Gore Pushes 10-Year Energy Plan

Former Vice-President turned environmental activist Al Gore issued a challenge to politicians and policy makers yesterday. Gore wants the United States to commit to producing 100% of its electric power from renewable sources, like wind, solar, clean coal, and geothermal energy, within 10 years. Gore cited the rising cost of oil as well as the alleged impact of burning fossil fuels on global warming as reasons for his call to action. Currently, renewable sources account for about nine percent of the 3.7 billion kilowatt hours of electricity produced and consumed in the United States.

"I have never seen an opportunity for the country like the one that's emerging now. I hope to contribute to a new political environment in this country that will allow the next president to do what I think the next president is going to think is the right thing to do. But the people have to play a part."

The people's part, of course, will come in the form of providing the money for the construction of all the new infrastructure that will be needed to implement Gore's plan. Gore's group, the Alliance for Climate Protection, says that the total cost of the project could range from 1.5 to 3 trillion dollars over 30 years. Gore dismissed the potential cost as, "an expensive investment but not compared to the rising cost of continuing to invest in fossil fuels."

Curiously absent from Gore's plan is a call to increase the amount of electricity produced from nuclear power. The U.S. generates about 20 percent of its power from nuclear plants, which produce no greenhouse gases, yet Gore does not advocate for more production from this most environmentally friendly method. He also did not point out the fact that the World Meteorological Organization has said that global average temperatures have not increased, and may have actually decreased, over the last ten years. Lastly, Gore did not address the fact that fossil fuel power sources will be needed to back up alternative sources like wind and solar, which cannot be adjusted to meet peak demands and do not generate power when there is no wind or when it is dark.

Gore's plan is mainly a political one. It is intended not to actually sponsor and produce power generation projects, but to gather politicians behind a policy goal. Reducing the nation's dependence on foreign sources of energy is a worthy one, but it comes with a hefty price tag and necessary reductions in Americans' lifestyles. Gore should be given credit for addressing the costs and acknowledging their magnitude. But it is far from certain that global warming is an unnatural phenomenon that humans could possibly have any impact on. Despite the global warming activists' attempts to shut down debate on the question of man's role in the planet's climatory changes, many scientists and average citizens remain skeptical. This is why advocates like Gore need to issue grand challenges and make ever bolder and more dire predictions.