Al Gore is now giving a major speech in Washington, setting out an ambitious goal for the USA to produce all of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2020. While I have not heard the speech yet, I thought I'd comment on the technical feasibility of the plan, and the underlying economics of such an endeavour.

from the Department of Energy's recently published study about bringing wind power to 20% of total generation

The short answer is: while 100% is probably unrealistic, it's not unreasonable to expect to be able to get pretty close to that number (say, in the 50-90% range) in that timeframe, and it is very likely that it makes a LOT of sense economically.

Initially on European Tribune, and also on the Oil Drum. UPDATE: see disclosure below the fold.

Here is the NYT analysis of the speech:
http://www.nytimes.com/...

Former Vice President Al Gore said on Thursday that Americans must abandon fossil fuels within a decade and rely on the sun, the winds and other environmentally friendly sources of electric power, or risk losing their national security as well as their creature comforts.

Mr. Gore called for the kind of concerted national effort that enabled Americans to walk on the moon 39 years ago this month, just eight years after President John F. Kennedy famously embraced that goal.

Update:  

"The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk," Gore said.

(Update: I have the whole speech text in Update IV)

[Obama Comments in Update V)    

Al Gore is challenging the nation to produce every kilowatt of electricity through wind, sun and other Earth-friendly energy sources within 10 years, an audacious goal he hopes the next president will embrace.

Gore sets 'moon shot' goal on climate change

Gore will be giving a major speech today on energy security, climate change, and the economy, which he correctly sees as interrelated.

Update: But some Dems are running scared already.

We need to have Al's back on this.  Some Dems are grumbling:

The Hill: Some finding Gore’s timing inconvenient

More, after the fold.  

In Cars After The Age of Oil where the question was asked "how you will get around after the Oil Age, kossacks?" it sure looks like the free market is finally taking action.

It is time to start planning for the coming age and to get our government interested in this new era too. There are many actions that should be taken at every level of government.

Since so many of the suburbs have grown into multiple dwelling units, many Americans who would be able to commute to work without burning a drop of gasoline will end up having no place to plug in their new automobiles and the time for that action is now.  

In this free market multiple dwelling units will not invest in installing electric outlets at tenant parking spaces. While it it certain that these actions will be taken in co-ops and condominiums someday, that day will be a long time coming and rental tenants who have no say will never see that day without government assistance.

In order to fill the promise of lowered emissions and lessened dependence on foreign oil our government has to start incentives to get landlords, and condominium boards installing electric outlets at tenants' and shareholders' parking spaces.

This is an edited repost of a rant I wrote as a comment in another diary, but I presumptuously fancied that it merited it's own diary posting, simply for the purposes of advancing discussion.  There are more erudite and authoritative voices in the community who can address the science and the ethics behind each of these suggestions, so I am only offering a precis of my pet peeves about the toys which have characterized the American lifestyle for the past forty years which I find to be completely indefensible today.

And please note that I recognize my own hypocrisy. My generation is responsible for the bulk of the mess we currently must remediate, as my twenty-four year old son is so keen to point out often and repeatedly.

Another thought related to carbon capitalism: McCain's $300 million boy scout electric car battery badge is such a telling mockery of what American 'market-driven ingenuity' is supposed to be about it, I can't help but laugh at the sheer childishness and hypocrisy of it. The 'winning' patent technology would be so much more valuable to, say, the inventor, the inventor as entrepreneur, her investors, the new industry she's created, etc. than McCain's lame, anti-capitalism pandering prize it's flat out amusing. Isn't the 'invisible hand of the market' supposed to address this supply/demand, once-in-a-millennia business opportunity on its own? Guess not. This is a $300 million dollar acknowledgment of free market failure. Priceless.

Why not just give all 300 million American citizens $1,000,000 each to be used towards the purchase of a Tesla Roadster? Or to install solar panels on their home? Or to open a bike shop? Just send John a copy of your receipt(s). That's a guzillion times better plan for economic (and environmental) stimulus!

first off... lets not be too eager to label someone a redneck and give it a negative overtone.  I am proud to be a redneck, damn proud.  Proud that I can make what most folks have to buy.  I can build, correctly and to code what most folks have to pay someone else to build.  I can fix, with my own two hands, things that most folks have to pay thousands of dollars to have fixed for them... damn proud of the dirt under my fingernails and the dents in my truck.

I have been urging more Mandarin and study abroad programs for Oregon's public schools and universities since the summer of 2006. This 6/12/08 email is the latest in a series of regular emails to all 90 Oregon legislators.

Dear Oregon State Senator / Representative,

Please, I again urge the legislature to hold hearings on changes and economic growth in Asia, especially China, and to pass legislation to increase Mandarin and study abroad programs for our public K-16 students. The world is changing and the Legislature needs to stay informed and think through the implications of these global changes for Oregon, especially for our educational system.

Consider the scale of global change now taking place. We are in the midst of a big historic change. Kishore Mahbubani in his new book "The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East" quotes former Harvard President Larry Summers as saying:

I just bought a new refrigerator for my co-op here in the south Bronx. At first I thought "I've got to get that Energy Star, so I can use less power and help the environment!"  But, I ended up getting a fridge without energy star and here is why:

Over the years refrigerators have gotten larger, a lot larger. I was hard pressed to find a small model at all. I knew that simply reducing the size of the unit could be a better way to cut energy costs. After visiting three vendors I still could not find a 10 cubic feet or smaller sized unit with the energy star. So, I compared the smallest "full sized" unit I could find with the larger units with "energy star" the result? It beat every singe one in the area of energy use.

Cross Posted from EENRBlog

Today the NOAA or National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration released a report on the continuing rise of Carbon Dioxide and Methane in the planets Atmosphere.  Many point to these two factors as being a huge part of the earth's continued warming.

I perused the major news outlets to see how they were reporting this story and I'm also including portions of the NOAA report.  Both Reuters and the Associated Press covered it without any major embellishments.

About NOAA

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

Those of us interested in saving industrial civilization from cooking itself to death face an uphill slog:  the Republican base doesn't cotton to environmental types.  But there is a way to turn these voters into carbon cappers.  What they need to appreciate is the connection between controlling carbon and the "family values" that was their watchword last presidential election season.

Happy Earth Day...from Santa Barbara, California home of the national disaster that helped Nixon to create the EPA and spark the Environmental Movement and Earth Day Celebrations.

Ecological disaster brought reality check. Crude oil blasted nine stories into the air on Jan. 28, 1969, from a pipeline that blew out in the Santa Barbara channel. For the environmental movement, this disaster was the spark that launched Earth Day. Bridgeport Connecticut Post

The story goes that Earth Day was conceived by Senator Gaylord Nelson after a trip he took to Santa Barbara right after that horrific oil spill off our coast in 1969. He was so outraged by what he saw that he went back to Washington and passed a bill designating April 22 as a national day to celebrate the earth. - CEC

This just in from a story in The Washington Times by Stephen Dinan:

President Bush is poised to change course and announce as early as this week that he wants Congress to pass a bill to combat global warming, and will lay out principles for what that should include.

Specifics of the policy are still being fiercely debated, but Bush administration officials have told Republicans in Congress that they feel pressure to act now because they fear a coming regulatory nightmare. It would be the first time Mr. Bush has called for statutory authority on the subject.

Has the nation's pre-eminent climate change delayer had a change of heart?  No, not really; seems he's developed a late-term ability to read the handwriting on the wall. And both sides of the aisle have reason to be unhappy.

While climate change is effecting every spot on the planet and the most visible effects are the crumbling ice shelves at both poles - perhaps the most important and critical early warning signs are the borreal forests and permafrost stretching like a collar around the top of the earth.   There is new evidence of the borreal forests' warming.  

Tomorrow two scientists from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, F. Jeffrey Martin and William L. Kubic Jr., will go to the Alternative Energy Now conference in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. to present another answer to global warming that will keep our gas guzzlers on the road.

The concept Would Turn Greenhouse Gas Into Gasoline

The idea is simple. Air would be blown over a liquid solution of potassium carbonate, which would absorb the carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide would then be extracted and subjected to chemical reactions that would turn it into fuel: methanol, gasoline or jet fuel.

This process could transform carbon dioxide from an unwanted, climate-changing pollutant into a vast resource for renewable fuels. The closed cycle — equal amounts of carbon dioxide emitted and removed — would mean that cars, trucks and airplanes using the synthetic fuels would no longer be contributing to global warming.

Not as far fetched as it sounds but there are many hurdles and more that a few drawbacks.

Yes. My heart is heavy as today Senator Edwards is leaving the Presidential campaign "reality show." I voted for the Senator via Vote by Mail balloting here in California. My vote was NOT wasted. It went to the only candidate that spoke to me and inspired me via action, not just "talk". Now...wiping the tears...onto Environmental News to USE.

DNREC leaves monitoring to polluters. In Delaware, home of some of the biggest air polluters in the country, the state's air quality management program remains underfunded and understaffed, leaving the reporting of violations up to the companies doing the polluting. Wilmington News Journal

Collapse of water, sewer and public health in Gaza. A stream of dark and putrid sludge snakes through Gaza's streets. It is a noxious mix of human and animal waste. The stench is overwhelming. The occasional passer-by vomits. Inter Press Service.

Yes. I have a temp job at our local Elections Office and have been sitting on my "Vote by Mail" ballot for awhile. It was a little slow today, so thought I would fill out my ballot. For President, I proudly cast my vote for Edwards. He seems to be the only one really talking about the issues that resonate with me. To paraphrase Senator Edwards..."tell me which American doesn't deserve clean air? clean water? Toxin free homes and schools?" Anyway...onto Environmental News to USE!

Rudy Giuliani and air quality after 9/11. In his run for President, Rudy Giuliani has showcased his leadership on 9/11 and in the following days, weeks, and months. But far less understood is how he responded to early concerns about the air quality in Lower Manhattan. New York WNYC Radio

Yeah. I know. California cold. But 45 degrees in a beachside community, is, well, a bit chilly. Now, before my fingers "freeze", Environmental News to Use for a Friday before a 4-day weekend.

Flavoring additive puts professional cooks at risk. America's favorite breakfast is bacon and eggs -- and often it is cooked in a product that contains the same chemical that has damaged and destroyed the lungs of hundreds of popcorn and food-flavoring plant workers. Seattle Post-Intelligencer

In past, states were permitted to set own pollution rules. During President Ronald Reagan's administration, when California was trying to enforce its own tough standards for pollution from diesel engines, the trucking industry argued that the state didn't qualify for a waiver under federal law because the problem wasn't unique to California. San Francisco Chronicle