BOISE - Is America dragging its heels when it comes to creating clean, renewable energy?

One of the focuses of an economic summit in Boise is a pilot program dealing with energy challenges in the northwest.

This week's launch of the Energy Horizon Institute coincides with the launch 40 years ago of Apollo 11.

So, if the nation can put a man on the moon in 1969 - shouldn't we be further along in the field of alternative energy?

When president John F. Kennedy said in 1961 that the United States would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, nobody really knew how. But America solved the problem with a national commitment to an unprecedented technological challenge.

"I do think we've been dragging our feet - if we put as much effort into it as we have other things, we could do more," said Shawna Hanel, a Boise resident.

Chris Meyer of Boise also agrees.

"I think we need to get serious about this," Meyer said. "People need to get complacent."

And as Idaho plays host this week to the newly created Energy Horizon Institute, Gov. Butch Otter agrees, the spirit that created Apollo, could also produce alternative energy solutions.

"It just gives rise to a whole new culture, and a generation of idealism," said Gov. Butch Otter. "We need that now, need that on energy."

A lot of the focus will be on solar and wind power and other renewable energy - basically everything under the sun.