Meet the Experts Carl Pope Lester Brown Kurt Yeager Jane Perkins David Freeman Lord John Browne William McDonough Paul Craig

Sierra Club Energy Forum How will technology affect future energy policy? Lester Brown: I think the goal in this century is an electricity/hydrogen-energy economy that makes us independent of fossil fuels. That is not a step function; it’s a process, and it’s a process that I think the United States should establish as a leadership goal. In my judgement, we have the technological means to achieve it. David Freeman: It’s not technology that’s inhibited our energy policy in this country; it’s been pure politics. And the politics of oil, coal, and automobiles has blocked any move toward greater efficiency. I do think that market forces -- if consumers are efficiently educated and interested -- can change energy policy, not in Washington but in the showrooms of the automobile industry. Kurt Yeager: One unfortunate side effect of restructuring of the utility industry has been that it encourages the system to exploit the infrastructure we have rather than build the infrastructure we need. There are innovative technologies that could fundamentally improve not just the access to energy, but our ability to get it where we need it, when we need it, and under terms and conditions that allow people to make choices. Choose another topic Energy Forum main | Make you own energy movie | More in Sierra magazine Up to Top