In all of the coverage of the magnitude of our economic crisis, Al Gore's comments at the Clinton Global Initiative may have fallen on deaf ears. He compared "clean coal" to "healthy smoking", and is convinced that we need to change our habits now. "I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration," Gore said. This type of civil disobedience just happened next door in Wise County, where eleven protesters put their arms into 55-gallon metal drums, fashioned with working solar powered panels. They were there to protest the new Dominion coal fired power plant being built right now, that will inevitably lead to more mountaintop removal. Al Gore stood up against this dirty energy:
Taken from CNN:
"What we should do is make a one off investment to switch our energy infrastructure from one that depends on fuel that is dirty, dangerous, destroying the habitability of this planet and rising in price, to a new global energy infrastructure that is based on fuel that is free forever -- the sun, the wind and geothermal. There is a myth that the technology is not available. It is available," he said.
He called on the United States and other countries to install unified national transmission grids and make renewable energy available to all.
"We have a responsibility to those who come after us and those who are suffering today, to knit together a global commitment to solve this climate crisis and use it as a way to stimulate the economy."
"What we should do is make a one off investment to switch our energy infrastructure from one that depends on fuel that is dirty, dangerous, destroying the habitability of this planet and rising in price, to a new global energy infrastructure that is based on fuel that is free forever -- the sun, the wind and geothermal. There is a myth that the technology is not available. It is available," he said.
He called on the United States and other countries to install unified national transmission grids and make renewable energy available to all.
"We have a responsibility to those who come after us and those who are suffering today, to knit together a global commitment to solve this climate crisis and use it as a way to stimulate the economy."
I know that there are many people who rely on coal for work. But I also know that there would be new jobs and economic renewal for these areas that only renewable energy could guarantee forever. Speak up so future generations can enjoy these beautiful mountains, and the biodiversity that can never be "reclaimed".
2 comments:
Great post. I missed the speech but I wholeheartedly believe that we are going to make some real noise before we make real progress. We are a very different country than we were in the 60s but that may just mean it is harder to motivate folks to stand up.
Oops! That showed up as APLS but it's green bean commenting. Sorry - I had just checked the APLS email account.
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