But one consistent theme rose above the chorus: if America doesn't choose to lead in the development of clean renewable technologies, we will become followers to the rest of the world.
I don’t often turn to stand-up comics for insight on matters of national energy policy, but since all other attempts to stop the oil gushing in the Gulf of Mexico have failed, it probably wouldn’t hurt. I ran across a quote from Robin Williams the other day: “What is right is what’s left when you’ve done everything else wrong.” When it comes to developing the abundant wind and solar resources on America’s public lands, we need to take stock of how poorly we’ve done with other forms of energy.
Right now, a sweeping and long-awaited package of bills that would conserve hundreds of thousands of acres of new Wilderness and other special public lands is working its way through Congress. If passed, the omnibus lands act, would provide the greatest expansion of the National Wilderness Preservation System in 14 years.
So much work has gone into making these wilderness-friendly bills a reality, but with the end of the legislative year, many larger, controversial national issues have taken attention away from passing the legislation.
