Amory Lovins! When it comes to Secretary of Energy President-Elect Obama must not be concerned about star power or "Inside the Beltway" experience. The future of human residence on our planet depends on facing the reality that we must drastically change how we develop and use energy. One of the reasons I volunteered for Barack Obama was the faith that he would have the courage to pick someone like Amory Lovins for Energy Secretary.
No one knows more about energy and energy independence than Amory Lovins, Cofounder, Chairman, and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute http://www.rmi.org/... . He is one of the most informed, responsible, and visionary "radicals" around. Mr. Lovins know how to make our nation energy independent within a generation. Mr. Lovins worked with the Department of Defense on energy security and showed that energy exploration in Alaska is extremely vulnerable to terrorist attacks. (Did you know that a Canadian scientist is in jail for plotting to blow up the Trans-Alaska pipeline for the turn of the millennium?)
One of his underlying concepts is natural capitalism. Natural capitalism is based on the way nature actually works, not the way we wish it worked.
Natural Capitalism has identified four key principles:
- use resources with radically greater productivity
- redesign production on biological lines with closed loops, no waste, and no toxicity
- change the business model by switching from selling goods to delivering a continuous flow of service and value
- reinvest in restoring, sustaining and expanding the stock of natural capital
Lovins contend that
The United States can eliminate its oil dependence and revitalize its economy—not by passing federal laws, taxing fuels, biasing markets, subsidizing favorites, mandating technologies, limiting choices, or crimping lifestyles, but by adopting smart business strategies. If government steers, not rows, then competitive enterprise, supported by judicious policy and vibrant civil society, can turn the oil challenge into an unprecedented opportunity for wealth creation and common security.
He has used the example of the Boeing Corporation, whose latest planes are lighter and more energy efficient, as a model for American automakers.
Nothing makes the case for Amory Lovins as Energy Secretary than his own words. Please take the time to watch this interview from The Charlie Rose Show. Lovins explains how we can make our transitions from oil, how we can get rid of the carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming, and create millions of jobs doing so.