Power to the People

Here's a good article from one of my favorite columnists. It was forwarded to me by Farmer Sam.

In the article, Thomas Friedman suggests President Bush set a floor price on gas and oil in order to encourage investment in solar and wind energy. More companies producing and installing these alternative energy devices would decrease the price of them.

I saw a show the other day on the History Channel. It was about energy in general and there was a part on solar and wind energy. They featured a guy who had a big ol' house with solar panels on top for hot water and electricity as well as a wind turbine. The house produced so much electricity, most of the time he actually was sending power to the electric company.

Now can you imagine if every house in America had solar panels and houses in windy areas had wind turbines? We'd probably produce so much power, we wouldn't need most of the power plants we use. We wouldn't need nearly as much natural gas and coal. Even if the solar and wind power wasn't as efficient, it would still have a huge impact.

It seems to me President Bush, his advisors and the big energy companies who've invested a lot of money in him don't want that to happen. After all, who would they sell their energy to if everyone made their own?