A quick solution to climate change from the US: stop fighting

This linked article by Daniel Kammen at GreenBiz offers simple options to change the US energy consumption profile. His six point plan is:

• A national commitment to saving money and energy through energy efficiency measures at every step of the economic value chain (some states, including California are fully 40 percent more efficient than the national average);
• The pursuit and steady increase of renewable energy portfolio standards as a baseline, and in the cities, states and regions with mandate to pursue more aggressive policies, the addition of feed-in laws to diversify and expand the number and type of clean energy producers;
• Low-carbon fuel standards that evolve in time into sustainable fuel standards;
• The use of carbon taxes or cap and trade’systems under which carbon emission rights are limited;
• Developing and using for business, industrial, municipal and — critically — personal purchases carbon footprint analyses; and
• International collaborations, and public-private partnerships designed to commercialize, or at least open market space for clean energy and energy efficient technologies.

But what is most revealing is the chart, reproduced here, which shows that Federal research funds on defence have consistently been greater than all other R&D spending combined! It is apparent that energy security is both more important and easier to manage than military security so a change in this spending pattern would yield dividends quickly.

Another source, BusinessWeek, reported on the massive benefits that accrue to defence companies that have lobbied for legislative budget earmarks:  Inside the Hidden World of Earmarks.  This table below paints the picture.  If you click the picture you’ll link to an interactive, more extensive table.