Sahara Sun, Mediterranean Union, and Global Order

Two fascinating news stories deserve to be juxtaposed, but I don't have much time between meetings today.

First, is the recently concluded conference launching the Union for the Mediterranean, led by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The second item, related to the first, is that UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Sarkozy are backing a £35bn supergrid for Europe and North Africa that would facilitate the the kind of renewable energy economy that T. Boone Pickens could only dream of and that Al Gore is only just starting to talk about.

Contrast that bold, sustainable initiative with China's quest for coal in Australia and the utterly disheartening and, really, dysfunctional news that there are up to 90 billion barrels of oil under the Arctic ice sheet, which of course is becoming thinner due to our previous oil use.

The United States has a strategic choice ahead of itself. Europe, in my book, is leading the way.

I'd like to see a Western Hemisphere renewable power grid that drives development, sustainability and economic integration in our region. That way the solar, wind, tidal, hydro, and geothermal resources that abound in our region can satisfy all our energy needs--residential, commercial, and transport.

That's a big idea.

Continued  07/25/2008 2:43pm

The global order piece is an exploration of longitudinal regions, at least for Europe/Africa and North and South America as the next kind of regional economic grouping. The rationale is the requirement for a sustainable, reliable, and resiliant energy grid as well as deeper, more balanced economic development in the global south. With logitudinal regions, weather discrepancies in solar and wind are mitigated, while access to reliable energy for smaller or more densly populated states is assured.

Building that infrastructure will produced good jobs across these new regions. Developing the technology will yield incredible profits. Extending reliable access to inexpensive energy will improve development outcomes for everyone. In our own hemisphere, this would be key to reducing the relatively forced dynamic of economic migration. With energy and jobs at home, there will be less motivation for crossing borders or overstaying visas.

As BP used to say, it's a start.