It is time for the world to transition from societies built around fossil fuels to societies built around renewable and sustainable energy. The question is no longer whether we should make this transition, but has turned to how do we do this with the least amount of economic disruption and social upheaval.

Today, the world depends upon oil and to a lesser extent on coal. Electricity is generated, cars run on, and homes are heated with fossil fuels. Oil touches almost every aspect of our lives – from going to work, school or play, to how industries fuel their factories, to how we produce and transport our food.

And as we replace oil and coal with wind, geothermal and solar energy sources, we will also have to replace fossil fuel jobs with renewable jobs.

Going from fossil fuels to renewables is a daunting task which needs to be done quickly, but as smartly as the project of putting mankind on the moon or winning World War Two.

For example, are we going to convert every gas station into an electric station for our cars? For that matter how long will it take for us to replace gas engine cars with electric cars?

We are going to be using oil for the foreseeable future – the goal is to drop oil consumption quickly, but smartly. And we need to acknowledge that large scale oil usage will still be with us, most likely through to the next century.

There are many reasons to pursue a country where oil plays a diminishing role in its economy:

• To slow down and eventually reverse the climate change referred to as Global Warming.
• The use of oil is environmentally unfriendly and poisonous to our air, water and land.
• National Security – the countries that switch to renewable and sustainable energies first – will not be at the mercy of Northern Africa, the Middle East or Russia, for example.
• State and local sources of wind, solar and similar power will create flexible communities that can withstand the vagaries of weather and economic fluctuations better. The grid may blackout, but the power generated from a building’s solar array can still keep the lights on.
• The price of renewable energies will be steadier and less likely to fluctuate due to world events.

There are many ways to advance this goal of replacing the oil economy with first a hybrid oil/renewable economy and then a dominant renewable economy.

Solar Panels – The goal of a billion solar panels being in place within the next few years – as proposed by Secretary Clinton – will be a start. There are government buildings, school buildings and shopping center buildings, as well as homes and other building sites where such panels can be placed. The cost of these panels and their installation will most likely be handled through a mixture of Government direct spending, incentivized private spending and just it makes common sense for me to do it spending.

Electric Cars – as gas engine cars age and need to be replaced, the purchase of electric vehicles should be encouraged. The maybe done by a combination of incentives and the forces of the marketplace creating electric cars and trucks that are just better values. It should be noted that certain vehicles such as trucks used for hauling goods may need to be oil based for quite sometime to come.

Wind Farms and Large Scale Solar Plants – Today’s Energy Companies – those that provide electricity and those who provide coal and oil – may want to consider their long term futures and get involved in such projects. Due to their scale of size – greater attention to the environmental costs of such facilities must be taken into account and ongoing mitigation costs must be included in the overall costs of such projects.

Zoning Laws – Local zoning ordinances can be changed to require new buildings be green buildings. Such buildings must be more energy efficient naturally – taking advantage of local wind and sun conditions, for example. They may need to include actual gardens as well as internal ways to produce energy. The country of France has made such requirements and great smart buildings are the result.

No More Wars – The amount of oil in the world’s militaries is tremendous. Balancing “safety” and a “waste of resources” is a difficult problem. One whose most likely solution is to raise everyone’s standard of living. Pursuing diplomatic and economic goals where the poorest get richer and everyone else does better, too, may seem an unlikely possibility. But given the dire future that may lay ahead of us, it becomes a more reasonable course of action. And isn’t it our longest term goal for all of us to enjoy the ideals of living a life that allows both Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness?

Additionally, the use of oil in the production of agriculture needs to be improved and replaced. I will let other experts figure that out. Additionally, we need to figure out how to make plastics, chemicals and similar products from other materials besides oil and coal. Again, I trust the intelligence of the human species to come up with creative solutions to these goals.

THE COST: This eventual change to a renewable dominant economy will be challenging and appear expensive. A new infrastructure will be needed. But much of the actual cost for this change will be covered by switching from one type of expense to another: the cost of fossil fuels versus the costs of renewables. Note that the underlying power source for solar and wind is the sun which provides FREE ENERGY everyday. Additionally, the costs of finding, removing, protecting and transporting oil will dwindle with its use and mitigate the expenses created by the change.

There will also need to be programs for retraining and supporting workers who must move from one type of job to another one. And we must be smart about mitigating and preventing environmental damages the new renewable technologies may create.

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