The areas that need to be addressed by any energy approach or policy are:

Energy Independence
Energy Security
Environmental impact
Water

All these elements drive prosperity –any policy that does not balance all these dimensions results in bad outcomes (e.g. biofuels) and is insanity. Therefore I see the current debate that automatically excludes certain energy sources and/or innovation around these sources is fundamentally flawed.

But our society is so skewed between rich and poor that asking the low end to ascribe to a happiness or sustainability index might well lead to a political revolution.

One other thought. The green revolution has to be bottoms up in my view. Corporations like Google and those at your conference are already active. Now the consumer has to see the benefits and make the right investments or change habits. Just as the automobile revolution was led by the consumer.

Why don’t the utilities build the new electrical web as the common carriers built the Internet?

All quibbles. Your thoughts are well worth pursuing. Keep up the great work!!! Ernie

I agree with your sentiment – “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste”, indeed. In addition to rebuilding critical energy distribution infrastructure, imagine if the US would use leverage this moment to create “the next” source of inexhaustible energy.

For instance, the US could devote focused and well-funded scientific attention to safe, massively-scalable, limitless and clean energy. Maybe next-gen Nuclear Fusion, focusing on safety and controllability.

From vision to ubiquity is likely to be a “Road paved by a generation”. The road will likely cost a Ba-zillion dollars. But….imagine the unassailable legacy that we will leave behind. It is a pursuit that will bring forward the best and the most-committed in the nation, perhaps the world.

No other country can marshall resources like the US. No other people has repeatedly exhibited its resilience, against the severest of odds, like us – Americans.

We have a proud history of fearless and inspirational leadership. And an equally proud history of inventing our way forward, braving and bucking seemingly impossible odds.

Let us also be clear – Consumerism is not the root-cause of the world’s problems today. In fact, we need unabated consumption to keep the economic engine running. On the contrary, we should enable responsible consumerism by educating people and creating jobs for them – jobs that, in turn, define, develop and continually create a legacy of sustainability. Responsible leadership will guide us to leave behind a legacy that can be continually leveraged – like infrastructure. The play-field will get tilted in our favor if we do so.

The world is NOT flat – and will not be any time soon. Countries differently have, harvest, invest and enjoy competitive advantage for different reasons. We Americans have (yet another) opportunity here to create a sustainable competitive advantage.

It is time for Kennedy-esque leadership and American-esque fortitude and followership.

Thanks again for sharing….Ashwin

The effect of cheap energy would probably be just as upsetting outside the oil producers – just different.

Most economists seem to criticize the consumerist mentality as the deeper root of the current mess, but all solutions seem geared to address the current symptoms, instead of reaching deeper. If it doesn’t work, hopefully they move from the band-aid solutions to a far reaching one.

Your article on energy saving is an eye opening. Such measures would be more appropriate for India, as we are suffering energy crisis as well as we have much more transmission losses.

I would be happy to receive more of such valued articles from you.

Ravi Soparkar
Pune, India