Gore Dreams Big

Al Gore issued a challenge to America last week - to replace 100% of sources of electricity with renewable and carbon-neutral sources: wind, solar, etc. Some may view this as overly ambitious, but I agree with Bob Hebert of the New York Times that we have to set our goals high on this one.

Nobody believed we could put a man on the moon by the end of the decade when J.F.K. issued his challenge in the early 1960's, but it was done. People thought F.D.R. was not serious when he set production goals for Americans to reach at the beginning of our involvement in World War II, but we not only met those goals, but surpassed them. That is why I believe Hebert is on track with his assessment:

"The naysayers will tell you that once again Al Gore is dreaming, that the costs of his visionary energy challenge are too high, the technological obstacles too tough, the timeline too short and the political lift much too heavy.

But that’s the thing about visionaries. They don’t imagine what’s easy. They imagine the benefits to be reaped once all the obstacles The naysayers will tell you that once again Al Gore is dreaming, that the costs of his visionary energy challenge are too high, the technological obstacles too tough, the timeline too short and the political lift much too heavy. But that’s the thing about visionaries. They don’t imagine what’s easy. They imagine the benefits to be reaped once all the obstacles are overcome.
are overcome."

You can read the rest here: Op-Ed Columnist - Yes We Can - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com