Google's energy ambition gives me a buzz

October 2, 4:55 PMSF Boomers ExaminerSuzanna Stinnett

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Part of my task as the Boomers Examiner is to talk about how technology accomplishes things Boomers want to see done.

There’s no leaving Google out of this equation. I consider the founders and advisers of Google to be visionary people. They tend to do things with a different kind of intelligence, perhaps because they’re young, but probably because their brains are wired to understand exponential dynamics. It’s a different way of thinking, and coupled with a desire to make a difference, it’s a very big deal.

So when I learned about Google’s plan to increase our access and our use of more environmentally sound energy, I got a kind of warm-fuzzy electrical buzz, like when a dragonfly hovers in front of my eyes. When I hear that Exxon has some plan to reduce our reliance on oil, well, I get more of a hot scratchy sensation, a worried angst. I prefer that dragonfly buzz from Google.

Yesterday, the nonprofit, Google.org, run by Google Inc., unveiled a $4.4 trillion plan to cut the use of fossil fuels by 2030. The word is Google’s going to start partnering with General Electric to lobby Washington about alternative energy. Trippy.

Maybe this is the kind of stuff that makes me lean toward one of those new Google Android Dream phones coming out later this month. I want to play in the fields of Google. True, I am also planning to switch from trusty old PC over to a Mac some time next year, which is a bold move for a PC-embedded Boomer. Like Google’s reigning brains, I value diversity. And I like more than one basket for my eggs.

Maybe Google is getting too big for its britches, and starting to corral too much of our digital culture into their barn. I think about that too. But today, I’m happy to see that they continue to stretch outward, looking at ways to solve pressing global problems. I’m encouraged.

If a big corporate entity could take its dollars and its influence and fix something here on planet Earth, what would you like to see solved? Let me know in the comments here. And write it up for Google too.

Suzanna