Jeremy Leggett on a "Crisis to Dwarf Previous Crises"
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 04.24.08
We’re pretty avid watchers of Solarcentury CEO Jeremy Leggett here at TreeHugger. From our interview with him back in 2006, to his recent musings on why greed is good for the renewables industries, Leggett never fails to stir up an interesting and impassioned debate. As a former oil man, he is also pretty well qualified to talk about the coming energy crisis and peak oil, and he certainly doesn’t hold back in his latest interview on the Principal Voices website, though it’s not all positive reading. On the one hand, he is as up-beat as ever about the potential for renewable energy, given the right support and the right conditions:
“Here there is good and bad news. Yes, we can run the world on renewables and efficiency. Any self-respecting solar energy company--hooked up with the right partners--can put up zero carbon buildings in a matter of weeks. Around 50% of CO2 emissions come from buildings, directly or indirectly. Meanwhile, as traditional power prices soar, solar manufacturing costs are falling.”
On the other hand, he doesn’t hold back from his warnings that, if the worst predictions of the peak oil community are correct, we are in for some very rough times. He talks of a profound and lasting energy crisis that will “dwarf previous crises”, and suggests the only thing to do is to mobilize now with all possible renewable and efficiency technologies as if for war. Of course, Leggett has a certain interest in promoting such a massive mobilization, given the work his company is doing with solar for schools, office buildings and homes, but as the evidence of impending climate and energy crises keeps mounting, we find it hard to disagree with him. What are we waiting for?
::Principal Voices::via Solarcentury::
This guy is a darling of Tree Hugger. Tree Hugger has been pushing this "profit is good" idea all along and I wonder about their objectivity. I have been sensored by them before about similar comments - I expect better from the environmental movement.
Folks, if we want to make things better the only way is to tax the rich at a high marginal tax rate, say 75 to 90 percent. This would shift wealth to the poorer communities providing them with money to fix up their homes,making them more energy efficient. It would stimulate micro business - the true mom and pop businesses that can be energy efficient. The wealthy have had their chance and they messed us all up. It's our chance now.
exactly, what the * are we waiting for!
I'm getting tired of reading the ridiculous points some of the wackos in the environmental community make here on TreeHugger. I love the site, but ideas of posters here like taxing the rich 75 to 90 percent to give to "the poor" are simply ignorant drivel. I find it increasingly hard to associate myself with a community filled with so many bad ideas that sometimes overshadow the important good ones. Add this to TreeHugger's own anti-free market dogma (word chosen deliberately) it tries to spread and you turn off intelligent green-conscious people from other mindsets.
Don't forget that you have people from all walks of life (religious, political, philosophical) reading this website. Don't turn off intelligent conservation-minded conservatives, Libertarians and others with your half-baked ideas that would decrease innovation, grow the nanny state and destroy entrepreneurship.