The clean energy revolution; what is it? One simple way to label it is; a change from an economy that is based on smog producing fuels to one of that produces environmental friendly sources of energy. But it goes much deeper than that. To me, the clean energy revolution closely resembles Barack Obama’s long fought campaign. In February 2007, our newest elected President announced that he is running for the highest office in our nation. This sparked changes that many people had long awaited.

 Just like his campaign, the clean energy revolution was dismissed by many. They did not even acknowledge it. Many saw the message of change and some see it as inconvenience. Many have labeled it as liberal based rhetoric rather than a movement to save our nation and world for the future generations to come. Lastly, many never expected Americans to voice their concerns so loudly with larger numbers. As we saw on November 4th, they were wrong.

 This election went beyond bi-partisan politics. There was a lot at stake. One major issue on hand was how we are going to handle the current energy crisis. John McCain’s solution was to “Drill baby, Drill” An approach that would only dent the message of the clean energy revolution. Prolonging our need for alternative fuel, a McCain/ Palin ticket would only clear the road for oil companies and force advocates of this environmental change to yield.

 The differences in Obama and McCain’s approachto global warming could be as far away from each other as the earth is to the moon. I can best sum up their outlook on the situation in three words “willingness versus inconvenience”  I came up with this conclusion while listening to Sean Hannity’s three hour radio show. The right-wing talk show host was poking fun at Barack Obama and his comments about inflating our tires to lower the monthly gas bill. Hannity said “Why stop there, why don’t we drive 50 MPH or
why don’t we just drive a golf cart?  Golf cart have really great gas mileage?”

 This statement perfects the anti-clean energy revolution thought. To them, it is more practical to tear up our country and oceans than it is to conserve. To them, it is more practical to burn more fossil fuel and feed our addiction to oil than it is to sacrifice. I can say that Hannity was way off on Obama’s message. He was not saying that inflating our tires will save our environment or the price of oil. What he was saying was that the sacrifices we as Americans can make will help lift us from our dependency on foreign oil. If people were to do the little things like walking, inflating your tires for higher gas mileage and maintaining your car with routine check ups then they have the power to diminish our usage of oil greatly.

 To me, the last election night was about change on many subject. People celebrated a new president that was once written off. The people demonstrated that they are ready to face problems with willingness to sacrifice rather than being inconvenienced. I feel confident that Obama will lead people to think about the clean energy revolution the same way. As we see new technologies and methods to save our environment, we need to not write them off and stop depending on quick fixes.