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www.solartoday.org SOLAR TODAY16

SUSTAINABLEWORLDVIEW

Ive been a cultural repairman,

is the way Amory Lovins

describes his engagement over

the past several decades with Detroit

automakers about building radically more

efficient vehicles. It was one among

a number of memorable quips Amory

made during the August celebration of

the 25th anniversary of Rocky Mountain

Institute, the think and do tank he co-

founded. A remarkable assemblage of pro-

fessionals, philanthropists, notables andlong-time local supporters descended

upon Aspen, Colo., to honor one of the

most incisive luminaries of our time, and

to soak up some rarefied conversations on

the Convenient Truths about climate-

change and energy-security solutions.

Former President Bill Clinton, who

became friends with Amory when both

were attending Oxford in the early 1970s,

opened the festivities. Clinton recounted

how, as a young Arkansas attorney general,

he brought Amory in as an expert witness

to testify before the public service commis-

sion (PSC) against the expensive nuclear

reactor being proposed by Middle South

Utilities (now Entergy). Amory's testimony

that there was a large pool of far less costly

ways to deliver electricity services was

ignored, and Middle South Utilities subse-

quently faced near-bankruptcy constructing

the cost-bloated reactor. Ironically, the

Arkansas PSC recent-

ly approved an effi-

ciency effort setting

a course pretty simi-

lar to the one it

rejected in 1988!

Imitation is the

sincerest form of

flattery, and Clinton

displayed Amorys

imprint on his own

thinking by extem-porizing in Lovinsesque detail on how

the threats of climate change, oil insecu-

rity and unimaginable world poverty all

can be resolved through a small is prof-

itable lens. Paying tribute to Amorys

and RMIs 25 years of steadfast brilliant

thinking and doing, Clinton set the stage

for the rest of the day-and-a-half-long

event by declaring Amorys most impor-

tant work was still to come and desperate-

ly needed in the decade ahead.

Master of Innovation TransferThe widespread appeal and durability

of Amorys work over the decades is

due to how spherically sensible it is;

regardless of ones political or socio-cultur-

al perspective his assessments and solu-

tions strike a positive chord. His roadmaps

are always re-setting the boundaries while

paving the way with dense facts (he

subscribes to the rule, In God we trust,

all others bring data).

He stands among those rare scientists

who have dedicated their brilliance to for-

mulating and artfully articulating work-

able visions for a safer, cleaner, more secure

world. Most powerfully, Amory has spent

a third of a century globally cross-pollinat-

ing his ideas among the movers and

shapers of the world to bring these visions

to fruition. In the new biology of the 21stcentury, it is probably more accurate to

consider Lovins the consummate master

of horizontal gene transfer. Whether inter-

acting with other brilliant innovators or

engaging societys biggest institutions and

industries, a transformational and evolu-

tionary process occurs, with Amory

embedding some of his best and taking

with him some of the others best to carry

with him to the next fertile opportunity.

Cultural Repairmanfor the Military

Some of his finest work has focused onenergy and national security, producing

blockbuster reports likeBrittle Power: Energy

Strategy for National Securityin 1982 and Win-

ning the Oil Endgame: Innovation for Profits,

Jobs and Securityin 2004. Both were funded

by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

The United States has for decades been

undermining the foundations of its own

strength beginsBrittle Power. It has grad-

ually built up an energy system prone to

sudden, massive failures with catastrophic

consequences. The energy that runs Amer-

ica is brittle easily shattered by accident

or malice. That fragility frustrates the efforts

of our Armed Forces to defend a nation

that literally can be turned off by a hand-

ful of people. It poses, indeed, a grave and

growing threat to national security, life and

liberty. This danger comes not from hostile

ideology but from misapplied technology.

It is not a threat imposed on us by enemies

What the World Needs NowIs More LovinsBy Michael Totten

Michael Totten

PHOTOS

ROCKYMOUNTAIN

INSTITUT

E

Thomas L. Friedman, New York Timescolumnist, left, and Amory Lovins speak at the 25th anniversary of Rocky Mountain Institute. Aremarkable assemblage of professionals, philanthropists, notables and supporters gathered to honor co-founder Amory Lovins, oneof the most incisive luminaries of our time.

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