Quote - Most of us can see the need for environment-friendly construction.
Most of us don't want to pay the price, however.

Some don't... most can't.

Quote - For example, wind generators. Who said they had to be built on land? Coastal waters, just over the horizon, will work just as well. Just be careful not to plant them right in the middle of a shipping lane.

True - until you factor in the increased construction and maintenance costs due to storms, surf, salt water, whiny beachfront property owners slinging fistfuls of subpeonas...

But yeah - I agree that it doesn't necessarily have to be on land, or even wind-generated. We've done hydro for well over a century now. The point was though that it ain't cheap, ain't easy, and can be just as much of a pain-in-the-ass to build as a coal-fired plant. :)

Quote - Another example: bio fuels. They've caused corn prices to rise, which means basic food prices are higher than ever. This affects everyone.  A better solution would be bio fuels based on non-food materials. And there's progress in this field too, in the Netherlands we have an experimental algae farm that produces an awesome amount of fermentable biomass per square meter.

Yep - and waste food materials are an awesome source if we can corral enough of it in one spot. Same with cow dung, waste wood, etc.

Quote - Biggest problem of them all is that any solution to these questions - work, money, environment, energy - requires intelligent decision makers with a broad view. And as far as I know, decision makers compensate their almost universal lack of intelligence with greed and hunger for power

You forgot one other factor - short-sightedness. Most only plan/look ahead to the next election, and don't think much about what their decisions will do 50 years from now. It's never easy to do that, but then leadership isn't supposed to be an easy job :)

/P