Energy is confusing. Energy is really big. And energy is political. I see all these things on a day to day basis working with residents who are scared of how they’re going to make it through the winter. Sometimes I talk about stopping the drafts and people tell me they’re against wind turbines. Sometimes I talk about the savings from a programmable thermostat and I get blank stares because they don’t believe it. If we consider how much debt the average American has, we should know that a simple cost-benefit analysis of energy IS NOT enough to convince a lot of Americans to shift out of their comfort zone. Its going to require new industries spending billions of dollars in advertising to convince people what most of us already know - energy efficiency and renewables pay for themselves. Even with a superior product, (which we have), it still takes a ton of work to make that product appealing and widely used.

So lets be inspiring and consistent (and comprehensible) when we talk about solutions. I think investment is the best way to do that - investment in our homes, investment in our children, investment in technology and investment in infrastructure. And that’s confirmed by success we’re having in Western MA with the efficiency work.

If we’re going to be consistent, we need to keep addressing questions among ourselves. Jesse, you say: “We need a policy agenda focused on developing clean and cheap energy for every American.” I would point out Kai’s post last month which referenced a town that turned down a wind project because of laughable concerns. How important is the right of local people to say not here, not now? The same problem becomes more pronounced for people who live in the shadow of nuclear or downwind of ‘clean’ coal sites. Political messages have said ‘ever american’ since the beginning of our country without meaning it. How much do we mean it now?

One other point. You say: “Carbon pricing and regulation play a role here, but they cannot be the top-line items when it comes to messaging, nor are they likely to do the heavy lifting that unlocks our clean energy potential.” yes, yes, yes. The pricing needs to be there and it needs to be done well, but its not inspiring as a rallying cry. Pricing doesn’t do the heavy lifting, it helps make the heavy lifting possible for others. That lifting will be done by us - young people who are inspired entrepreneurs who create never-before-seen business models and industries.

Thanks for a great read.