Al Gore: Climate, Economic Crises Have Same Solution

clipped from www.nytimes.com Economists across the spectrum — including Martin Feldstein and Lawrence Summers — agree that large and rapid investments in a jobs-intensive infrastructure initiative is the best way to revive our economy in a quick and sustainable way. Many also agree that our economy will fall behind if we continue spending hundreds of billions of dollars on foreign oil every year. Moreover, national security experts in both parties agree that we face a dangerous strategic vulnerability if the world suddenly loses access to Middle Eastern oil. Here’s what we can do — now: we can make an immediate and large strategic investment to put people to work replacing 19th-century energy technologies that depend on dangerous and expensive carbon-based fuels with 21st-century technologies that use fuel that is free forever: the sun, the wind and the natural heat of the earth.

From an op-ed in the NYT. Writes Gore, "Looking ahead, I have great hope that we will have the courage to embrace the changes necessary to save our economy, our planet and ultimately ourselves."

It makes sense. Rebuilding our infrastructure to deal with global warming would also be a huge jobs program and a boost to help create new industries. All of this Bush stuff about dealing with emissions being bad for the economy is BS. It's always been BS.

I keep saying it's the buggywhip industry complaining about those newfangled horseless carriages. There's no reason to listen to these people. They're just backwards looking defenders of dying industries.