Recently archeologists have discovered that 2000 years ago Amazonians were practicing carbon sequestration on a massive scale in the Amazon Basin of Bolivia.

In the process they turned one of the most desolate soils on earth into one of the richest. It’s called terra preta de indio or indian black earth. Terra preta is so fertile that it regrows itself as reported by families who’ve mined it for generations.

Because of political instability, climate, extreme conditions, no roads, anti-American feelings caused by the DEA; the uninhabited Bolivian savannah had remained virtually unexplored by geologists and archeologists until the late sixties with the advent of oil exploration. Small islands of lush jungle dotting the savannah were seen from the air by oil geologists and documented in trade journals. Alert academic scientists then began to mount expeditions into the area and have been surprised if not amazed at what they’ve found.

What they’ve discovered has validated the Spanish Conquistador, Francisco de Orellana, when in 1542 he spoke of the land of El Dorado after returning from exploring the area. 80 years later when Spaniards returned they found the region barren and uninhabited so they concluded that Orellana had been delusional. They couldn’t know that Orellana had sown the seeds of the Amazonians destruction with the diseases he brought with him. Amazonians had never experienced a human to human disease, not even a cold. He was the first and last European to see them. Mother nature took over and destroyed any trace of their civilization.

Scientists still don’t know the exact formula for terra preta but they do know that it involved massive amounts of charcoal being tilled into the soil. Carbon sequestration? They also know that the charcoal had been pulverized to particles no larger than 2 microns. Contrary to conventional wisdom, which claims that charcoal is bad for the soil, the Amazonians found a way to use it to enrich soil to the point that a sophisticated and complex culture able to feed a larger population than any in Europe, existed for thousands of years. They literally turned a desert into El Dorado.

Because results from early research promises green energy, soil restoration and greenhouse mitigation from an affordable technology that can remove more CO2 from the atmosphere than is released, Congress has taken terra preta serious enough to appropriate $500 million to its research in the last agriculture bill. There’s more but I’ll leave it to the reader to explore the subject further by using the hyperlinks provided. It’s worth the effort.

The reason I mention all of this is to draw the contrast between a culture that is wise as opposed to a culture that is just clever. A wise culture does not continue to do the same thing expecting different results. If we continue to believe that our smart people will eventually develop a technology to allow us to continue to burn fossil fuels with impunity then we’ve forsaken wisdom for what Wendell Berry calls, “…a collective delusion of grandeur”.

Evidence of this “collective delusion of grandeur” can be found in recent editorials of the local ultra-conservative Paducah Sun. It has been recently reported that a multi-billion dollar “clean” coal manufacturing plant is to be located in McCracken County which will sequester carbon in our aquifer. Even though we're reassured that the aquifer is already dirty with salt, one can't help but conclude that this is just another example of industry using the commons as their capital.

The captains of industry and their media collaborators tell us that the technology is proven, safe, nothing to worry about. These are the same snake oil salesmen who told us that nuclear energy would be so cheap that electric meters would be eliminated. And now they resort to the euphemism of "clean coal" to sell us the same snake oil. In the process they accuse anyone, especially environmentalists, of knee jerk reaction when we question the unsustainable solutions being offered. All the while they fail to mention that environmentalists have been proven right time and again on environmental issues in our area. The Paducah Sun never learns but instead continues with business as usual expecting different results.

Never mind that the editorialist never mentions the other problems created by coal such as mountain top removal, coal mine deaths from cave ins and black lung, coal sludge ponds, strip pits, etc. Or that one of the worst environmental disasters in our nation, second only to the Valdez oil spill in Alaska, occurred at Inez, Ky when an earthen dam failed to hold back a massive coal sludge pond. Or that there are many more such ponds on the verge of being released with more being created yearly. And to date there are no solutions for these problems in sight.

The fossil fools would have us believe that the climate crises is a hoax therefore we can continue to dig the fossil fuel hole we’re in. This is a false premise if for no other reason than such a policy is not sustainable simply given the limited reserves of oil, coal and uranium along with the intractable waste problems created by these energy sources.

On the other hand, we presently have the technology to make every home in the nation a net energy producer instead of a net energy user. In the process we could eliminate CO2 emissions by ridding ourselves of fossil fuels, decentralize the grid thus improving national security, convert to an electric plug-in fleet of autos, get us out of the quicksand of the Middle East and put us ahead of the curve for 21st century jobs. But it will require leadership and both national and individual sacrifice.

Other nations are already well on their way to such a future after having broken the stranglehold of fossil fuel special interests over their governments. I have faith that the American people can do the same. Over the last eight years, corporations and their lobbyists have taken over the very agencies that were created to regulate their greed and lawlessness. To cure our addiction to fossil fuels and reclaim our democracy -- at least a government worthy of that name -- will require a great deal of effort and creativity on our part. We cannot afford to allow the last word to industry sycophants as represented by the Paducah Sun. There's too much at stake.

In the same amount of time and expense that it would take to build unsustainable nuclear reactors and the oxymoronic “clean” coal plants to provide for our energy needs, we could be getting 100% of our nation's electricity from renewable and truly clean energy sources within 10 years.

So the question is, which technology do we choose? Should we take the Sun’s editorialist, David Cox's, advice and use technology to improve the buggy whip? Or do we follow the lead of the ancient Amazonians and wisely choose the technology that solves the myriad problems from using fossil fuels by eliminating them entirely for a more sustainable future?

Time will tell.