Posted by
BLOGASSAULT on Monday, February 23, 2009 10:57:20 AM
The L.A. Times today on the type of scientific breakthroughs that will be needed to take to make President Obama's green dreams a reality:
Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, and other experts say similar scientific breakthroughs are needed to make renewable power sources such as wind, solar and biofuels as cheap and easy to use as costly, environmentally damaging oil and coal. Toward that end, President Obama's stimulus package contains $8 billion for energy research, including $400 million targeted for game-changing technology.
The problem is that over the last three decades, the U.S. has spent many times that much on energy research and development — with nothing like a transistor to show for it.
"It's very easy to say we should spend more" on research, said Jeffrey Wadsworth, chief executive and president of the Battelle Memorial Institute, which manages several Energy Department laboratories. "What really needs to happen is more effective use of the money."
As Wadsworth is quick to acknowledge, that's easier said than done.
You can try all you like, but you can't turn a donkey into a thorobred.