Oil-Rich Abu Dhabi Builds Renewable-Energy City

In the desert of Abu Dhabi, a novel experiment in sustainability is under way.

Over the next decade, a city of 50,000 residents will be built from scratch. And unlike any other city in the world, Masdar City will have no carbon footprint. Once it's built, the city will be powered entirely by renewable energy.

But, the United Arab Emirates is an oil-rich nation containing approximately 10 percent of the world's oil reserves. So why is Abu Dhabi doing this?

"The answer is simple," says Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co., the developers planning the city. "There are two reasons. Number one, because we can. Number two, because we should. And because this is a logical step and a natural extension for our involvement in the energy markets."

[For the rest of the story, plus an audio clip, head on over to NPR]

 The real reason the  middle-eastern countries are pushing for these initiatives is simple: they aren't stupid.  There will be a time when most oil-producing countries can barely supply their own countries with the oil they need for daily operation (ie-America, Russia....to name two).  These countries are looking beyond oil to a future world that will be run off the energy supplied be the planet, not the burning of dead things.  We should all pay close attention to these initiatives and seek the emulate them 10-fold here in the US.  We have more to gain by being the center of the emerging "green economy" than any other country in the world.