The Next Frontier?

Friedman seems far too pessimistic when it comes to US growth. Granted it is unfortunate the legislative and executive branches of the government are entangled with the oil/coal companies and therefore are less willing to make changes regarding green jobs and clean energy. Yet, I think it is unfair of Friedman to give the United States such a negative role in this article because in the DC area alone there are hundreds of organizations that cater to the environment. Just because our government is bureaucratic and not a dictatorship this doesn’t mean that we are not making progress. It is slower progress that will be debated in Congress, but this is our system. Also, as Americans, we are able to adapt quickly to new legislature. Of course, it is a positive thing that Freidman is making noising and complaining about this because this is how we are able to effectively make change through legislature. Many Americans forget Congress is a group of representatives. Theoretically, these representatives are looking out for the best interest of their state. Currently, we are in a time of great discontent with Congress and this is clearly reflected in Friedman’s article.

The discussion of action on climate change as a race is a completely legitimate concept. At least it makes sense as an American concept because this is as old as our country. When we were first developing, we were conquering the new frontier, this being the West. Another example of this American desire to explore and conquer the unknown is in the 1960s with the Final Frontier. His argument is clearly being drawn from the Cold War and how we were not technically in a war or race with Russia. Yet, there was a clear winner and loser after the United States landed on the moon. The issue of climate change is inevitably political because of what transpired with the USSR and the US. Therefore, we must let it play out in the political system no matter how annoying and utterly time consuming it maybe. These days we are faced with another unknown: the effects of climate change. If we are a solely looking at technology in this discussion it is plausible to assume this can be considered a race to see what country can develop the best technology. Also, it can be seem as a metaphor as well because we are racing against the clock to try to reverse the damage we have inflicted on the natural world.

As an advocate for renewable energy, I completely agree with the fact that we need to increase our production of “green” manufacturing as a means to decrease our environmental impact. But, we should not discount all other ways to decrease our impact. It is important to not have one solution to the issue of climate change and instead have a 360 degree view of how to solve it. Yet, cutting down on the CO2 emissions will be a positive step for our planet.