My continuing thanks to C&Ler Mugsy for his assistance in tipping us off to potential posts in the Sunday bobblehead thread. To be honest, I had written off the scheduled interview of Brad Pitt on Meet the Press, because I thought it would be one of those fawning, insubstantial looks at a celebrity within the scope of some pet charity. But Pitt showed himself to not only be focused on helping rebuild New Orleans, but to do so with a more big picture orientation than politicians locked into old school solutions.

Pitt's foundation, Make It Right, has been building affordable, safe and sustainable housing for NOLA residents. Remember when the only thing available to low income displaced residents were formaldehyde-filled trailers? But moreover, these homes are being built with an eye to withstanding the next major storm and with materials that stimulate the economy, both by using green technology and by lessening the utility costs of the residents, thereby giving them more money to stimulate the economy. It's a far more holistic look at the problem.

Contrast that, if you will, with Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-INO) who advocates the lifting of the drilling moratorium to help the "little guys" of the Gulf Coast:

Sorry, but in my eyes that's as disingenuous as the greenwashing American Petroleum Institute ads bemoaning raising taxes on energy companies, because "people" are struggling. Really now? We've got energy companies paying little to no taxes now, posting record profits and complaining about "raising taxes" hurting the "people". Landrieu knows that there's no guarantee that oil BP went after with Deep Horizon would have gone directly to Americans rather than sold to the highest bidder on the open market, and that few, if any, small energy companies have the financial backing to do deepwater drilling. And how badly will "Big Al's Sandwich Shop" suffer if another drilling catastrophe kills the Gulf Coast completely?

It's disappointing "inside the box" thinking. A senator's job is to represent his/her state as well as possible and attempt to bring as much business and federal dollars to their state. This is a golden opportunity for Landrieu to lobby for Louisiana to be at the forefront of the green economy and all the federal tax benefits inherent in bringing green technology manufacturing and development, construction and building to the Gulf Coast, to steer the area away from an oil economy.

But instead, we're stuck with a senator too wedded to the same failed system.

Well, sort of:

Concerns over peak oil — that moment when oil demand exceeds global oil supply — has produced little more than a disdainful eye roll from Saudi Arabia. After all, the largest oil producer in the world has far more pressing problems — like peak demand, for example.

In fact, Saudi leaders are so worried that demand for oil could peak in the next decade they’ve done the unexpected — and slightly ironic — by calling for an economy that includes renewable energy. It’s an interesting reversal coming from a country that has poo-pooed investments in renewable energy in the past.

Let’s not forget Saudi Arabia — along with OPEC, the oil cartel it’s a member of — was a major opponent of greenhouse-gas reduction proposals during the climate summit in Copenhagen last year. At the time, OPEC’s chief said oil-producing countries should be compensated for lost revenues if any agreement coming out of Copenhagen leads to cuts in the use of oil. No, really.

Earlier this month, OPEC producers had the gall to ask the world to give them more clarity and certainty about long-term oil demand in order to justify additional investment in new production capacity, according to the Petroleum Economist. As Robert Rapier over at R-Squared notes, that’s simply not the way the world works. The best any business can do is try and estimate where demand will end up and then make decisions from there.

Now, the renewable energy that so worried Saudi Arabia before has suddenly become a worthy investment. The country is starting its first carbon-capture project and is investing in other industries including aluminum and steel in an effort to diversify its heavily crude-focused economy, according to a Bloomberg report. Mohammad al-Sabban, oil minister adviser and the lead negotiator at the climate talks, said the country is working to become the top exporter of energy, including alternative forms such as solar power.

Saudi Arabia is growing annually at about 4.2%, and needs jobs for the influx of foreign workers (estimated at about 7.5 million currently). They are reaching out to the private sector to provide those jobs, both through alternative energy and tourism.

Oh, the irony that Saudi Arabia is recognizing the need for alternative forms of energy more readily than our Republican Party.