The Russian seizure of the Crimea is an example of how reliance on fossil fuel makes people captive of dictators. At this point, other than  spouting mostly empty rhetoric, it appears that the Europeans can/will do little or nothing to halt Putin's expansionism, which will not stop with Crimea. The main reason is that they're afraid that he will cut off their gas.

The more that the Europeans and others have their own locally created renewable energy, the less their policies will be captive of  such dictators as Putin.

Meanwhile, I note that Peter Arpin, Edward Catucci and their colleague at Renewable  Now have created a nifty multi-media operation devoted to sustainability and renewable energy.