Race to the Future
Super Tuesday is a day to think about what sort of future we want for America — and every presidential
candidate still in the race agrees in principle that we need a cleaner, more secure energy supply.
Luckily, the writing is on the wall: A new study by Cambridge Energy Research Associates concludes that the
current push into renewable energy sources will be a lasting trend, not a short-term phenomenon as was the
case after the oil price shocks of the 1970s.
But as the New York Times reports today, there is also a race on between clean renewables and dirty,
unconventional energy sources such as oil sands and oil shale, which threaten to undo the environmental
gains that renewables offer.
The recently passed Energy Security Act of 2007 represented a bold move in the right direction. Let’s not undo those gains.
Source:
“Study Suggests That, Unlike in the ’70s, Energy Lessons Will Last,” by Clifford Krauss, New York Times, February 5, 2008.
“Risky Oil Shale Is Not America’s Energy Answer,” Natural Resources Defense Council, June 2007.
“Strip Mining for Oil in Endangered Forests,” Natural Resources Defense Council, June 2007.
