Back in the 1970's Jimmy Carter wanted a foreign policy based upon human rights rather than one based upon propping up tin horn dictators so to let multinational corporations rape, pollute and pillage their countries resources. It was a lofty goal. He sat before the fire in his cardigan sweater asking us to turn down the thermostat to 68º from 72º. He put solar panels on the roof of the White House and Carter was sandbagged by big oil. Exxon/Mobil et al said: "O.K. buster, you don't want to play by our rules? Then 'Fuck you' let's see how long you can last in office if folks have to sit in a two hour gas lines to fill up their car." The rest, as they say, is history ...
However, the bat shit half ass crazy reason solar will finally be developed is below the fold.
Now in hind sight if we had taken President Carter's lead and pursued "energy independence", created more fuel efficient vehicles we wouldn't have needed to station troops in Saudi Arabia. If we hadn't stationed troops in Saudi Arabia we wouldn't have pissed off Osama bin Laden. If we hadn't pissed off Osama bin Laden there would not have been an Al-Qaeda and there would not have been an attack on America on 9/11 2001. If there hadn't been an attack on America on 9/11 2001 we would not be in a perpetual "war on terror." We would not have to take off our shoes to board a plane and all the other bull shit that has precipitated from that event. So here's the kicker. Solar and renewable energies are now being requested by of all organizations the United States Military.
HEADLINE NYT:
U.S. Military Orders Less Dependence on Fossil Fuels !!!!!!!!!
It begins:
With insurgents increasingly attacking the American fuel supply convoys that lumber across the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan, the military is pushing aggressively to develop, test and deploy renewable energy to decrease its need to transport fossil fuels.
It goes on to say:
Even as Congress has struggled unsuccessfully to pass an energy bill and many states have put renewable energy on hold because of the recession, the military this year has pushed rapidly forward. After a decade of waging wars in remote corners of the globe where fuel is not readily available, senior commanders have come to see overdependence on fossil fuel as a big liability, and renewable technologies — which have become more reliable and less expensive over the past few years — as providing a potential answer.
There is much more to this article please follow this link to read more: http://www.nytimes.com/...
So, we wouldn't develop renewable energy technologies to save the planet. We wouldn't develop renewable energy technologies to save the polar bears. We wouldn't develop renewable energy technologies to protect the environment. We wouldn't develop renewable energy technologies to stop global warming. Maybe now we will finally get bipartisan agreement to develop renewable energy technologies because it will make it easier to kill people. What a totally fucking weird world we live in. But hey ... if it FINALLY pushes development renewable energy technologies I'll take it.