Thomas Friedman is an interesting man. For one, his book on globalization: The World Is Flat was mandatory reading at Lehigh in an intro course to Information Systems, and caused a great deal of debate on the topic during many a class session. But, his current op-ed in the New York Times this weekend has a very real message for the west: follow the path to a cleaner, smarter planet, or face an inevitable decline in power and wealth.
Over the past decade, whenever I went to China and engaged Chinese on their pollution and energy problems, inevitably some young Chinese would say: “Hey, you Americans got to grow dirty for 150 years, using cheap coal and oil. Now it is our turn.”
It’s a hard argument to refute. Eventually, I decided that the only way to respond was with some variation of the following: “You’re right. It’s your turn. Grow as dirty as you want. Take your time. Because I think America just needs five years to invent all the clean-power technologies you Chinese are going to need as you choke to death on pollution. Then we’re going to come over here and sell them all to you, and we are going to clean your clock — how do you say ‘clean your clock’ in Chinese? — in the next great global industry: clean power technologies. So if you all want to give us a five-year lead, that would be great. I’d prefer 10. So take your time. Grow as dirty as you want.”
Whenever you frame it that way, Chinese are quizzical at first, and then they totally get it: Wow, this energy thing isn’t just about global warming! In a world that is adding one billion people every 15 years or so — more and more of whom will be able to live high-energy-consuming lifestyles — the demands for energy and natural resources are going to go through the roof. Therefore, E.T. — energy technologies that produce clean power and energy efficiency — is going to be the next great global industry, and China needs to be on board.
Well, China has gotten on board — big-time. Now I am worried that China will, dare I say, “clean our clock” in E.T.
Few companies have had the foresight to grow a green business model, and I believe that Mr. Friedman is right on this point. If the United States wants to continue to develop and lead the world in “global citizenship,” then we must do what’s best for the planet, and in the end, our future. E.T. is going to be the next big thing and we must get on board. And like I’ve said before, it makes good business sense, just ask IBM what they think.
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