A New Greener America

President Obama took to the airwaves last night to deliver the toughest speech yet of his presidency. The President took care to outline a vision for our nation's future that accepted the dire straits that we are facing now and embraced the path of progress and recovery. A large portion of the President's speech focused on energy reform and modernization, touting the need for more renewable energy, efficient vehicles, and a cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions.

The New York Times Greenwire states that the Obama administrations has "plans to implement a cap-and-trade plan that curbs emissions of heat-trapping gases... pledge[d] that the United States would invest $15 billion annually to develop technologies such as wind and solar, next-wave biofuels, 'clean coal' and efficient cars... vowed to double renewable energy supply over three years... Obama also called for the United States to claim a larger share of the renewable and efficiency technology markets."

These are ambitious plans to say the least. President Obama sees a window of opportunity like America has never seen before; his plan to lead us out of a recession is an investment to make the energy sources of tomorrow available today.

America is in crisis mode, but the position that we are in now is a direct result of failing to evolve on a national level over the past two decades. As energy policies stalled, the country started having a competitive disadvantage -- failing to utilize renewable resources and energy efficiently have cost all Americans money and a better environment. Granted, upfront capital investments are required to build an efficient and clean infrastructure, but the payoff is real and sustained.

Carbonfund.org applauds the Obama administration's vision for a clean and green future. We are looking forward to continuing to be part of the global warming solution and welcome a cap-and-trade system for reducing carbon emissions.