What can we do to change the minds of decision makers and people in general to actually do something about preparing for the forthcoming economic/energy crises (the ones after this one!)?
WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson on Thursday laid out his plan for a dramatic shift in the way the U.S. uses energy, proposing to all but end the country's reliance on oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2040.
Invoking President Kennedy's call for the Apollo space program, he said the nation needs a "man-on-the-moon'' effort to develop technologies that will cut energy costs and halt global warming.
``I am issuing a call to action, for Congress, the energy industry and the public,'' he said in a speech to the New America Foundation. ``I am calling for a new American revolution - an energy and climate revolution.''
Richardson's plan encourages people to drive electric and plug-in cars, promotes public transportation and calls for increasing fuel economy standards to 50 miles a gallon by 2020 from about 25 miles per gallon now.
He also wants to fund programs to develop wind, solar and biomass energy, and create a market-based system requiring utilities to emit less pollution.
Richardson has promoted his energy plan this week in campaign stops in California and elsewhere.
He says his experience as energy secretary under President Clinton and as the current governor of New Mexico give him a leg up on other candidates, who also have rolled out energy plans.
The Democratic front-runner, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, also has called for an "Apollo program'' on energy. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama recently lectured automakers for investing in bigger, faster cars while dependency on oil is jeopardizing U.S. security and the global environment. And Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd wants to double the average fuel economy for each automaker to 50 mpg by 2017.
It may sound like a load of electioneering hype, and some of the targets could be toughened up, but at least these are plans to move in the right direction (and for once there is no mention of the sci-fi hydrogen economy!).
Now, all that remains is for the Democrats to win the next election. And if they do, then I guess they're sure going to need to make a few changes on the home front after saying bye bye to all that Iraqi oil that never was...
oh dear, American politicians are so funny. The amazing thing is that anybody takes them seriously.
Ive been watching the Republican presidential candidate debates on Youtube. They're all robots in cloud cuckoo land with the exception of some guy from Texas called Ron Paul. Hes only half crazy. The other half of the time he sounds like a reasonable human being.
oh dear, American politicians are so funny. The amazing thing is that anybody takes them seriously.
Yeah, I know... I guess I just want to believe (as the UFO-nuts say). I was suffering from a spell of unexplainable optimism last night when I posted that! I'll get over it
However (before I get over it!): I do like the fact that terms such as "Apollo program on energy" and "man-on-the-moon effort to [...] cut energy costs and halt global warming" are at least being mentioned and used as campaigning tools, regardless of how genuine the political claims turn out to be. Might make a few more people wake up from their blissful PO-unaware slumber?
Matt Savinar says that what's needed compared to the Apollo program is the equivalent of building condominiums on Pluto. Well, at least some of the Democrats are saying reasonable things. The problem is, when they're elected they might do something completely different from what they promised. Take, for example, Bush, who said in his campaign he was against 'nation building'. Well, I guess he kept his word; he's destroying Iraq, not building it.
Yeah, I know... I guess I just want to believe (as the UFO-nuts say). I was suffering from a spell of unexplainable optimism last night when I posted that! I'll get over it 
