Myopia

I agree wholeheartedly with Thomas Friedman's article that this country is falling behind in the "green" sector of the global economy. While there certainly has been some enthusiasm in the private sector, especially with regard to hybrid and electric vehicles, overall public investment in research has been lagging behind nations such as China for some time. And when considering the very present threat of climate change and falling resource stocks, green technologies need to be developed and adopted on a huge scale in this country. Failure to do so is simply shortsighted and puts the entire globe on the path to destruction,

The issue of the green sector of the economy is something Thomas Friedman has discussed for quite some time. I agree with his assertion that it represents a great opportunity for the United States to once again manufacture products domestically and offer a wealth of well-paying jobs to a diversity of workers. In a country with unemployment nearing double digits and one with a manufacturing sector that has been battered by foreign competition and outsourcing, such benefits should be embraced. In addition, a less resource-intensive economy that does not utilize fossil-fuels on a large scale frees the United States from scouring the globe for vanishing resources and sending money to unfriendly and undemocratic nations. In this vein, an earlier Op-ed by Mr. Friedman goes as far to say that even if climate change is completely a natural phenomenon, the steps, especially in green manufacturing, taken to reduce the use of fossil fuels and carbon emissions would make the country better off in the long run. So even though present politicians shy away from coercing the American economy into researching, adopting, and using new and perhaps expensive technologies because of short term costs, the economics in the long term favor such moves.

While new technology is certainly an integral piece of the puzzle, it is not a panacea for the problems we face today. So while Mr. Friedman is right that the United States needs to do more to research green technologies and implement them in the short to intermediate term, much greater action must be taken to simply consume less and conserve resources. Though I concede that conservation can be helped by more advanced products and practices, behavior in this country still must change in order to make significant reductions in environmental impact and hopefully stave off the worst of global climate change.

Finally, I would like to agree one of Janelle's points in her response to this Op-ed. It is extremely embarrassing that China's leaders are willing to talk about human-induced climate change while to American politicians it is among the "dirtiest" of issues. For a country that prides itself on having been at the forefront of science and innovation for the past century, this issue should not be taboo. Just because we fear short term costs and profit loss and are uncomfortable with the destruction our lifestyles cause does not give America the right to ignore climate change and dismiss sound research in an anti-intellectual fervor.