Clinton on Being "Green" - Economic Boom, Not Bust

Bill Clinton speaks at the Conference of Mayor's Climate Protection Summit I don’t mean to dwell too much on all things Clinton, as my last post referred to the Clinton Global Initiative. Though, as an American with nearly eight years of George Bush behind me, I admit I miss the eloquence and intellect of Bill Clinton – but that’s a post for another blog.

Speaking at the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Climate Protection Summit, Clinton said the challenges we face with global warming stand as the “greatest economic opportunity we’ve had since we mobilized for World War Two”.

Clinton further challenged the Bush Administration’s rationale for rejecting the Kyoto protocol, namely that it would damage the U.S. economy and gave an unfair advantage to developing countries like India and China, saying, essentially, that if America is a world leader, then it must lead, even on the issue of global warming – especially on the issue of global warming.

Many “skeptics” accuse those that warn of inaction in addressing climate change of being “alarmist”. It may be more accurate to turn the tables and call those that warn of the dire economic consequences of assertive action to mitigate global warming as taking the truly alarmist stance.

Economics facilitates human action, for good or bad, and adversity forces a decision; a call to positive action or a retreat into fear.

Like World War Two, we face a great adversity, though the enemy is much harder to define. Through action in addressing any adversity will come economic growth, never through fear; at least in any sustainable fashion.

Wealth creation may shift from “old” money to “new”, as it always eventually does. Change happens. It will happen in this century with Exxon and all those that supplanted the robber barons of the last century.

The degree of economic success we can expect in the coming decades depends on our ability to recognize adversity and marshal our will to positively address that adversity, not run from it for fear of change.

Sources and Further Reading:
Environmental News Service