I remember attending an energy conference with a keynote address from Vinod Khosla. He was in the news recently. Khosla is a technology venture capitalist/entrepreneur. He bought some obnoxiously expensive California beachfront property and was sued for closing access to the beach.
Regardless, his lecture didn’t have anything to do with beach access; rather, he spent the time promoting and lionizing the role of technology in human existence. In fact, Khosla was confident that we did not have to worry about anything since all the problems we have previously faced have been solved.
Sounds reasonable on the surface, but it’s as insightful as saying, “if we were extinct, we wouldn’t be here.” It’s essentially the risk management of male teenagers. (I’m using male in this context so that I can speak from experience rather than authority.)
Unfortunately, Ghandi’s quote on truth and love having always overcome tyrants falls into this category. I have to admit to saying under my breath that those tyrants didn’t have machine automation. Leave it to an engineer to take hope and squash it! Keep reading, though, as I have some encouraging news to share.
I read an NPR article about renewable energy in Kentucky. In particular, Kentucky has extensive coal resources and the government was not remotely considering renewable energy until a very large employer in Kentucky, Toyota, made a commitment to be 100% renewable.
Kentucky still doesn’t care about renewable energy, but losing manufacturing jobs made a big impact. Likewise, Toyota made a goal of 100% renewable because they see an increase in their bottom line. So, this minor victory belongs to consumers.
By making it known that we value reducing environmental impact and shop accordingly, we are making a difference. We need to vote with our wallet every day in addition to voting a ballot the second Tuesday in November every other year.
– Joe Criscione