The solution to the twin problems of climate change and petroleum vulnerability has been staring back at us each time we visit this site. Whenever we read a diary, post a comment, or provide a rec, the answer is right there. It's so obvious, so easy to look straight through, that we've missed it.
I am not referring to the many sound proposals contained in Energize America or initiatives like Apollo Alliance. This is about something even simpler--but far more transformational. It is about the personal empowerment that data--information--makes possible.
The information revolution that began with the Apple II 30 years ago has given us the netroots today. The time has come for the next great societal evolution--the energy grassroots, or enroots--that will result from the collection, aggregation and dissemination of end-user energy data. Like the birth of the information age, it will begin with one person, one household at a time. But nothing--not even the trillion-dollar energy sector--can prevent its eventual arrival. A familiar parable illustrates why, after the fold.
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