popular logistics

“Adapt or Die” says Gary Yohe, economist at Wesleyan and co-author of the UN study on climate change, on Marketplace this morning. Growing seasons will lengthen, rainfall patterns will change.

Some people are in denial. George Bush, Dick Cheney, and their cheerleaders. Others are adapting. You can see solar panels on homes in California and New Jersey. Their visionary owners have no electric bill; their solar powered roof top power plants will pay for themselves 8 or 10 times during their 40 year life-span.

We see wind farms in operation from Jersey to Texas to California. More are on the horizon. Power without pollution. Wind Power. Solar Power. No greenhouse gases, no radioactive wastes, no mercury. Clean Energy.

If Vestas, harnessing the wind to produce 30% of Denmark’s electric power, may be the Apple Computer of wind power, GE is the IBM, legitimizing the industry with Arklow Bank as IBM did when they introduced their PC in 1981.

Evergreen, First Solar, and Sunpower may be leap-frogging each other for “best” solar panels. Meanwhile BP, the energy company that sees itself moving “Beyond Petroleum,” manufactures solar panels in factories in Maryland, Spain, Germany, and India, for sale in Home Depot.

The best example of adapt or die can be seen in the auto industry. Honda and Toyota offer hybrids with low emissions, good mileage, and great performance. Ford and GM are still pushing gas guzzlers. Big SUV’s are only profitable when they are sold, not while rusting on dealer lots. Wall Street is voting with its “Market Capitalization” and Main Street is voting with its wallet.