Draft Sixth Power Plan Comment

To do our part to sustain human life on Earth, we should aggressively work to meet all our needs from renewable resources without disrupting natural cycles. This means a dramatic change in American lifestyles with an emphasis upon simplicity, efficiency, and conservation. The most obvious use of solar energy is direct lighting and passive heating. Toward this end we must encourage community planning and building design to take advantage of the sun. Buildings that do not receive adequate sun should be disassembled for materials to retrofit buildings with good solar exposure so they take full advantage of that sunlight. Attached greenhouses can aid with heating and grow food for inhabitants. Designs should incorporate solar lighting and natural airflow patterns to maximize comfort. Resistance heaters and burners in appliances of all sorts can be replaced with solar concentrators. Where electricity is truly necessary it should be generated as close as practical to the point of use from wind, tide, photovoltaic panels, small hydro, and other renewable sources. Until this conversion is complete, we must resist any increased use of electricity. Conservation can be greatly encouraged though high fees on nonrenewable sources. Funds so generated can be spent on R&D as well as environmental clean-up. We must particularly resist the myth that electric cars can replace gas burners without consequence. Walking, bicycling, and mass transit are the only suitable replacements for personal automobiles.