Mr. President, if Energy Independence Is Your Goal, Your Hawaii Home Can Be the Model for Change

(Be sure to see link at the end.)

From the President’s address to Congress and the nation tonight:

The only way this century will be another American century is if we confront at last the price of our dependence on oil….

We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy. Yet we import more oil today than ever before….

Mr. President, we know what you’re talkin’ about. The citizens of Hawaii, your birthplace, are more dependent on oil for the generation of our electricity than any other state in the nation. We’re ready to shoulder the burden, to accept the additional “green premium” to end our dependence on fossil fuel.

It begins with energy.

We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century…. I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders - and I know you don't either. It is time for America to lead again.

You want leadership, Mr. President? Your Hawaii can provide not only leadership but inspiration and passionate commitment to energy independence. Why? Because Hawaii must out of necessity embrace the green revolution as a matter of survival! Our debilitating reliance on fossil fuel will surely finish us off as a viable society unless we act. We’re determined, but we’re a small place. You need look nowhere else to find an army of committed citizens eager to embrace the change you seek. All we need is your help.

Thanks to our recovery plan, we will double this nation's supply of renewable energy in the next three years. We have also made the largest investment in basic research funding in American history - an investment that will spur not only new discoveries in energy, but breakthroughs in medicine, science, and technology.

We will soon lay down thousands of miles of power lines that can carry new energy to cities and towns across this country. And we will put Americans to work making our homes and buildings more efficient so that we can save billions of dollars on our energy bills.

But to truly transform our economy, protect our security, and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy. So I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America. And to support that innovation, we will invest fifteen billion dollars a year to develop technologies like wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more fuel-efficient cars and trucks built right here in America.

Not to mention ocean thermal energy conversion, Mr. President. The tropical ocean that embraces your home state is the world’s greatest collector of solar energy – storing the energy equivalent of 250 billion barrels of oil each day!

By including OTEC in your energy investment strategy, you will set the stage for an energy revolution that will change the fate of the planet -- not only in the tropics, but around the globe. Surely your advisors and daughters will tell you about OTEC's unlimited promise.

So let it begin here, Mr. President. Your Hawaii is ready to lead the way to energy independence by embarking on the greatest energy turnaround in our nation’s history – transforming our society from near-total reliance on imported fossil fuel to become the first truly clean energy economy in the country.

Let it begin where you began, Mr. President. Hawaii prepared you to lead our nation, and now we are prepared to lead.

Continuing the Thought

If any of this appeals to you, please read today's post by Pat Takahashi at his Simple Solutions for Planet Earth and Humanity blog under the headline The Sustainable Paradise of the Pacific. This is must reading for renewable energy advocates in the 50th State.