Switching Off Coal

Writing in the New York Times, William Grimes has mostly good things to say about reporter, Jeff Goodell's new book-length expose, Big Coal, which strives to make visible the considerable but largely hidden costs of our dependence on the stuff. In case you didn't know it, we Americans get more energy from coal than any other source. Goodell, it seems, argues persuasively that that will have to change. Where he falters, at least according to Grimes, is in the "how" department. Writes Grimes:

Are Americans willing to pay 20 to 25 percent more to turn on a light or cool their homes? Here the hardheaded Mr. Goodell goes a little soft. Essentially, he is asking average consumers to dig deeper and pay more now for vaguely perceived future benefits. Present pain for future gain does not usually add up to a winning political selling point, so to get it across, Mr. Goodell makes wild promises. A total commitment to clean energy could, he argues, "unleash a jobs bonanza that would make what happened in Silicon Valley in the 1990's look like a bake sale." How this will come about remains a little mysterious. It just will.

Having not read the book, I can't say whether Grimes is being fair in that assessment. But, it's worth noting that the smart money is increasingly betting on Greentech and alternative energy to be, if you will, the Next Big Thing. Having seen the writing on the wall, many major industries are now beginning to plan for a carbon-constrained future. So, I suspect Goodell is right when he compares what's coming to the Internet boom, only bigger. Energy makes the world go round, after all, and whoever comes up with the solutions to our current energy and warming woes, stands to rule the future.

I'm curious. What do other folks think? Will alternative energy be the Next Big Thing?