Will Clean Energy Become Dirty?

Don't expect to see much of that 'compromise' thing, it's been so long most have just taken the word out, and certainly as to moving the Country forward, the game is all politics not advancing as a Country!

In an Age of Compromise

Based on the actions of a very active lame duck Congress last month, we could be moving into a new age of compromise. By crossing both sides of the aisle, President Barack Obama was able to pass comprehensive tax legislation, the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, and the START nuclear arms reduction agreement in the final weeks of the outgoing Congress. As witnessed, compromise can be a very positive and productive thing. But it also has its dark side, where compromise is so skewed it ends up achieving the opposite of what most everyone hoped for or intended. Many point to the Obama healthcare plan as a classic example of where neither side is happy with the end result. Could the same happen for clean energy?

Moving into the 112th Congress, we could see a new age where "clean energy" becomes increasingly "dirty." There are growing calls not for a national renewable portfolio standard (RPS), but a so-called clean energy standard that includes clean coal and nuclear power along with renewables. In our book The Clean Tech Revolution and in our work at Clean Edge, senior editor Clint Wilder and I have made a strong case for not including these technologies in the clean-tech taxonomy.

But an "all of the above" approach to our energy future may very well be in the offing. The Chinese have been pursuing this approach, spending more on solar PV, wind power, and electric vehicles than just about any other country (and reaping leadership benefits along with their investments), while also supporting the advancement of clean coal and nuclear. It's not a bad approach, and has worked very well for the Chinese, but is it the right one for the U.S.? {continued}