Climate Change

“We do not have to wait for an international treaty or new regulations to act,” proclaims Joe Kaiser of Siemen’s Energy as he refers to the responsibility on industry’s shoulders to manage energy with an eye to the future. Siemens, an employer to 340,000, is setting a powerful example for businesses, taking control of its energy use through energy efficiency, meticulous energy management practices, and distributed generation. An example many are eager to follow.

Energy Efficiency has an impediment when it comes to being recognized as a climate solution – it lacks oomph appeal. It doesn't have Solar energy’s dazzling solar arrays glinting in the brilliant radiance of the sun. Nor does it have Wind energy’s elegantly arching wind mills, so sophisticated and alluring so as to capture the mind of Don Quixote. It doesn't even have Hydropower’s ferocious tumble and roar of water. Nope, it has none of that. What does it have? It has regulations, excel spreadsheets and technological advances.

October is passing like the brisk wind that blows leaves from their heightened homes, colorful vestiges of spring and summer are littering the soon to be frozen landscape.

“The courage to act before it’s too late.” That’s how President Obama framed his address on Tuesday on climate change.

Some things just make you scratch your head.

Hallelujah. Finally, we have an American president devoting considerable attention to the topic of climate change and the energy policies that drive it. In his State of the Union address last night, President Obama made very clear that the time has come to act.