Green Powered Future

We tried. We really tried. We sent out the warning. So no one should have been surprised by this latest FUBAR...

From "60 Minutes". Oh, yes. That's right. The once venerated "TV news magazine" managed to screw up another story.

This time, it involved electric car maker Tesla. "60 Minutes" ran a story on Tesla's Model S. The story included footage of the Model S engine roaring as the car accelerated... And immediately, fact checkers everywhere realized CBS "News" fell flat on its face yet again. The Tesla Model S' engine doesn't roar at all, since it's an all electric engine.

OK, so "60 Minutes" screwed up its Tesla story. Why should we even care about this? Perhaps because Nevada is a finalist in the race to secure a new Tesla battery factory? No really, Tesla is already eyeing Reno for its gigafactory.

And once again, we're reminded of the fact that there's no such thing as a "Cleantech Crash". There is such a thing, however, as protocol for fact checking. Maybe CBS "News" should try adopting one?

And perhaps so should G-O-TEA politicians? Texas is enjoying a "wind boom". Australia is benefitting from record renewable energy production. Mexico is building Latin America's largest "solar farm" to replace an old oil power plant. India nearly doubled its solar power capacity last year. And throughout this nation, 2013 broke records in solar powered job creation.

Yet even as Republican lawmakers here and elsewhere are chasing after the Tesla gigafactory, their "TEA" powered allies are trying to thwart the kind of progress that made Tesla possible. Apparently, they don't buy their own "free market" rhetoric. And they don't care about "JOBS!" like they claim to when they're out to kill any kind of positive climate action.

Once again, we're being reminded of the potential of charging ahead to a green powered future. Believe it or not, that future looks awfully bright... If we actually pursue it. Think about this: Do we really want to sit here 20 years from now, thinking of how we refused to listen to the warnings? Or do we want to sit back and enjoy that brighter future?