Obama and the Green New Deal
With the 2008 Presidential election now only a week away, speculation will soon be over on where our country will be heading under the leadership of a new president. Whoever is elected will have a costly Middle East War and a failed domestic economy to deal with. I don’t envy their position.
After reading both the Obama energy plan and the McCain energy plan, Obama has put the most effort and thought into crafting and documenting how he intends to help reduce our dependence on foreign oil and catalyze the shift to the new Clean Energy Economy.
With a drastic increase in unemployment looming, the next president should consider taking a page from the play book of FDR and institute a New Deal for America’s energy infrastructure. This “Green New Deal” would mobilize the country’s workers by funding the largest new industry created in the 21st century. By funding public works projects, the new President would create valuable new jobs, boost our economy and wean us from dependence on petroleum. These public works projects could include:
- building a new high voltage DC power distribution network
- retrofitting power plants with co-generation capability that uses biomass, solar, geothermal and wind where applicable
- developing sustainable biofuels that don’t adversely affect food prices and supply
- developing alternative fuels such as natural gas and methanol while reducing the amount of energy required to manufacture, refine and deliver them for consumption.
- fostering research in CO2 reduction and sequestration techniques including reformation of CO2 and H20 into methanol for fuel and as an energy storage mechanism.
- funding additional research of reforming atmospheric CO2 into methanol using selective absorption and other techniques.
- incenting research in alternative methods of transportation such as electric vehicles and more advanced hybrid technologies.
- upgrading our homes and buildings with energy efficiency improvements such as improved insulation, CF and LED lighting upgrades, more efficient windows and improved sealing of the building envelope.
- adding government-mandated requirements on efficient new building designs
- help funding energy generation retrofits to homes and businesses using solar PV, solar hot water, geothermal and wind where applicable.
David Morris’ article on AlterNet makes a case for why our nation is ready for a Green New Deal.
- RADscientist
