The Chapter 18 Project

We have a new president-elect, and he (with his predecessor) is facing an old problem: what to do about the Big Three automakers? These companies haven't been innovative or competitive in the marketplace in a generation or more. Now General Motors is looking to the federal government to offer a big aid package to keep the company in business and keep its many thousands of employees working. There is little doubt Ford and Chrysler will follow suit.

This poses a conundrum for anyone committed to bringing about a new Clean Energy System like the one I describe in Hot, Flat, and Crowded. Is it a good idea for the government to rescue GM with a financial package like the ones offered to Wall Street earlier this year, or is such a rescue a way of stimulating ignorance and rewarding the worst offenders, the foes of energy innovation?

If Washington does offer a rescue plan, what terms should the government ask for to hold the Big Three accountable in the new era we are in? Can we really expect the automakers to finally try in earnest to produce plug-in hybrids and other vehicles that use fuel in cleaner, more efficient ways? Is there a good way for the government to extend the rescue to the more competitive, innovative automakers—Honda and Toyota—so that they can take roles in leading the auto business into the Energy-Climate Era at last?

I am eager for your thoughts. Thanks for taking an interest in Chapter 18.

With the economy in turmoil, many people have asked me what effect the turmoil will have on all the green initiatives I call for in Hot, Flat, and Crowded. This morning I was talking to my friend David Rothkopf, the energy expert at the Carnegie Endowment, and he put it this way: “Is this financial crisis going to be the end of green, or is green going to be how we end this financial crisis?” Really, that is the question of the hour.

The economic crisis could be the end of green, because without investment capital for research and development, and without confidence in the long-term health of the markets, it will be impossible for us to build a Clean Energy System or create the innovations that will enable us to bring alternative energy solutions to market and get them to scale. I shudder to think of that outcome.

But green may be how we end this financial crisis, because with the economy hitting bottom, everyone is going to be looking to be more cost-efficient in the way they live and do business, and that will mean demand for the most cost-saving energy efficient buildings, cars and heating and air conditioning systems is going to surely increase.

What we are seeing in this crisis is the need for a whole new financial architecture—and people are recognizing that some problems are just too big to solve unless we approach them systematically. As it is with our economy, so it is with our ecosystem: we need a new system, and we are going to have to think things through very carefully and make some hard choices to get it right.

Naturally, I am hoping that the economic crisis turns out to be the beginning of green—an opportunity to set the country and the planet right before it is too late. What do you think?

Hot, Flat, and Crowded is about two problems: the world’s problem, and America’s problem. The world’s problem is that it is getting hot, flat, and crowded. But what’s on my mind especially today is America’s problem. America has lost its way in recent years – partly because of 9/11 and partly because of the bad habits that we have let build up over the past thirty years, bad habits that have weakened our society’s ability and willingness to take on the big challenges.

As I put it in the book: “In some ways, the subprime mortgage mess and housing crisis are metaphors for what has come over America in recent years: A certain connection between hard work, achievement, and accountability has been broken. We’ve become a subprime nation that thinks it can just borrow its way to prosperity..."

I argue in the book that the best way out of this mess is an American commitment to what I call "nation-building at home," centered on innovation in clean energy. The crisis on Wall Street makes clear that America really does have a problem and that we really do need to commit to "nation-building at home," and fast. As the government asks all of us as citizens to assume responsibility for the financial crisis, what should we be asking of it in terms of "nation-building at home"? What should we be calling for on top of greater regulation of the financial markets if we are going to get our country back on the right track?

Thanks to all for the comments. As I am finding from the people I meet on the road during events in connection with the book, there is a real groundswell of enthusiasm and commitment to bringing about a change from the Dirty Fuels System to a Clean Energy System. But as your comments indicate, we all know that many, many obstacles stand in the way.

In the book — pages 391-3 — I tell the story of the effort of Southern California Edison to produce wind power in the Thachapi Pass and send it to Los Angeles, 275 miles away. It took eleven years — eleven years — for all the local and state governments, regulatory agencies, utilities commissions, and environmental groups to review the process and make their recommendations. That is why I sometimes wish that America could be "China for a Day."

What stories do you have about the difficulty of making Clean Energy work even when everyone agrees that it is in our best interests?

I want to thank all the early posters for their ideas for Chapter 18. This was an experiment on my part, but the early response is really encouraging: serious people are contributing serious ideas. Thanks and please keep the cards and letters coming, especially as you have had a chance to finish the book.

Best wishes, Tom Friedman

Hot, Flat, and Crowded has seventeen chapters. What's Chapter 18? Chapter 18 will be a completely new chapter that I’ll add to the next edition of the book: Version 2.0. In it I hope to include the best ideas and proposals sent in from readers: ideas about clean energy, energy efficiency, and conservation; about petropolitics and nation-building in America; about how we can help take the lead in the renewal of our country and the Earth alike by going Code Green. I am eager for your suggestions — please post them here.