Clouds Move in Over Alternative Energy

As fuel prices drop, so does interest in pursuing alternative energies.  The old adage, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, comes to mind.

Well excuse me, but lower oil prices won’t stop the polar ice cap from melting!

Global warming is still “broke.” It’s just cheaper to melt all the ice on the planet when oil prices sink.

The NY Times writes:

“Alternative energies like wind and solar are facing big new challenges because of the credit freeze and the plunge in oil and natural gas prices……Advocates are concerned that if the prices for oil and gas keep falling, the incentive for utilities and consumers to buy expensive renewable energy will shrink. That is what happened in the 1980s when a decade of advances for alternative energy collapsed amid falling prices for conventional fuels.”

Once again, we see oft fickle Americans being solely motivated by the almighty dollar.

Recent lower oil prices threaten to squash alternative energy projects well funded just six months ago.  Is our memory that short that we truly believe oil prices won’t go up again?

Until we can get over costly research and development hurdles, the price for utilizing non-oil energy sources will remain high.  As a country, we need to take on these initial costs, so that eventually we and the world may reap the benefits of less expensive and less polluting fuels.

As far as our planet and our health are concerned, oil as a fuel source is still broken.  It’s just cheap and broken.  Let’s finally put this behind us and fix it.

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