And Now... The Hydrogen Economy

Great news; it just got a whole lot easier and cheaper to make hydrogen from water and convert that hydrogen to electricity with a fuel cell.

Technology Review has reported that “Researchers have made a major advance in inorganic chemistry that could lead to a cheap way to store energy from the sun. In so doing, they have solved one of the key problems in making solar energy a dominant source of electricity.” ... “Daniel Nocera, a professor of chemistry at MIT, has developed a catalyst ... which is easy and cheap to make, (that) could be used to generate vast amounts of hydrogen using sunlight to power the reactions. The hydrogen can then be burned or run through a fuel cell to generate electricity whenever it's needed, including when the sun isn't shining.”

Other scientists are raving about this discovery. One even goes so far as to say that for solar power; “this is probably the most important single discovery of the century."

On top of that, Gizmag has reported that Australian scientists have discovered a much cheaper way to build a fuel cell, utilizing a polymer cathode (instead of platinum).

It looks like the hydrogen economy has finally arrived... if we welcome it.

There is potential here to live totally off the grid. Which must scare the hell out of the fossil fuel industry. You know they will do everything they can to suppress this technology.

For thirty years now, the fossil fuel industry has sucked up billions and billions of dollars in subsidies in the U.S., while politically starving sustainable energy generation. With trillions of dollars at stake, that is not about to change.

The Wall Street Journal has reported; “Senate Republicans on Friday blocked a vote on legislation to rein in speculation in the energy markets, instead calling for energy votes that would expand domestic petroleum production and more nuclear power development.” Where's the help for sustainable energy? Nowhere.

There is even a good chance sustainable energy generation might lose what tax breaks they do have. Talk about pulling the rug out from under the best ideas just when they're needed the most. This isn't an accident. And it's been happening ever since Ronald Reagan was elected on the premise of reducing big government. (Of course, he didn't tell us he wanted to get rid of the best parts of government – like alternative energy development.)

You might have expected someone in the mass media to have reported on the suppression of alternative energy sometime in the past 30 years. But no, they've been too busy making millions every time some company from the fossil fuel industry ran an ad campaign to green-wash their image of greedy corporatocracy. And as long as the money keeps pouring in, the mass media has no intentions of telling the whole truth about the influence of the fossil fuel industry. The whole truth is that many have known for decades that our economy and our environment are in big trouble - as a result of these irresponsible corporations' control over our government, our media, and our minds.

When it comes to the Kyoto Treaty on global warming, George Bush has used China's polluting ways as an excuse to ignore sustainable energy generation. But even China has decided to invest in renewables. The BBC has reported; “China's rapid investment in low carbon technologies has catapulted the nation up the global renewable energy rankings, a report shows ... (they are) second only to Germany.” So, has George Bush changed his mind now? Of course not, he's an oil man. China was only an excuse.

Is John McCain any better? He claims to be. But so did George Bush, back when he was running for president in 2000.

Back in June, John McCain changed his position on offshore drilling for oil. He now wants to ignore all environmental concerns and drill it all. Not long after his change of heart, John McCain received some big checks from oil executives. This ain't no coincidence!

Barrack Obama has recently published and ad remarking about John McCain's ties to the fossil fuel industry. Click here to see it.

For more information on John McCain's ties to lobbyists. Click here.

So, now for the bad news. The technology to ween ourselves off of expensive, polluting, and climate changing fossil fuels has arrived. But our own government has been influenced into fighting the development of these technological advances almost every step of the way. Follow the money...

What this will mean is that we will continue to pay price gouging prices for fossil fuels, our economy and environment will suffer possibly unrecoverable blows, and other countries industries will further leapfrog ahead of us – if we allow this happen.

But... If we insist our elected leaders support renewable energy - really insist on real action, maybe they will listen. So far, Republicans are just paying us lip service. And the mass media won't report this. Stop watching. When mass media revenues start to drop, we'll see a far more objective mass media. Until then, they'll keep telling us lies.

The American people have the power to make change for the better, if we use our power. There are hundreds of millions of us. We're angry. We want renewable, sustainable energy. And we want it now!