– By Mark Boslet, co-editor, TechPulse360
American prosperity is at stake, said Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
The United States risks losing the race to a clean-tech economy if it fails to get serious about global warming, Energy Department Secretary Steven Chu said Monday.
Taking five years or longer to pass energy legislation will limit the nation’s ability to be a leader in the green-energy technologies of tomorrow, Chu said during an address at Stanford University.
American prosperity is at stake, said Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
“I think we will lose (and) end up purchasing equipment from abroad,” he said. “The future prosperity of the United States is at risk.”
Chu used the midday speech to renew his call for an energy bill from Congress. But he also highlighted the danger more motivated countries, particularly China, pose to a complacent country.
China is spending $9 billion a month to diversify its energy production, he noted. One advanced power line project by itself will cost $88 billion over the next decade as high-efficiency high-tension wires are strung 1,200 miles from east to west. The wires will transport energy to the coastal population centers with miniscule energy losses of as little as 5 percent.
In 1996, the U.S. was the leading manufacturer of solar panels. Now its market share is below 10 percent, Chu added. “We are falling behind in the clean-energy race.”
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