Can we stimulate the economy and create a sound green-energy policy at the same time? Of course. In fact, it’s not possible to have a sustained economic recovery that isn’t green.
Our entire economic system is unsustainable. It’s a global Ponzi scheme: investors (i.e., current generations) are paying themselves (i.e., you and me) by taking from future generations. To perpetuate the high returns that the rich countries in particular have been achieving in recent decades, we have been taking an ever greater amount of nonrenewable energy resources, especially hydrocarbons; natural capital such as fresh water, arable land, forests, and fisheries; and the most important nonrenewable natural capital of all: a livable climate.
Like all Ponzi schemes, this one will collapse soon–if we don’t voluntarily and aggressively switch to an economy built on renewable resources and a commitment to sustaining natural capital. Since action on global warming is inevitable, countries that lead the way in promoting clean technology with incentives and strong, innovation-promoting regulations will gain a competitive advantage. As President Obama said in March, “We can remain the world’s leading importer of foreign oil, or we can become the world’s leading exporter of renewable energy. We can allow climate change to wreak unnatural havoc, or we can create jobs preventing its worst effects.”
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