Obama Launches Host of New Actions and Commitments on Renewables & Efficiency

There is a sea change gradually sweeping across this country, propelled, perhaps, by the idea of an actual sea change rather than the familiar metaphorical one. Seas are rising, become less salty, more acidic. Currents are changing direction, giving birth to new winds, some of them quite temperamental.

We, the people, are beginning to turn away from the energy sources that turned us from a fledgling nation into a superpower. They have served us well, and everyone living today has benefited. But there was a hidden cost that we are slowly waking up to, a cost that is putting our modern world and everyone living upon it, at significant peril.

Awareness has spread slowly, with the government of the most powerful nation on the planet among the last to respond, hampered by a Congress that, to this day, clings stubbornly to denial, despite the overwhelming consensus of the great scientific establishments. Fortunately, both the President and many in the private sector including, ironically enough, many in the energy industry, recognize the danger and the importance of immediate and effective action.

This week President Obama announced a combination of executive actions and private sector commitments, designed to help the country move forward in reducing demand for carbon-based energy sources and accelerate the transition to renewables.

Image Credit: amateur_photo_bore - Flickr creative commons

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RP Siegel, author and inventor, shines a powerful light on numerous environmental and technological topics. He has been published in business and technical journals and has written three books. His third, co-authored with Roger Saillant, is Vapor Trails, an eco-thriller that is being adapted for the big screen. RP is a professional engineer – and a prolific inventor, with 50 patents, numerous awards, and several commercial products. He is president of Rain Mountain LLC and is an active environmental advocate in his hometown of Rochester, N.Y. In addition to Justmeans, he writes for Triple Pundit, ThomasNet News, and Energy Viewpoints, occasionally contributing to Mechanical Engineering, Strategy + Business, and Huffington Post. You can follow RP on Twitter, @RPSiegel.