Clean Energy
Crossroads
by Jim Motavalli
thrive. As a world leader in climate
When New York City hosted the first National Automobile
science, NASA’s Dr. James Hansen has
show in 1900, many auto companies were just setting up
called for a moratorium on construc-
tion of coal-fired power plants, the
shop and patrons could chose from several propulsion
number-one source of carbon dioxide
systems. A poll taken at the show showed that safe and clean
(CO
2
) emissions, and a phase-out of
electric cars were Americans’ first choice, followed closely by
existing plants over the next 20 years.
quiet steam. Gasoline came in a distant third; only 900 hand-
He’s among those also calling for a
cranked, dirty, noisy gas cars were built that year.
new energy economy.
“Moving beyond fossil fuels,” as
sources for commercial and residen-
A
t today’s auto shows, electric cars now sit alongside hybrids and fuel-
cell vehicles. Yet no proposed technology has a clear lead. The market
tial energy, he says, “makes enormous
sense for many reasons—cleaner air,
reflects continuing uncertainty as the world’s energy picture evolves
cleaner water and energy indepen-
in response to society’s rapid and profound changes. With the twin specters of
dence.”
climate change and peak oil prices, the 21st century is of necessity a time of But how are we going to get
pivotal decisions by governments everywhere and by us, as global citizens.
there? Civilization is seriously addict-
ed to oil and coal, and set to compete
for remaining deposits. A rising corps
global do-over of politicians and activists, however,
Energy experts concur that we cannot continue to burn fossil fuels—coal, oil are campaigning for international
and natural gas—at our current, accelerating pace. Partly because significant agreements that would put the world
populations in China and India are starting to drive private automobiles, world on a different path.
consumption of oil is growing an average of 1 percent a year (down from 2 Environmental writer Bill McKib-
percent, when oil was cheaper). ben has founded
350.org, an organi-
In 2007, the world consumed 85.7 million barrels of oil. The U.S. Depart- zation dedicated to reducing overall
ment of Energy (DOE) predicts that, given current projections, by 2030, that emissions and holding CO
2
concen-
number will jump to 118 million barrels per day. Oil prices are expected to stay trations in the atmosphere below the
high, simply because demand will continue to grow faster than accessible supply. tipping point of 350 parts per million.
Even if we uncovered new oil reserves, the phenomenon of global warm- We could hold that line, his group
ing dictates the need for a green energy revolution if we are to survive and says, by “building solar arrays instead
22 Phoenix
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