Last week's "Beyond Oil" conference, organized by the Cascadia Center of Discovery Institute, showcased the kind of positive, bi-partisan spirit of creativity that I wish characterized more of the national election campaign.
Conference planners Steve Marshall and Bruce Agnew brought together brilliant inventors like Shai Agassiz, whose plug-in hybrid auto system has been accepted for a nation-wide roll-out in Israel, and strategic analysts like Jim Woolsey, former CIA director. There were nearly 20 electric and natural gas-powered vehicles, on display outside the Microsoft conference hall, and inside were many examples of other breakthrough products, including Microsoft's own transportation and energy-conservation software.
In addition to the ideas described in the Cascadia report linked above, I'd like to report the way participants focused on the need for a diversity of solutions to the energy shortage (the "all of the above" menu) and the multiple benefits (preparing for natural disaster, fighting dependency on foreign oil, lowering inflation) that accrue from such adopting an approach.
Needed now is a demonstration program in the U.S.--we would suggest the Cascadia region itself--to prove the conference themes.
Meanwhile, the conference suggested to my mind a healthy stream of questions for further investigation by the Cascadia Center. These include: 1) How to miniaturize future energy production so that every home, starting with each new home, has an independent way to provide energy and not merely rely on the grid; 2) ways to build on progress in telecommuting as a tactic for lowering energy use and traffic congestion; 3) energy source security in an age of vulnerability to terrorism.
