An Electric Revolution, Chapter Two: A Nation in Peril
Despite the nation’s proven resiliency, public confidence appears shaky. Battered by lingering wars, deindustrialization and difficulty in creating unifying legislation instead of partisan conflict, the U.S. seems to be waiting for that grain of sand that will collapse the pile — an event or development we can’t prevent or stop.
There is one thing within our control: We must declare independence from the past and not allow the electricity enterprise to continue to drift into senility at the intolerable, growing expense to our nation and all its citizens.
The transformation of the electrical system would in essence be a collective super-project — unconventional and driven by many thousands of decentralized and yet self-organizing public and private interests — an enterprise that runs on sophisticated protocols, bringing together the best aspects of America’s past, present and future. It is an endeavor that would produce new U.S. jobs that can’t be shipped to other countries, and in turn would create wealth, reliability and security. How the nation can attain this is well-informed by what was done in the past.
