A LOST DECADE OR A NEW ENERGY DECADE? - WESLEY CLARK

General Wesley Clark Calls Solar Industry to Arms
Felicity Carus, March 20, 2012 (AOL Energy)

General Wesley Clark…told delegates at PV America West…that the solar industry could play a pivotal role in kick-starting the US economy…Jobs, finance structuring, everything about the modern economy comes to a sharp focus when you look at solar energy…[and, he said, solar is] the most rapidly growing industry in this economy right now.

"…General Clark was NATO Supreme Allied Commander and Commander in Chief of the US-European Command from Kosovo War 1997-2000 and is now a senior fellow at the Burkle Center for International Relations at the University of California, Los Angeles…The retired general last month joined the ranks of serving senior military figures, including Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Major General Anthony Jackson, when he described clean energy investments ‘mission critical’ for US national security…"

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[General Clark:] "Last year, [the solar industry] grew 67% and employed more than 100,000 Americans – ranging from engineering, finance and legal positions to good construction and installer jobs that are revitalizing our working-class. That's more than the number of Americans working in coal mining…"

"…Gen Clark said that after the US won the cold war, the country lost its focus, resulting in a ‘lost decade’ post-9/11 and a reversal of the economic growth of the 1990s, which saw 22 million jobs created in the US…[He also said the solar] industry is the future of electric power and electric utilities in America…[and the solution to] a climate challenge that dwarfs in magnitude anything we've ever had before…"