When I last wrote about “smart power”, I was taking US business and especially political leaders to task for failing to craft comprehensive, forward-looking energy policy. They seem to be more concerned with drilling for today’s dwindling oil than planning for tomorrow’s growing needs. Meanwhile, citizens feel powerless to do much about it.
Part of the problem is one of scale. Our energy dilemma is big and not easily solved. There’s a great deal of economic inertia keeping us stuck in hydrocarbons. As I said before, I believe it’s largely the role of government to help “unstick” us– to provide incentives, tax or whatever, in facilitating a transition from a polluting power paradigm to one more responsible and sustainable.
But that doesn’t mean the citizenry should sit back and wait for their tax dollars to be put to proper use. There are moves we can make at local levels to get change underway… and set the stage for more expansive solutions. Continue reading