And so here we have Al Gore urging Obama to focus on energy efficiency and renewables and to create a “unified” U.S. power grid.

All fine.

But what I’d really like to see Obama do is decentralize the whole issue of power -by encouraging Americans to generate as much of it themselves as possible.

I got on this train shortly after PPL announced its plans to jack up the cost of power in the coming years. You know, *&*$#@ you, PPL. I would love to be able to generate some/most/all of my own power, get off the grid, and tell PPL what to do with its rate hikes.

But the cost of such a system remains so sizable as to be prohibitive. It would be wise for an Obama administration to increase funding for research which might help get over that barrier - and to consider even greater tax breaks for installing solar panels.

When seeking to solve the country’s energy problem, the focus should most emphatically not be on the large, established power producers. Solutions should be sought at the local level, the individual level - even if that, alone, could never solve the problem.