Obama starts social questions site

Considering how long they've had to do this, it's pretty freaking amazing...the Obama administration, at Change.gov, has just put up an online question asking and rating system that is, really, quite robust and useful.

Of course, I will direct you immediately to the Energy and Environment section, where the top rated questions have to do with intercity rail projects (excellent), distributed power (excellent) and renewables vs. nuclear (excellent).

All excellent questions! It makes you realize that Americans aren't...well...quite as stupid as the rest of the world assumes we are. Going down the list, in fact, I see a whole lot of really intelligent questions concerning our energy and environmental future. The Obama "team" plans to answer some of the top-rated questions in the new year.

The questions range from extremely broad to extremely specific, and from energy issues to preserving habitat for predators in Alaska. And some of the questions are extremely poignant and important, like this one:

"What types of serious and effective incentives will the new administration propose to force China, India and other major polluters into compliance with environmental agreements such as Kyoto 2 (or even less stringent regulations)?"

Whoo...that's a doozy...

But it's worth clicking through and seeing how many EcoGeeks there are out there asking intelligent questions and, more than anything, actually interested in being a part of the political process. Nothing like an intelligent discussion of energy policy straight from the mouths of Americans (and filtered with a Web 2.0 application) to make me believe in America again.