News-Record.com

I attended the 5th annual Sustainable Energy Conference in Raleigh last week as part of my reporting on a project for the N&R. Gov. Mike Easley and others spoke about the need for the U.S. and North Carolina to become more energy independent (i.e. stop importing foreign oil) and the importance of creating a decentralized, diverse energy infrastructure. Overall, the presenters tried to sound hopeful about our opportunities. Below, photos from the conference.

Listen here to the speech Easley gave participants during the conference luncheon (about 20 minutes of unedited audio). He wrapped up his speech by saying:

"We're all trying to get independence from foreign oil. We know we have to have that to survive. America has to have independence from foreign oil to survive.... What will get us there is that new way of life, bringing the future to us now, taking those mini steps in unison."

Scott Sklar, president of The Stella Group, a marketing firm for renewable energy, said Americans must use less energy and become decentralized in our infrastructure, similar to what happened with the Internet and cell phones. He said:

"It is very hard to bring in the new technology when to this very day we're subsidizing the old technology.... They think this is a free market. It is not."

Even with the work being done, government leaders are taking a 10- to 20-year view on reducing energy consumption and some question whether we have that much time to adequately curtail global carbon emissions and prepare for a peaking in conventional oil production. Richard Heinberg, for example, has a greater sense of urgency.