Yesterday I saw the past and the future combined.
I'm on a quick trip to West Texas (note that the speed limit is "80" out here.)
It's not your father's West Texas. After turning off I 10 near Fort Stockton the car rounded a corner, and suddenly among the rolling hills were forests of tall steel modern windmills turning gently in the wind. I call them 21st Century "Texas Trees."
At one point, rusty oil wells sat slowly pumping next to the road-- while perched up high for miles in each direction the machines spun silently in long clusters lining the ridges along the high ground. The sun sparkled off their blades.
It hit me as a symbol - the old technology and the new. One is fading out and is slowly being replaced by the new renewable technology. One industry has seen its peak; the other is just beginning to replace it as part of the clean, renewable -- American -- source of energy.
The wind doesn't charge for its services. Neither does the sun. Why it has taken so long to do this is puzzling. I've read Mr. McCain voted against this type of alternative energy over 20 times. We can't become independent with oil alone, despite "drill baby drill." That strategy won't keep us from running off the cliff as supplies play out. Oil supplies are not unlimited but consumption is. We must become more efficient and tap our wind/solar potential to the max as part of a real strategy.
I pulled off the road to take a couple photos and discovered one windfarm was part of General Electric. T. Boone Pickens is a leader in wind energy and so is Houston's Horizon Wind company.
It is our future. Who you vote for will either make this happen or delay us further. It's an important vote for our future energy stability.
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