The American voters who are hoping that the cause of clean energy and sustainability will still be alive when the dust clears in November can sleep a bit easier after tonight’s debate. But it sure was a tragedy to see the top two prospective leaders of the world’s most powerful nation behave like schoolchildren, and speak so evasively on these issues.
In particular, can’t someone tell the coal miners that their jobs are going away? Do both sides of the debate team really have to sell coal as a vital part of the U.S. energy future, when the exact opposite is so clearly the case?
If you guys won’t do it, I will. Watch this:
Attention coal miners and the executive strata in coal companies: Retrain, regroup, rethink, reorganize. Do whatever you want, but go out and acquire new skills that won’t kill you and the rest of the world.
See? It wasn’t so hard. I told the truth, and I lived to tell the tale.
Now, a word to President Obama: Realize that you’re talking to a whole bunch of people who actually follow the energy conversation. The U.S. is rapidly phasing out its aging, filthy coal-fired power plants, and you know it. Even if you have no shame about pandering for votes, you’re more than smart enough to know that there are far more people concerned about a sustainable energy policy than there are coal miners. What’s the problem with, even in the context of a hotly contentious political campaign, boldly expressing a brave and important truth?
Take a few deep breaths and go for it. It will make you feel better.
