What do the people you meet in day-to-day life think about global warming?
Fred Krupp: In the last few years, I’ve seen some people’s thinking go straight from uncertainty to resignation. Once they realize global warming really is happening, they despair of finding a solution. I wrote Earth: The Sequel to show there’s actually every reason for hope.
What makes you hopeful?
Fred Krupp: My optimism comes from everything I know about the inventors at work on new energy solutions today, solutions that can power our economy without creating global warming pollution. These people’s enthusiasm is contagious, and they are attracting big investors. But most people don’t know the first thing about them, so Miriam Horn and I wrote this book to tell their stories.
What kind of stories?
Fred Krupp: One of my favorites is about the Massachusetts innovator GreenFuel Technologies. They targeted the carbon dioxide that spews out of power plant smokestacks—the single largest source of global warming pollution. What they’ve invented is a way to feed that carbon dioxide to a ravenous type of algae. Then the algae turn the carbon dioxide into a useful fuel. So GreenFuel creates two benefits at once—reduced global warming and increased fuel—and they’re working with an Arizona electric company to demonstrate its practicality.
In California, Amyris Biotechnologies is genetically engineering yeast to ferment sugar—not into ethanol, but into hydrocarbons that can go right into existing pipelines and automobile gas tanks. There are dozens of ideas like these. Some will work, others not, but in sum they would make anyone an optimist about solving global warming.
Is there a role for government?
Fred Krupp: Government needs to set a declining cap on global warming pollution. That single action will send businesses knocking on the doors of these inventors to get them to scale up and commercialize their ideas at the speed that we and the Earth need.
Should government favor particular technologies?
Fred Krupp: As soon as a cap on global warming pollution is set, the market will find the most efficient and effective ways to achieve it. Government shouldn’t try to pick the winners. We’ve seen what happened with corn based ethanol, where the lobbyists had more say than the scientists. Instead of picking winners, a cap will create a level playing field, and you’ll see a race with the inventors and investors from Earth: The Sequel.
Why Earth: The Sequel?
Fred Krupp: We called the book Earth: The Sequel because we all know what is now: strengthening hurricanes, rising sea levels, droughts. The question is what is next: a total makeover of the $6 trillion world energy economy. New fortunes will be made, and the change will make the difference between dangerous global warming and a healthy future for our families.
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