Energy Professionals Get It, Why Can’t Our Political Leaders?
March 18th, 2011 by Zachary Shahan
OK, I’m still going on my rant about U.S. politicians….
I was reminded this week of a post I wrote two months ago on a survey of energy professionals conducted by Bloomberg Businessweek Research Services and funded by ABB. It showed, not too surprisingly, that “76% of energy professionals believe government regulations should require utility companies to produce more energy from renewable sources” and that “89% of energy professionals believe government incentives trump markets in driving energy efficiency uptake by consumers.”
These are not hippies. These are not socialists. And these certainly are not energy idealists. These are energy professionals saying this! (Renewable and non-renewable energy producers, energy distributors, major end users, consultants, and government/NGO officials working on energy policy.)
But it seems that no matter what they say, we’ve got probably the most ignorant block of Republicans (or even politicians, in general) ever to populate Congress sitting in power of our country today, and they aren’t going to listen (unless what is being said comes from the mouths of their corporate sponsors).
When they won’t listen to
- our energy experts about energy matters,
- our climate scientists or other top scientists about climate science,
- our health professionals and top medical groups about important health matters,
- or anyone else except the richest of the rich (who keep getting richer while the huuuuge majority of the population gets poorer),
how is our country ever going to improve and remain a world leader?
Here on CleanTechnica, we advocate for what these energy professionals, climate scientists, and health professionals recommend everyday. This is one goal of our site, to promote policies that support a livable climate, healthy environment, better economy, public health, and greater equality. It’s nice to see that the recommendations of all these people (from a variety of important fields) are essentially the same — promote cleantech, especially renewable energy and energy efficiency, through strong government policies.
When our country’s “leaders” won’t listen to these experts, though, what are we to do?
I’m beginning to think more and more that it’s time to stand up and take action in the real world. Emails, petitions, tweets, and so on are not penetrating the minds of our politicians. Perhaps it’s time to have a real clean energy revolution?..
For more on the study mentioned above, check out ABB’s Better World campaign page.
Related Stories:
- How to Achieve Our Ideal Energy Future, According to Energy Experts
- While Europe & China Put Nuclear Energy on Hold, Will U.S. Learn from the Catastrophe in Japan?
- Surprise! 31 House Committee Members Ponder Climate Change, Deny It
- What’s Wrong with the Democrats?
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About the Author
Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.
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