San Jose, CA (1888PressRelease)
July 18, 2007 - Let’s face it; the Senate, Congress and the President aren’t really doing anything to slow down global warming. Despite all of Gore’s hype the every day effort of individuals can’t even put a dent in the problem. Sure, we have the technology to do something about it. But without the full commitment of governments and business world-wide, all the hoopla and intense personal passion of so many is really all for nothing. It always seems silly and sad to me when people get worried about separating recyclables thinking they are “helping the earth”. The problem here is the creation of greenhouse gases which is caused mostly by the burning of gas and coal. The average person can have no effect on that.
So what’s the hold up? Why don’t governments want to help the world you ask? It’s simple. Because it costs too much. Some estimates say up to 1 percent of the world economic output. Bush thinks that forcing businesses to cut down on emissions would impose too high a cost requirement and it would cause harm to the economy. And if there is harm to the economy, then guess who gets blamed? He does. It’s his job to keep the economy humming along, not to be an innovator. This is one of the few positions he takes that I understand.
So where will the solution come from? Only one place. TECHNOLOGY. No one can argue that the current technology we use to get around, the automobile, creates a big stinky mess. Is the world going to end because we drive around in SUVs? Not everyone thinks so, no matter what Al says. But I think we can all concur that car exhaust is not something anyone wants in the air that we and our children breathe day in and day out. Quite simply we need a new cleaner, healthier transportation technology. We need an energy solution for the automobile that is the equivalent of what the Internet did for communication and information distribution. The key: the new energy source needs to be very, very cheap and very, very easy to use. Think email replaces the posted letter. Now think X replaces the gasoline powered engine.
I’m sure this is all very obvious to many, but I don’t think this fact is: we need TECHNOLOGY, not activism, not government regulations and not huge PR campaigns (movies included). The problem is that the average person who wants to help the earth doesn’t get that point, and even if they did, they are not in the position to invent the world’s next great transportation energy source. Forget Bush, who cares about Exxon, the right technology will put them in their place. Just like the MP3 has done to record industry. Sure, you may say there are plenty of solutions for clean-burning fuel in cars. But are they as simple, accessible and cheap as an MP3 file? No way, and that’s what we need.
I think that the only way to accelerate the increase of the probability of such a new technology being developed is to foster, develop and incentivize brilliant minds towards ending global warming through the invention of a new energy source. I know, there are already tons of contests and programs like that in the United States. Plus, there is so much other economic opportunity here that creating a massive campaign to motivate inventors to create new fuel sources would take hundreds of millions of dollars. Most superb engineers in the US can get immediate rewards out of the software, hardware and the Internet industries. There’s not allot of tangible motivation around for solving the world’s energy crisis.
Enter the nonprofit “One Laptop per Child’s” “XO” computers and Intel’s “Classmate” PCs. They are pushing these $100-$400 cheap laptops in Pakistan, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, South America, Africa and Asia in an effort to get the third world online. The idea is to educate the world and sell a ton of chips while they’re at it. Google’s in on it of course, because all those kids will need to search. As altruistic as it sounds, this is simply a way to expand into new markets by filling a niche. However, as these young people ramp up for the information age, I suggest that they be given an initial common purpose and sense of online community.
Instead of filming fancy documentaries and annoying people with tales of gloom and doom, what if Al Gore and other leading environmental activist organizations partnered with companies like Intel and Google? What if we had an army of young minds at work around the world who got a discounted or free laptop with the understanding that they would study and work towards solving environmental & energy technology problems? Google could provide search and engineering content for life-long learning.
Continual design contests and courseware completion could offer rewards of things like free software, hardware upgrades, scholarships and cash prizes. An entire new generation of computer users would be infused with THIS idea: They were given their first laptop with the purpose of solving environmental problems for the world. I propose that this would give them a passion and reason to become a part of the new economy beyond just “becoming educated” and posting millions of made-for-adsense sites.
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