President Bush recently acknowledged and at the G-8 Summit other leaders agreed that the world must cooperatively develop measures to address climate change and humankind’s significant contributions to it. However, let’s actually forget the science for a moment. Let’s imagine that 2,500 international scientists did not recently verify that climate change is in fact happening, that human contribution is significant, and that if we fail to act, global warming will wreak expensive and disastrous havoc on the planet. Forget all that. Skeptics remain unconvinced so perhaps we should not try to convince them.

The most disconcerting aspect of the climate change debate is that America is missing what could be the biggest opportunity of the 21st century in terms of financial reward, innovation and leadership. Much of the rest of the world aims to wean itself from fossil fuel use. The benefits of America reducing its dependence are abundant. Take a look:


On financial reward, for example, the American auto industry’s ranking as the world’s top manufacturer is slipping because apparently bigger is not better: the top selling hybrid is a Toyota, not a General Motors or a Ford. While the U.S. invested in gas guzzlers, Japan invested in energy efficiency. With gas at $3 to $4 per gallon, consumers made the switch and Toyota won out in the end. Lest that happen with other industries, America must wake up fast to the consumer trend towards energy-efficient, and thus cost-efficient, lifestyles. With oil prices on the rise, the money is in efficiency.

On innovation, Europe and China are exploring fossil fuel alternatives at a fast and furious pace. Germany’s installed wind power capacity now accounts for roughly a quarter of the world’s total installed capacity, with Spain second. Meanwhile, Denmark is leading the pack as the world’s top wind turbine manufacturer. China, no convert to climate change but certainly a technological opportunist, just announced a multi-year $200 billion investment in the solar power industry. America’s windy plains and sunny South offer an untold yield worth the reaping. The power is here on our shores; it’s time to harness it.