The alternative fuels movement has finally reached a tipping point. The juxtaposition of oil prices leaping over $110 a barrel and coal costs doubling has been essential in awakening a new sense of urgency about alternative energy.

With US motorists paying close to $3.90 per gallon of gas and California drivers paying roughly $4.20 per gallon, enthusiasm is growing for a national commitment to embrace use of alternative fuels. Whether these be wind, nuclear, or solar, US consumers are finally realizing that our country's energy independence and economy are totally linked to reducing our dependence on oil.

It would seem as if the political environment has never been better for the alternative fuels community. To truly seize this moment, the organizations that comprise the community would be well served to consider the benefits of technology in improving the cross community collaboration needed to generate lasting successes.

Indeed, most alternative energy lobbying organizations can experience benefits from the use of new technologies that facilitate communication. Examples include Rondee.com's free conference call system which enables easy to deploy teleconferencing as well as online conference calling and networking tools.

Tip #1: Use web tools to network

The most successful alternative fuels advocacy organizations create networks of supporters who believe in their values and mission. While the term networking frequently gets a less than ideal reputation, the clear reality is that these networks can provide significant aid. Today in San Jose, the expectation is that professional folks will have at least a rudimentary LinkedIn profile.

At the same time, other networking systems such as Facebook are starting to see usage by more professional users. These services also offer a relatively easy way of augmenting your network.

Tip #2: Leverage a free teleconference system

In the last several years, there has been increasing degrees of cross-functional integration between geographically diverse alternative fuels advocacy groups. One cause of this trend has been lower air travel costs – a trend that may now be going the opposite direction with the leaping oil costs mentioned earlier.

A separate reason is the advent of the sorts of free conference calling services mentioned above. Most of these services, including those provided by Rondee.com operate on the same underlying principle. They offer you a PIN and a toll number to call. If all conference call users dial the same toll bridge number and enter the same PIN code, they are placed into the conference phone call.

Tip #3: Consider systems to allow for desktop sharing

Some alternative fuels advocacy groups have far flung leadership groups, and it is impractical to have face-to-face meetings. Technology is solving this problem by way of desktop sharing. Whether it's viewing a PowerPoint document illustrating the group's development plan or a spreadsheet showing the performance desktop sharing can be quite useful for not a few green groups.

Fourth Tip: Use an electronic news system

It was not too long ago that sending out an email newsletter was time consuming and tricky. This has now changed. On-line systems are making it feasible to use templated and scalable newsletters. These solutions cut the work load by at roughly ninety percent and in so doing allow green organizations to focus on content development rather than delivery of messages.