You’re right, it’s on the way though. I said the Bahamas committed to building the plants, and they will have the first 2 commercial OTEC plants in the world. But in making that move, other countries in tropical regions are lining up. So it’s a really exciting time for OTEC power.

As far as I can tell there are no OTEC plants now generating power. A prototype or two has been built, but no functioning plants yet exist. Did I miss something?

I sincerely hope you’re right that this will be a pivotal moment for social justice. I think enough people are waking up to the fact that society is not run for the benefit of the greater good and that the way we are managing the planet is not sustainable.

There are glimmers of action, e.g. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/dec/04/nick-clegg-tough-excessive-executive-pay – but then it’s long overdue: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/dec/05/income-inequality-growing-faster-uk

All we can do is keep communicating the truth and exposing the lies pushed by the pollutocrats and their paid (and unpaid!) minions.

Solidarity, comrade.

During a period that began in the late 1950s and stretched through the early 1970s people outside political circles got involved in making changes they thought needed. We ended legal segregation, we forwarded equality for women, we began the process of getting equality for gays, we forced the end of the Vietnam War, we wiped out the straight jacket social rules of the ’50s.

I wasn’t around for earlier social movements such as the labor movement of the early 20th Century, but I suspect this might be the start of a new period of citizen involvement.

Now we’ve got a new set of problems, left over problems which were never totally solved and the desire to move society along seems to have reached a critical point.

I don’t think anyone will be able to say that Occupy is a political or a financial or an environmental or an equal rights movement. I suspect it will be all of the above and more if it continues.

Educate yourself:

* It’s the Inequality, Stupid. http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph

It’s all intertwined. Environment, energy production, food production, social justice. The more I learn about each, the more the connections become apparent.

The gatekeepers are not friends to the 99.9%.

You spout bull. You don’t have the slightest idea about facts.

Let me help you out. Right now wind and solar supply only a bit over 3% of our electricity. Not the 33% that you seem to think. Now that does not mean that they won’t continue to grow at even faster rates than they are now growing and that we will reach 33% and then exceed 33%, it just shows that you ain’t plugged in.

There is plenty good info on the amount of land needed for wind and solar. Either you don’t know how to look up those numbers or you’re afraid to look them up because you would be proved so very long.

(BTW, I made my living a long time ago. I now live off my investments. I was able to do that because I seek out facts and know how to do math.)

Complaining doesn’t solve anything. “Mad-as-Hell” isn’t helpful. Find a solution.

The math of the money, which you ignored is simple. Replacing coal-generated electricity with wind and solar would require more than $10 trillion. Even then, it wouldn’t be reliable.

Wind and solar schemes are fools gold. In that last ten years $1 trillion went to wind and solar projects, yet demand exceed their combined capacity by 3X. It will never make a difference.

I know you’re a cheerleader and you make a living promoting false hopes. But, sooner or later the people will know the truth – as cute and sweet as wind and solar ideas are, they do not make a difference. It’s a waste of time, money and energy.

The solar-wind gig is almost up. Find another cause to promote.

—

Andrew, you’ve been here before and I, for one, have learned not to trust your claims.

Show us the math that says that we would need 300 million acres and at least $20 trillion to replace coal with renewable energy.

Be sure to use only the footprint of wind turbines, not the 98%+ of land within a wind farm that is still usable for farming, grazing and wildlife.
While you’re at it, make sure you include only the land aside from rooftops and parking lots that we’ll need for solar.

Remember to subtract the cost of necessary plant replacement as existing coal plants wear out. Subtract the savings that we’ll realize by no longer having to pay enormous amounts for coal-related health and environmental damage.

I’d like you to prove that you’re not just writing crap and hoping the less critical will swallow it.

If the world wants clean, affordable energy let them offer $1 billion for a real solution. That’s a small price to pay for something the whole world needs. Solar and Wind development schemes have received $1.2 trillion in the last 10 years. Demand has increased by 3X what these new renewables can ever produce. We are NOT going forward or making any progress.

In terms of economic development, starting companies is not what will save us – solving problems will. Find a start up that is solving something, not just being a little better than their competitors. Find something meaningful. That will change the economy and the world.

Clearly, Germany has benefited from democratizing renewable energy, making it easier for ordinary people (read: the 99%) to be energy producers.

In the U.S., the renewable playing field–like virtually all American playing fields–is slanted so that almost all the opportunity and wealth slides toward corporations.

The more I think about it, the more Occupy’s success appears to have a directly proportional relationship with America’s (and the world’s) ability to grapple with our myriad environmental crises.