Peyton Manning and the IPCC

Time for a little pregame post about energy and utilities. My roomie and I have our tofu hotdogs, chicken wings, chips and salsa all ready to go. Small confession: I know pretty much nothing about football, but am looking forward to the ads. Plus I have a bit of a soft spot for Peyton Manning.

Anyways, the big news in energy and utilities this week was the release of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report on global warming. It stated with a 90% certainty level that humans were responsible for the changing global climate. This coincides neatly with Bush's recent State of the Union address which called for a 20% reduction in gasoline usage by 2017. It seems as though the tide is beginning to turn for the environmental movement in this country - and that means that there will be lots of job opportunities in renewable energy and energy efficiency areas. Or at least that is what I am betting on. (Note: If people are interested in an internship involved with renewable energy, try the National Renewable Energy Lab which hires summer interns. The website for the description of the program is http://www.nrel.gov/employment/student_interns.html )

There are many ways to take advantage of the new energy wave heading our way. Physics and engineering majors can head straight to the labs to develop new energy sources and perfect others. Right now wind energy is leading as the most cost-competitive alternative to gas and oil, but with better technology solar may catchup. My own personal feeling is that energy efficiency will become a top priority for our country - which means that there will be opportunities for employment in energy consulting. (There are many environmental consulting firms out there which are beginning to address these energy efficiency issues and some of them even offer internships. I will post more about this later).

Okay, time to go check on Peyton. Hope that everyone enjoys the game, and we will talk soon.

Emily