Levelizing the Playing Field for Renewables
The U.S. economy is structured to be powered by cheap and abundant sources of fossil fuel. Given what we know about climate change and Peak Oil, we have no choice but to begin weaning ourselves off these finite resources, no matter how convenient it may be. Most of us know that the longer we put off the transition to renewable energy, the more untenable our dependency to fossil fuels become. But there is no pre-determined path that will ensure a trauma-free evolution toward a leaner, slower, lower-carbon society. As we undergo this transition, we can expect entrenched energy interests to fight us every step of the way, and their allies in government to resist adopting policies necessary to accomplish this task.
A presentation by Michael Vickerman, given November 28, 2007, at the UW-Stevens Point, examines several policy approaches we can pursue to elevate renewable energy from a bit player to the default option.
View the presentation as a PDF or PowerPoint.
