I was reading an article about Algeria embracing solar power by making plans to install numerous solar panels in the desert and to export some of the electricity generated to Europe. The article noted that until very recently, the countries near and around the Middle East tried to torpedo any plans for alternative energy, given their reliance on money generated from the oil industry. Perhaps one day, there could be thousands of solar panels in the Sahara, generating clean power for the Middle East and Europe. Perhaps also, other countries with desert regions (including India) will also place solar panels in these otherwise barren areas and use them to generate fossil-fuel free power. Perhaps solar power will not be a major player in the energy arena for a long time to come, but even if it generates enough energy to power thousands rather than millions of homes in the foreseeable future, that would be a major improvement to relying even more heavily on fossil fuels.

I cringe each day when I read that states like Indiana are looking to exploit coal even more. People like Indiana's governor speak of coal as some form on "homegrown' energy--as if it were a renewable resource of some sort. He needs to wake up to the fact that with global warming a reality, we cannot simply continue to burn rocks from the ground to generate power. Let's take a lesson from other countries generating power with no fossil fuel use, like Algeria. If Algeria is more progressive than states in our nation, we really need to take a look in the mirror and realize that we are falling behind other parts of the world. If we want to keep pace with the rest of the world, we had better stop relying so heavily on a power source that was in vogue more than 100 years ago.