Save the Planet, Save the Country

A carbon cap would also create vast new demand for low-carbon energy solutions. The winners won't be only the obvious players—solar-cell companies and wind-turbine manufacturers. Those companies are just the tip of a giant iceberg. The supply chain behind each of these renewable technologies winds its way through the heart of U.S.—and, indeed, global—manufacturing. Each wind turbine, for instance, contains 8,000 parts—including bolts, copper wiring, ball bearings, concrete foundations and steel towers. Companies and workers make those 8,000 pieces, and a comprehensive cap-and-trade bill would deliver immediate benefits in new demand, customers and jobs.

It's happening already. In Shelby, North Carolina, a fiberglass plant on the brink of shutting down stayed in business by retooling to make fiberglass for wind turbines. Alpena, Michigan—one of many towns closing factories—recently won back about 150 jobs to make castings for wind turbines.

A switch to a low-carbon energy economy would create 5 million new jobs—from the boardroom to the factory floor—that cannot be outsourced, restoring strength and confidence to the American economy. But quick action is needed. The United States has already dropped in solar-cell manufacturing behind Japan, Germany and, most recently, China, which tripled production in 2007. Nine of the world's 10 largest photovoltaic manufacturers are in Europe or Asia. The decisions the president makes in his first crucial months will determine the course of U.S. technological leadership for decades to come. The countries that lead in inventing and deploying clean-energy technologies will be the great powers of the 21st century. And the sun will set on those that fall behind.

Much of the groundwork has been laid. In 2008, a bipartisan cap-and-trade bill, the Climate Security Act, reached the floor of the U.S. Senate. Though it fell victim to Washington gridlock in the end, a majority of senators voted to continue the debate, and House lawmakers are readying similar bills for action in 2009. Presidential leadership can now ensure passage of the strongest possible law.

Only with a comprehensive national cap on carbon will the extraordinary clean-energy technologies now being invented be brought to scale at a pace sufficient to save the U.S. economy—and the planet. That is the energy and economic policy America and the world need now.

Krupp is president of Environmental Defense Fund, a New York-based advocacy group, and author of “Earth: The Sequel.”

© 2008