OPINION
BP, the US Congress, and the White House don’t know this yet, but we think the Macondo gusher in the Gulf of Mexico is going to help put better cookstoves, fuels, and policies in the pots of the world’s 3 billion energy-poor households.
The boldness of the assertion should be clearer after President Obama’s Oval Office address tonight at 8 PM (ET, GMT – 4), where he is expected to announce ambitious plans to reduce American dependence on foreign oil and increased energy efficiency standards.
Environment and policy experts say the US Congress is likely to take up sweeping energy legislation before the year is out. A legislative debate in America around energy efficiency offers the best chance to draw attention to the plight of the world’s energy poor.
So, for all those of us concerned with the 2 million people that die each year from indoor air pollution, the unsustainable harvesting of wood for biomass energy, the loss of habitat for endangered species, and climate change, this may represent our best chance to draw much needed attention to this very real problem and its eminently practical solutions.
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It would be wonderful if something positive for charcoal came out of the Gulf of Mexico mess. Things could also go in another direction for the energy poor, however: that US attention and dollars spent on improving the situation at home could mean less interest and attention to what’s going on abroad. I hope I am terribly wrong.