Philippe Cousteau: “Time is running out for ourselves and future generations.” John Doerr: If we don't embrace a low carbon economy this decade, it won't just harm the planet, but also the U.S. economy

Philippe Cousteau: “Time is running out for ourselves and future generations.”

John Doerr: If we don't embrace a low carbon economy this decade, it won't just harm the planet, but also the U.S. economy.

by Joseph Romm, Climate Progress, September 7, 2010



Philippe Cousteau is becoming a true champion of the ocean and the climate (see “Stunning video makes clear prevention is the only cure: What dispersants have really done to Gulf“).  He is following in the footsteps of his famous father and even more famous grandfather with his work at Earth Echo.

He spoke earlier today at the third annual National Clean Energy Summit (webcast here), and was pretty blunt about the dire nature of our current situation:

The current status quo is an illusion.

“The true cost of our continued dependence on fossil fuels” was illustrated by the BP disaster.

“The true cost of a gallon of gasoline is by some estimates $6 a gallon.”

“The cost to our health, the cost to our security, and the cost to the environment of our addiction to fossil fuels has distorted our economy.”

Ocean acidification is indisputable science

“An investment in renewable energy is the smartest and only way to break our addiction to” fossil fuels.

Time is running out for ourselves and future generations.

John Doerr, partner in VC Kleiner Perkins (which helped launch Google, among other mega-companies), spoke later and explained that if we don’t embrace a low carbon economy this decade, it won’t just have devastating consequences to the planet, but also to the economy.

He said that he thought that the economic opportunity in low carbon technologies this decade was equal to what we saw in information technology and the Internet and the last decade.

He said that a price for carbon was critical if we are to avoid giving up leadership in this major job creating sector to Asia and Europe, something he has been saying for a long time (see John Doerr and Jeff Immelt: To become the green tech leader, “We must put a price on carbon and a cap on carbon emissions”).

Link:  http://climateprogress.org/2010/09/07/philippe-cousteau-time-is-running-out-for-ourselves-and-future-generations/#more-32781