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Germany's environment minister (do we have one of those?) announced today that the country would aim for the ambitious goal of having 45% of its electricity supplied by renewable sources. Germany is well on its way of reaching that goal as well as the target for 2020 which is currently 20% of electricity from renewables such as wind and solar. The nation has already passed its 2010 target which was set at 12.5% back in 2000.

Wow. Talk about leading the way in the race for energy independence. This is one arms race I am all for. Let's hope our leaders - and their counterparts in China - view this decision by Germany as a challenge. We can barely raise fuel efficiency standards above 30 mpg by 2020 but a green president in the oval office is all it takes to change that. I am hoping that the green economic boom and resulting economies of scale result in cheaper clean electricity but it is also going to take leadership at the top to stifle the auto and oil industry lobbying machines to reach the challenge thrown down by Germany.