Cooler Planet

Nice to see that national columnist Thomas L. Friedman has returned from his leave and has resumed his discourse on national energy policy.  On Wednesday, April 30 Friedman devoted his New York Times column to our federal government’s failure to focus on a viable and sustainable energy policy.  Friedman specifically cited Congress’s inability to extend the federal tax credits for solar energy and other renewable energy sources, like wind. 

At Cooler Planet we applaud Friedman for raising awareness.  Already, the Times posted roughly 100 responses to Friedman on its link to Blogrunner; all of you have probably already looked at Friedman’s editorial as well.

As we’ve mentioned before, the federal tax credit for residents who install solar energy systems (up to $2,000) is set to expire this December.  Arguably, $2,000 is not much, however, it does send a message that the US government takes a bit of a stance on solar.

Senators Clinton, McCain, and Obama are in a fierce race to gain national attention.  Currently they are not talking about solar, rather are focused on a summertime suspension of the gas tax.  Even if we give them the benefit of the doubt that some of what they say is purely for political gain, it doesn’t say much for any of them if they dumb down issues.  Nor does it say much for Congress, or the American public if we can’t overcome our collective quibbles over solar.

Just in case you missed it, here’s a link to Friedman’s column, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/opinion/30friedman.html?_r=1&oref=slogin.