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China is quickly gaining the lead and it is in the most important sector of the 21st century—green technology. China’s leaders have recognized how necessary it is to become sustainable and they have embraced the need with open arms.
Wind, solar and hydroelectric sources are the main sustainable energy resources that China is quickly tapping into to support its absolutely massive population. The Far East nation is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and going into the next decade with a green mentality. It is a must to note here that China still has many issues that it has to face, but it is going to be able to tackle these problems with a better-equipped infrastructure that is sustainable and modern.
Meanwhile, here in the United States, some are still not convinced that climate change is even happening. I admit, I was slow to recognize our massive need to become sustainable, but I was won over after examining the issue from a different angle.
Let us imagine that climate change is a hoax and that the world is not suffering from our immense consumption of nonrenewable resources. If we were to have embarked on the green path to sustainability, we would be left with a self-sustaining country that is not feeding petro dictators in the Middle East; that sounds pretty great to me.
On the other hand, let us assume that climate change is happening and that if our carbon emissions do not slow down our planet will become uninhabitable. Our policy makers did not heed the warnings and nothing of real weight was accomplished to slow down this process; then we are doomed.
A wise man once asked me what it was that has kept America as a leader in the world. I quickly answered, “The American spirit that pushes us to explore, to create.” He responded, “Yes, and the technologies that have arisen from that spirit.” Technology keeps the nation that we all love on top and powerful. It would be a great shame were we to ignore the signs and not create new green technologies. These green technologies are what are going to propel us successfully into this still-young century.
As young people, we have enormous power to sway politics in our country. One needs only to have witnessed the ascendance of Obama to understand this. It was we, the youth that drove him into the presidency. We must now use our tremendous influence to create change again, to force our nation to embark on a real path to sustainability.
China’s doing it, so can we.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer David Fridland at David.fridland@colorado.edu.
