Biker Joe Biden

A few days ago as the nation eagerly awaited the announcement of Joe Biden’s nominee for Vice-President I happened to see a familiar scene on the evening news. Reporters were gathered at a biking trailhead in Wilmington, Delaware where I had biked just weeks before. Then Joe appeared and one of the reporters closed in to ask “Sir, have you decided who your candidate will be for Vice-President?” “Yes,” was Biden’s one-word answer. Then the reporter asked, “Who is it?” and Joe, taking off on his bike, answered “You!” I burst out laughing at the quick comeback. Joe, who some feel might have lost his edge, was sharp today. I remember just a few years before when Joe was the Vice-President of the United States, he spoke to us at the national Solar Energy Conference in Anaheim, California. I was in the crowd. He could not have given a better speech. With no prepared notes or teleprompter, he just talked to us about the coming solar economy. Every one of the thousands of us stood and applauded. It was clear Joe gets it. He sees what we all have seen for years: there is a clean energy economy just waiting to spring forth. Jobs, good jobs, jobs which already exceed the number of those in the coal industry will double, triple, quadruple as America and the world transition to a renewable energy economy. This will happen no matter who’s the next President. It will happen because solar is better than coal, cheaper than nuclear, ubiquitous, abundant, and there for the taking. Sunride recognizes this pure and simple fact: we can do just about anything we need to do with solar energy. Sunride is a call for innovation, a call to inventors (like me) to find creative ways of using the sun’s magnificent energy. The mighty force of Niagara Falls, if harnessed, I calculated, could provide 5% of the world’s energy; but we don’t need to do that, because the might of the sun is a trillion times greater!  

I don’t know if Joe will win the upcoming election. His opponent is game to say the least and will stop at nothing to win. But Joe showed us today on the news he’s game too. I felt something akin to affinity as Joe took off on his bike. We were, just moments in time apart, riding down the same trail. You go Joe!  May the best man win!