Al Gore: Carbon-free juice

Al Gore has challenged the nation to produce 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and carbon-free sources within 10 years. A few months ago, when folks suggested Gore run again for president, he declined, preferring to promote solutions to the national energy and environmental challenges.

We think Gore is on track with a practical approach to global warming -- it's the do-it-now alternative to gloom and doom. But he's not alone in this quest. Oilman T. Boone Pickens has offered his own plan. It's different (less about carbon, more about energy) but with a similar overall goal in mind -- energy independence. Pickens says we import 70 percent of our energy, essentially giving $700 billion each year to other nations.

"Scientists have confirmed that enough solar energy falls on the surface of the Earth every 40 minutes to meet 100 percent of the entire world's energy needs for a full year. Tapping just a small portion of this solar energy could provide all of the electricity America uses," Gore said. "Enough wind power blows through the Midwest corridor every day to also meet 100 percent of U.S. electricity demand."

The time has come for our generation's Manhattan Project. One that balances the challenges of global warming mitigation with our need for energy (and economic) independence.

Can it be done? Yes. A carbon-free future can become reality -- if the nation is willing to invest money, creativity and national spirit. This type of impossible goal is exactly the sort of dream that's made America, well, America.