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Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009 | 2:07 a.m.
President-elect Barack Obama this month laid out his goals for a new stimulus bill, one that Congress is fashioning and expects to have ready in about a month.
One goal of particular interest to Nevada was to use stimulus money to enter a new energy age. Here is some of what he said:
“We will double the production of alternative energy in the next three years. We will ... put Americans to work in new jobs ... building solar panels and wind turbines ... and developing the new energy technologies that will lead to even more jobs ... and a cleaner, safer planet in the bargain.”
Those words contain unlimited potential for Nevada, where a combination of open land and steady sun, along with vast geothermal resources and strong winds in many areas, offers a path to a much more diversified economic future.
The stimulus bill, which most news analysts predict will enable public investment of $850 billion to $1 trillion in the national economy, will be multifaceted, to say the least. Yet we are confident Obama’s vision for building up America’s renewable energy industries will be one of its highest priorities.
Recent news out of the Middle East confirms the timing could not be better. The New York Times reports that countries there are aggressively preparing for the future by pouring billions of dollars into green technologies, with the intention of cornering the renewable-energy market just as they cornered the oil market.
Wouldn’t it be a travesty if the United States found itself in the future just as dependent on Middle Eastern clean energy as it is now on the region’s oil?
“The leadership in these breakthrough technologies is a title the U.S. can easily lose,” an energy executive in Abu Dhabi told the Times.
Our country has all the natural resources and human ingenuity it needs to solidify itself as the world’s leader in renewable energies. We’re looking forward to seeing the stimulus bill put us on that track.
We really need to get on about the business of becoming energy independent. This past year and the record gas prices played a huge part in our economic meltdown and seriously damaged our economy and society.We keep planning to spend BILLIONS on bailouts and stimulus plans.Bail us out of our dependence on foreign oil. Make electric plug in car technology more affordable. It cost the equivalent of 60 cents a gallon to drive an electric plug in car. The electric could be generated from wind or solar. If all gasoline cars, trucks, and SUV's instead had plug-in electric drive trains, the amount of electricity needed to replace gasoline is about equal to the estimated wind energy potential of the state of North Dakota. Get with it! Utilize free sources such as wind and solar. Stop throwing away money on things that don't work. Invest in America and it's energy independence. Create cheap clean energy, create millions of badly needed green collar jobs. Put America back to work. It is a win-win situation. We have to become more proactive citizens, educate ourselves and demand our elected officials move this country forward into the era of energy independence. Jeff Wilson's new book The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence NOW outlines a plan for America to wean itself off oil. We need a plan and we need it now! www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com
A diversified energy supply is great. But the problem is that the greens interpret this to mean at any cost. With the huge tourism downturn in Las Vegas, the local eonomy is really hurting. Doubling and tripling of electricity prices from solar and wind sources should not be permitted just in the name of being renewable.