspective, it would take 2,000 large wind turbines or 2 million solar homes to replace only one of the 600 coal-powered stations in the U.S. In 2007, fewer than 3,000 large wind turbines were installed in the United States. For Gore to succeed, the government will have to increase subsidies for wind and solar, and manufacturers will have to grow exponentially.

2. No politician likes energy efficiency Energy efficiency lacks the appeal of solar and wind, yet it is the smartest and cheapest way to decrease emissions and energy use. Improved efficiency can slash energy demand by 1/3 in this country while also saving money in the process. This means installing more efficient light bulbs, setting more stringent appliance and building codes, and demanding higher fuel efficiency from our cars. Government needs to set these regulations, since Americans consistently underestimate the value of efficiency. To meet Gore’s goal, Congress needs to stop dragging its feet, as it has for thirty years, and demand world-class energy efficiency.

3. Public energy debate is on holiday The public debate on energy has focused on gimmicky measures and has avoided a coherent energy proposal. The two most important energy issues in recent months have been (1) the gas tax holiday and (2) opening the outer continental shelf to oil & gas drilling. Neither are an answer for energy policy; neither will produce a meaningful improvement for the economy or environment. Surprisingly, Sen. McCain supports both. At the same time, Congress has languished on extending the Investment Tax Credit, which would significantly harm the solar industry if not extended. Gore has set a goal that all Americans can understand; let’s change the debate and talk about how to get there.

4. The electricity grid is as modern as Roman canals We sorely need a modern, expanded, national grid to distribute our electricity. The Midwest is windy enough and the Southwest sunny enough to satisfy all of our energy needs. Power lines, however, do not reach our windiest or sunniest areas and the grid is isolated into three regions: East, West, and Texas. Deregulation has led to years of underinvestment in infrastructure. To fix this problem, the investment will be massive. Congress and utilities need to take leadership roles to ensure these power lines are built. Praise to T. Boone Pickens for bringing this issue to the national consciousness and demanding better grid access for renewable energy sources. After all, we have clean, affordable energy here in America. We just need to get at it.

5. The oxymoron: clean coal Coal generates 50% of all electricity in the United States. It is a cheap, reliable, base-load power. Making it clean, however, is enormously expensive and in some ways unproven, though the American public has been promised otherwise. Coal concerns like Peabody and Arch sponsor organizations like America’s Power are essentially propaganda groups for coal. Politicians love clean coal because it is a supposed silver bullet. They can be green while supporting traditional American industries like coal (even though fewer than 100,000 Americans actually mine coal today). Gov. McCain, Sen. Obama, and even Gore all have fallen into the trap of supporting clean coal. Politicians, Americans, everybody: take the promises of clean coal with a grain of salt. Gore may have to warm up to nuclear if he wants his plan to succeed.

6. America’s outdated industries and the lobbyists they hire Oil, gas, coal, and car executives are shaking in their cowboy boots. They are worried that the cleantech revolution will leave them on the sideline, and are desperately trying to slow the pace of change. Look at the impressive public relations campaigns these companies are playing with the American public: Exxon Mobil, of all companies, is running commercials claiming their battery technology will power hybrid cars. At the same time, the fate of these industries poses a hard decision for policy makers. Oil, gas, coal, and car companies employ millions of Americans and pad the pensions of even more. Yet, to achieve Gore’s plan, Congress will have to push forward with subsidies for clean technology and penalties for emissions; while also needing a carrot for oil, gas, coal, and cars industries and employees in the form of job retraining at least.

Like this post? Get more posts like this by

Subscribing to our RSS Feed