I thrilled at the New York Times headline: Gulf Oil States Seeking a Lead in Clean Energy. About time! Sure Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and East Texas were the oil backbone of the United States oil industry for a long time, but their clean energy potential is vast. Thank goodness they're realizing it and are taking steps to get into the clean energy game, I thought. Then, I clicked the link (on my blackberry, on metro, to airport) and saw the article's dateline: ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates. Oh. Those Gulf Oil States.

And that made the article even more poignant to me. Even the most oil-rich (and just plain rich!) countries in the world are expanding into clean energy. While our very own Gulf Oil States here in the US remain so tied to Big Oil that every fluctuation in price not only sends households into a frenzy the way it does the rest of us, it means that the few jobs left there hang in the balance every time the fickle, inexplicable oil markets skyrocket and crash. Having your commute to work dependent on oil is bad enough. But when great American cities like New Orleans, Mobile, Biloxi and Beaufort can't predict where their revenues will come from because oil could be boom or bust any given month (or a hurricane could wipe out rigs, or put them offline indefinitely) - that's dependence that must be overcome. What's the answer? Part of it is finding which types of renewables are best suited to the US Gulf States. They've sure got sun there (more than in the areas of Germany where solar has taken off and become a significant portion of the energy supply) and offshore wind could be an option too. If the other Gulf Oil States are doing it, we sure can too.