When I was born in the 1950s, nuclear power was said to be “too cheap to meter.” Although few and far between, disasters at Fukushima and Chernobyl have laid waste to that claim and, for that matter, entire cities.  German Chancellor Angela Merkel, herself a nuclear physicist, led the charge to eliminate her nation’s nuclear power plants in the next few years based on a rational risk analysis. 

A few weeks ago, the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii recorded CO2 levels in the atmosphere at almost 400 parts per million. Many scientists predicted that in reaching this level, we would see more intense storms (like Hurricanes Irene and Sandy); droughts (like the one suffocating the middle of the US for the past year); and heat waves (the 12 hottest years on record have all been in the last 15). 

We wouldn’t be here without her. We’ll never fully appreciate the sacrifices she makes every day for our well-being. Yes, it will take a very special gift to really say “I love you, mom” to our Mother Earth. 

With Earth Day 2013 around the corner, it’s a good time to step back and see how we’ve been doing since the first Earth Day in 1970, when 20 million people took to the streets to protest rivers on fire, DDT-poisoned birds, sewage on beaches, and a devastating oil spill off the pristine Santa Barbara coast.

Last week in Wuxi, I noticed a newspaper headline about the bankruptcy of Suntech, one of China’s largest solar panel manufacturers. 

Below the fold was a story about the success of several local car companies and the dramatic rise in their stock values. Was there something that these stories had in common - - and something from them that could help the U.S. economic recovery?

Peak Oil is the concept that new discoveries of commercially exploitable oil resources do not keep pace with growing demand. By extrapolating the data, you can estimate when we will run out of it for all practical purposes. 

“The government can’t change the weather,” said Florida Senator Marco Rubio last week, describing his opposition to President Obama’s State of the Union call-to-action on climate change policy. Given the staggering costs of droughts, heat waves, and super storms, it would seem our political leaders would come quickly to some consensus on these seemingly urgent issues and take some kind of concerted action. So where do our political leaders get their information that has instead led to partisan gridlock?

In his inaugural address this week, President Obama committed us to get back to work on the challenge of a sustainable energy future.

“We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations,” he said. But will this reignite the debate on climate change or have three widely publicized stories already done that for us?

As the world assembles in Doha to debate climate change policy, solutions, and costs, few attendees at “COP18” are looking at this as a profit-making opportunity. 

If they did, there might be agreements among nations instead of continued gridlock and finger-pointing.

In a political commercial that has been viewed by over a million people so far, Samuel L. Jackson shares his views on national priorities with the tart refrain “wake the [blank] up!”

After the 2000 census, many states used politics and innovative mapping technology to gerrymander new electoral districts to lock in gains for one party or the other. California politicians, for example, drew new “safe” seats and the result was hyper-partisanship and politicians who didn’t need to pay attention to anyone that wasn’t singing from their sheet music. Unfortunately, the results may also be dirtier air and a less sustainable future.

One of the first things you notice about Vietnam is the hundreds of thousands of motorcycles darting in and around the cars and trucks.  The second thing you notice is that most of the riders on motorcycles are wearing masks to reduce the soot from getting into their lungs. 

Recent campaign stops by Mitt Romney and President Obama could not provide a more stark contrast of energy policies. Romney promises coal miners that he’s in favor of energy from “below the ground”, albeit preferring domestic sources of all fossil fuels.

Until headlines last week announced the end of his marriage to Katie Holmes, it seemed there was no mission too impossible for Tom Cruise to accomplish. But even his cool, Burj Khalifa-climbing character in the famous film franchise might refuse the Mission Impossible assignment facing global economies today - - powering growth with nuclear energy.

When I helped Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger create the Million Solar Roofs Initiative in California a few years ago, we designed it to stimulate mass production of solar panels to bring down cost.

Consider the extraordinary efforts we undertake to secure a barrel of oil. Lives lost from wars.

Oil-rig blowouts. Cancer clusters downwind of refineries. 100,000 premature deaths each year in America alone when we combust the stuff in our engines. 

Zhongwei “Wally” Jiang is a multi-cultural entrepreneur with more 24/7 activity than the Energizer bunny. His WesTech Solar Energy company in China and green city developments in Texas make the most of what Nature and efficient technologies can provide. His secret to success is stitching together people, technology, and ideas that might not normally interact, a process he calls “1+1=11”. Like Wally, we can all find these force multipliers that leverage our assets beyond what many might think is possible - - but only if we look for them.

What’s trending in Q1 of 2012? Three things that will cost more going forward and one that will definitely be heading down - - and the causes behind all four are the same.
 

In recent months, Japan and China have blustered over disputed islands that don’t appear to have any real economic or territorial benefits for either nation. Jets have scrambled and radars locked on opposing vessels, all signs of increasing tension. But the two Asian powerhouses have now begun to argue over a shared threat that actually does have impacts on the health and future of their respective populations - - air pollution.
 

After numerous trips to India and discussions with the leaders of many businesses (large and small), two things are clear. There is already a US-sized market here and it's very green.