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             The significance of the necessary change from fossil fuel to clean, renewable energy:.

             The significance of changing America from an oil-dependent culture to a renewable, sun-based nation cannot be overstated. Although there are progressive communities where renewable energy is the norm – especially in the Sun Belt and in California – for the most part, the average U.S. voter/citizen still believes that "solar energy" is some futuristic concept that is light years away from taking hold or making economic sense. In America, it"s all about oil, and coal. .

             And the real problem is that the prevailing attitude of most U.S. political officials down through the years since the first gusher – with the exception of the "energy crisis" in the late 1970s, when the oil cartel (OPEC) shut down supplies, causing panicked American drivers to wait in line for hours for a tank of petrol – has been to continue America"s dependence on foreign (mostly Middle Eastern) oil supplies. .

             That stubbornness, that recalcitrance, is to some degree due to a lack of vision on the part of public servants (elected to promote the best interests of American citizens?); and its partly due to the huge army of big oil lobbyists marching into the offices of elected legislators, buying off votes with hefty campaign donations; and the recalcitrance to positive change is also due quite frankly to "a lack of political will" (Wicker, 2005), according to an article in the journal Power. .

             "Installations of new renewable energy facilities in the U.S. slowed significantly last year," Wicker writes. Compared with the European Union, "the U.S. has much less progressive renewable energy policies," the Power article points out. In the UK, for example, a "Renewables Obligation Policy" (ROP) is in effect, which "requires all licensed electricity suppliers in England and Wales to supply a specific and growing proportion of their sales" from wind, hydro or geothermal sources.