Right now, in 2008, there is a struggle taking place that reaches into the halls of the most powerful institutions of government, to the boards of the most wealthy and influential corporations, and down into the hearts and minds of each individual walking the planet, especially those of us who live in industrialized nations. This struggle revolves around the issue of how humanity will meet future energy demand in the face of indisputable evidence that human activity, power production, and transportation are causing the planet to warm at an alarming rate and the degradation of our air and water.

There is cause for hope. In fact, there is cause to believe that solutions are at hand that will allow the Earth to sustain human life and a bio-diverse environment far into the future if we make the right choices today. We are well into the cusp of a new industrial revolution in which energy efficiency is making dramatic leaps and bounds throughout every facet of technology. Entering the assembly line are LED light bulbs that use less than ten percent of the energy of incandescents and computers and other electronics that use 30-60 percent less energy than their predecessors.

Nanosolar technology promises to dramatically reduce the cost of using the sun’s energy to produce electricity. We are learning to tap the enormous potential energy in the ocean’s waves and tidal rhythms. Energy storage technology is improving rapidly with advances in batteries, fuel cell, and compressed air technology. And, most importantly, consciousness is growing about the limitations of natural resources, the reality of climate change, and the impact we have on our environment through our daily activities.

But, this consciousness hasn’t reached everywhere yet. Not only does the void exist within the halls of state and federal regulatory agencies, but there is still a void of energy consciousness, or at least a tendency toward denial, within virtually each one of us.

The coal, nuclear and oil industries continue to plan to meet future energy demand the same way it has been met in the past hundred years or so, projecting and promoting more energy consumption while building more infrastructure to meet the growing demand: more coal-burning and nuclear power plants, more power lines crisscrossing the landscape, more air pollution. You get the idea. After all, that’s the way they operate. It’s ingrained. It’s habit. And, it’s the habit of each one of us as well, because we are the consumers who perpetuate it.

In 2007, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a consensus report prepared and reviewed by more than 2,500 of the most respected climatologists in the world that prescribed an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas production by 2050 to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. Burning coal to produce electricity is the largest source of greenhouse gases. A typical coal plant has a 50-60 year life cycle. To meet the goal, we can’t build even one more coal-burning power plant. In fact, existing plants will need to be phased out.

Herein lies the struggle and the choice that is to be made now. If some 130 new major coal and nuclear power plants are created in the next decade, at a probable cost of more than one trillion dollars, we will have squandered the financial resources, the political will and the opportunity to transform to a renewable, efficient and sustainable energy economy in time to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.

This means we have to transform ourselves right now. The most formidable struggle is within ourselves, even more than between differing interests within our social system, although that struggle certainly exists. Those of us who have significant consciousness of the global crisis, and its solutions, need to transform our theories and beliefs into actions and realities, right now. We need to invest and transform our homes into energy efficient and energy producing machines to set examples for our neighbors. We need to start riding bicycles when practical, put up clotheslines, change our light bulbs, use less water, use off-peak power to heat water and run heat pumps, insulate and fill cracks, and wear sweaters rather than turning up the thermostat: all of the things we’ve heard and read about for years but have never found the time to implement.

We also need to transform ourselves into involved and potent political activists. We need to stand up to oppose the construction of new polluting power plants, and we need to work together when possible to create a powerful and cohesive political force to overcome the momentum of “business as usual” in industry and government. Right now, you can write and call government officials and candidates, lobby, write letters to the editor, demonstrate, or boycott. Do what you feel is appropriate to help transform yourself, your government, the world and our future.

LOCAL COAL GOALS
On January 30, the NC Division of Air Quality issued a permit for Duke Energy to begin construction on a new 800-megawatt coal-burning power plant at Cliffside, in Rutherford County, NC, 50 miles southeast of Asheville. Grassroots organizations are mobilizing against the Cliffside plant rapidly.

Here are ways you can join the effort:
• The Canary Coalition and 15 other groups (as of this writing) are staging weekly “Boycott” actions. Turn off your house lights for 15 minutes, starting at 9 pm every Sunday night in solidarity while placing a candle or LED lantern in a visible window in protest against the Cliffside project. (www.canarycoalition.org)

• NC Waste Awareness and Reduction Network (NC WARN) is coordinating a letter-writing campaign to Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers in protest. (www.ncwarn.org)

• Write/call candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor and state legislature in North Carolina asking for their positions on Cliffside and telling them your position.
(http://politics1.com/nc.htm)

• Join and donate money to organizations working to stop new power plant construction while promoting a shift in energy policy to foster reductions in energy consumption and implementation of clean, safe and renewable energy production options.

Avram Friedman is the executive director of the Canary Coalition, a grassroots clean air movement. For more information about the Coalition, visit www.canarycoalition.org.

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