Oil Spill Prompts Call for Wind and Solar

Thursday, 06 May 2010 09:32

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The devastating oil spill in the Gulf Of Mexico that may impact the southern coastal region of the United States for decades to come, should be a wake-up call for consumers and politicians alike who championed Sarah Palin’s urging to “drill, baby drill” and give sustainables a boost.

Virginia Democrat and House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman, Jim Moran, says other areas, such as Alaska must be protected. “If the drilling industry is incapable of capping a blowout in temperate waters in a region with more than 80 years of offshore experience in the close proximity of equipment, manpower and technical expertise, I have grave doubts about the industry’s response capabilities in the frigid Arctic waters off Alaska’s coast.” Similarly, California governor and one-time supporter of offshore drilling has publicly announced he no longer supports the plan.

Sierra Club President Michael Brune has been the most vocal in recent interviews and in a blog on Bloomberg about the need for alternate energy saying there is no safe way to drill for oil in the oceans. “This disaster is an impetus to halt our dependence on oil completely and move to a clean energy future fast. Cost-benefit analysis shows this is the smart approach. President Barack Obama and Congress need to develop a clear, ambitious vision for weaning us off our addiction to oil within, say, 20 years. Dirty fuels are undermining our national security and contributing to the future disasters that climate disruption will bring.”

Brune says that America’s consumption of 13 million barrels of oil daily in the form of gasoline for cars is unacceptable and unnecessary. “We already have the technology to run our cars on electricity generated from wind and solar power. Feel the neck-snapping acceleration of the all-electric Tesla, and you’ll be disabused forever of the misconception that environmentally friendly travel is necessarily dull.”

Brune believes Americans are ready to embrace solar and wind power, noting, “Just last week, the Obama administration approved the nation’s first offshore wind farm – Cape Wind, off the coast of Massachusetts. There’s no chance of an environmental disaster in a wind farm or a solar plant.”

He also stresses the need for a smarter grid. “We will save even more energy as we improve the efficiency of transmission lines and update the nation’s power grid. A 21st-century grid could deliver plenty of cheap, reliable, clean electric power to all of us. Bold investments of this type would create millions of jobs and get us off dirty oil faster.”