Real Things

All this political talk and arguing are important to the future, but so is what's happening right now, the real things:

Update Thursday: Mayor Bloomberg of New York City proposes using skyscrapers and bridges to site wind turbines as part of his alternative energy plan.

At the national Clean Energy Summit, Google.org announced it will invest $10 million to develop Enhanced Geothermal Systems, to tap energy from the heated granite deep in the earth, which exists pretty much everywhere.

Companies will build two new solar plants in California which together will produce twelve times as much electricity as any solar power plant today. MIT researchers say they have discovered a way to use solar energy cheaply even after the sun goes down, which could make it a mainstream source of power within the next decade.

Toyota is adding solar panels to its third generation design for the Prius hybrid, while plug-in hybrids that get their juice from a household electrical outlet will start rolling into showrooms within in 18 months. Dubbed the next step in the evolution of the car, experts say plug-in hybrids could account for about 20 percent of vehicle sales within a decade, and half of all sales by 2050.

Facing economic hardship and contraction, the town of Rock Port, Missouri stopped tilting at windmills and started building them. Today the town is entirely powered by wind--and on most days, exports energy. Now the town is starting to grow jobs."Did I ever think this would happen? Naw, not in a million years. ... This is beyond my imagination."

High energy prices and environmental concerns are prompting seven in 10 Americans saying they're trying to reduce their "carbon footprint," chiefly by driving less, using less electricity and recycling.

Tech industries are devising ways for household PCs as well as corporate tech infrastructure to conserve energy.

And yet...

While the EPA finds that global heating will cause substantial threats to human health, and humanity must prepare for a potential catastrophic increase in temperatures, a major program to help poor countries cope has been shut down for lack of funding.