The Times is telling us that environmentalists are pleased about the new energy bill draft. It certainly has its merits, will create tons of jobs, and will help get us up to speed with the rest of the world (or at least Western Europe). But is it good enough? Picking up on where my esteemed colleague Andrew left off: Is it just me, or do parts of the new energy plan seem not at all impressive and nowhere near urgent enough?Specifically the part where every region in the United States has 16 years to ensure a quarter of its energy is coming from renewable sources. A quarter! Sixteen years! And some people are complaining that's unreasonable to ask. It sounds like a good start, because we understand that, like a good risotto, these things take time. And yet time is of the essence, and other countries have pulled off much more in a much smaller amount of time.Sure, the U.S. is enormous, but if we look at it regionally, or by state, the areas that need to get up to speed are easily comparable to European countries that are already doing much, much better than we will be doing in 2025.Let's remind ourselves that globally, the U.S. is ranked 39th when it comes to environmental performance.Image via
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