Solar power could be a source of new jobs and an answer to global warming. So why has the U.S. fallen behind other nations in developing it?By Katharine Mieszkowski
salon.com
October 25, 2004
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/10/25/renewable_technology/index.html (may have to sit through an ad if you're not a member . . .)Ten years ago, American companies owned 50 percent of the market for solar photovoltaic panels -- the key technology necessary for solar power. Today, says Thomas Werner, CEO of SunPower, a solar-technology company based in Silicon Valley, the United States has just a 10 percent share.
Yet even as the U.S. has lost its lead in solar, the worldwide demand for it, and other renewable power sources, such as wind, has surged. According to one report, solar and wind power generation capacity has grown by more than 30 percent annually over the past five years. That's the kind of growth market high-tech venture capitalists and entrepreneurs are normally desperate for.
(snip)To experts convinced that American leaders could make a difference, the misplaced priorities of the Bush administration are more than just a matter of mistaken policy. They are a disaster of the highest order.
"We had the largest blackout in U.S. history in August of 2003," says Romm. "And we have no energy bill, and we have a war in the Persian gulf, and we have oil at $55 a barrel, and we have an obvious problem with natural gas supply and price, and we have a looming problem of global warming. That has got to be called a catastrophic failure of political leadership, and it should be an absolute grave embarrassment."
- more . . . well worth your time . . .http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/10/25/renewable_technology/index.html
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