Will the Gulf Oil Tragedy Affect the Migration to Clean Energy?

Many of my friends, most of whom are engaged in careers that have nothing to do with renewable energy, have asked me about the likely impact of the Gulf oil spill on the trajectory for clean energy. But while it’s true that I know a bit more about the subject than the average guy on the street, I have to say that I’m at a loss to provide a definitive answer to this red-hot question.

I’m sure you’ve read commentary that suggests that, as terrible as the catastrophe is, it comes with a "silver lining," i.e., the increasing level of demand for a replacement for fossil fuels as our main energy supply, brought about by an heightened awareness of the many dangers of oil. But while it’s clear that the general public has awakened to the issues that surround the oil business – and has created a considerable firestorm of outrage at the oil companies, so what? Aren’t the same political forces that have continued to grant oil companies enormous subsidies through the last half century and made gasoline/diesel 98+% of our transportation fuel still in place? Are we to suppose that the corporate powers and the biggest lobby on Earth will be slinking off sheepishly to new careers? Hardly.

In my longer piece on the Gulf oil spill, I argue that, in the end, there really is a silver lining – or at least there can be. If it occurs at all, it will be that now, virtually everyone (you don’t have to be a clean energy enthusiast like the readers of Renewable Energy World) can see the truth for what it is. It’s now obvious that there is one and only one winner in oil, namely the oil companies themselves. Now, finally, it’s clear to everyone.

In turn, this gives us a litmus test for our leaders: an elected official who is really on our side (if there actually is such a thing) will take whatever political risks may come his way to push for clean energy solutions. But here’s the catch: it’s up to you and me to insist that our leaders do that. In case you haven't noticed, politicians don’t make decisions because they're the right thing to do; they make them because they’re forced.