Archive - Apr 15, 2009

This is a guest blog from Scott Bittle, Director of Public Issues Analysis at Public Agenda, a nonpartisan research organization. -- Luis

A talking iceberg, engineers working on renewable energy, a chili shack in Washington -- what could these have in common? They've all got something to say about fossil fuels, and they're all going to appear on Planet Forward, an innovative PBS special scheduled to air nationwide at 8 p.m. tonight (check your local listings).

Planet Forward is a citizen-driven program that debuts on the web first and then moves to television. It's a virtual town square, where people from all over the country submitted their own videos with their ideas for the country's energy future. The best citizen submissions get discussed by a group of top energy experts, and some contributors got to pose questions directly to Carol Browner, President Obama's assistant for energy and climate change.

Planet Forward doesn't end with tonight's show: there will be a second round of citizen submissions, leading to a web sequel with Van Jones, the president's "green jobs" advisor. To find out how to submit your ideas, visit www.planetforward.org.

President Barack Obama is using his bully pulpit to garner support for clean energy. During a speech at Georgetown University yesterday, the President said:

The third pillar of this new foundation is to harness the renewable energy that can create millions of new jobs and new industries. We all know that the country that harnesses this energy will lead the 21st century. Yet we have allowed other countries to outpace us on this race to the future.

Well, I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders. It is time for America to lead again.

The investments we made in the Recovery Act will double this nation’s supply of renewable energy in the next three years. And we are putting Americans to work making our homes and buildings more efficient so that we can save billions on our energy bills and grow our economy at the same time.

But the only way to truly spark this transformation is through a gradual, market-based cap on carbon pollution, so that clean energy is the profitable kind of energy. Some have argued that we shouldn’t attempt such a transition until the economy recovers, and they are right that we have to take the costs of transition into account. But we can no longer delay putting a framework for a clean energy economy in place. If businesses and entrepreneurs know today that we are closing this carbon pollution loophole, they will start investing in clean energy now. And pretty soon, we’ll see more companies constructing solar panels, and workers building wind turbines, and car companies manufacturing fuel-efficient cars. Investors will put some money into a new energy technology, and a small business will open to start selling it. That’s how we can grow this economy, enhance our security, and protect our planet at the same time.

Read the full speech here. Of course for these investments to really flourish, we should invest only in truly clean and renewable energy -- not in big polluters' myths like "clean coal." Tell President Obama to make his vision a reality by investing in truly clean, renewable energy.