ENERGY  (CONT)

profitable power producers themselves.

So here we have the real reason why the US will not adopt minimum pricing: we let corporations run the country. The German system places a priority on renewables; distributed green power producers force utilities to ramp down their central power plants. You have priority over your utility.

In December of 2005, the EU Commission declared the obvious: the minimum-price policies used in Germany, Spain and Denmark are more successful than the quota schemes used in Britain (and the US). Smaller than Texas, Spain has more wind power than the entire US. Britain, with the best wind conditions in Europe by far, has a tenth of Germany's installed capacity. Did I mention that the British "market-based" system involves a system of "submissions", "approvals" and "refusals," none of which exist in Germany? Check out the BWEA's website for yourself: http://www.bwea.com/statistics/2006.asp. And while the US installed more wind power in 2006 than any other country, we only matched Germany's annual average since 2001.

Polls repeatedly show that people all over the world want renewables more than coal, gas, oil and nuclear. Germany allows ordinary people to put their money where their mouth is. So, my fellow Americans, when will we switch?

Craig Morris is the author of "Energy Switch: Proven Solutions for a Renewable Future" (2006). He can be reached at http://www.petiteplanete.org/.

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