Getting left behind

Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010 | 2:01 a.m.

With an estimated population of 10.7 million residents, Portugal is minuscule compared with the United States but is far ahead of this country in at least one enviable respect. The coastal European country has a national power grid that relies heavily on renewable energy.

As reported Tuesday by The New York Times, Portugal is expected to derive nearly 45 percent of its electricity this year from renewable resources, a remarkable increase from 17 percent a mere five years ago. This is a significant achievement in light of the fact that Portuguese residents continue to pay higher electricity prices than we do in the United States. Portugal also is one year away from becoming the first country to establish charging stations for electric cars nationwide.

A key reason for this rapid transformation is that Portugal displayed the political willpower to wean itself off environmentally harmful fossil fuels. Its prime minister, Jose Socrates, told the Times: “The experience of Portugal shows that it is possible to make these changes in a very short time.”

If Portugal can do this, why not the United States? After all, this is a nation that prides itself on innovation, including inventions that moved us into the industrial and information ages, advances in medicine and biochemistry, and travel to outer space. Where is the can-do attitude when it comes to utilizing renewable energy?

The reality is that there are still too many people in this country who are putting up stiff resistance to renewable energy as they promote polluting sources of energy. At the top of this list are powerful lobbies such as the oil and coal industries — and their Republican friends in Congress. And for all the boasting from Republicans that they are big on protecting national security, they have shown they are disinclined to remove the security risk that is posed by our continuing reliance on foreign crude oil.

While President Barack Obama is doing his best to advance a 21st century agenda that includes smart power grids, electric cars and greater use of wind, solar and geothermal energy, his actions have been blunted by special interests that would prefer the United States remain stuck in the mid-20th century. As America’s political theatrics continue, this country is being left behind by a growing number of foreign nations that have developed progressive energy policies.

The Times, quoting a report from IHS Emerging Energy Research of Cambridge, Mass., wrote that Denmark, Great Britain and Ireland are expected to get at least 40 percent of their electricity from renewable resources by 2025. Brazil and Canada can also achieve that goal if hydroelectric power is included. The United States, though, is expected to reach only about 20 percent reliance on renewable energy by then.

If that proves to be true, it would be an embarrassment for a country that was once the envy of the world for its technological innovation. We, as a nation, can certainly do much better.