Creation Care Mom

Most of what “made America great” in the 1900s was our global leadership in innovation. We exported ideas among them democracy. Our federal government funded research into all manner of things including the precursors to GPS and the internet. Having federal backing, guaranteed a market buyer for the product, taking some risk out of the initial innovation. Eventually, the general public saw benefits of the technology and drove the innovation process faster, down the learning curve. We created ideas that everyone in the world wanted to buy from us.

It is true that most physical items are produced overseas now. They benefit for cheap labor and fewer environmental restrictions. The question now is: who is the global innovator? For they will have the most power in the era ahead.

Is it China? A growing middle class with strong education gives them that potential. With less “red tape” to fund research, could they jump ahead of us in innovation? Are they creating an atmosphere that supports new ideas while also having the man power to create that “new thing” quickly and cheaply? Are we prepared to lose that aspect of our dominance? The most powerful nation in the next century will develop the products/ideas that everybody just has to have.

When we look forward into the next decade or century, it becomes clear that clean, green products are going to be the future. We have seen the acceleration of EVs and plug-in hybrid sales and the steep increase in solar and wind installations. The original investment into alternative energy was during the 70s oil crisis. President Jimmy Carter installed some of the earliest solar panels on the White House! Only to be taken down several year later by Reagan. Reagan’s policies were unfavorable to these new industries which is part of the reason that wind innovation moved and grew in the Norwegian region. Imagine how much American wealth and influence was lost because that industry went overseas.

One day Green will be the way that everything is done from design, build, and manufacture. Will we rise to the challenge?

I think we are falling behind.

One area where this is certainly apparent is the car industry. A guest opinion article in the NY Times speaks to this very point. You can read it here. The Big 3 automakers in the US are in trouble. Because it took so long for them to decide to invest in plug-in hybrids and EVs they are behind the learning curve compared to Chinese company BYD. BYD is now offering a plug-in hybrid with about 32 miles of electric range for US$ 11,000, undercutting anything equivalent for sale in the US, even with EV rebates, and even ICE vehicles. They are expanding rapidly beyond China with new factories being constructed in Brazil, Thailand, Hungary, and Uzbekistan. US car makers have not developed the skill to make electric cars cheaply with a profit. They will have in increase effort and money to try to catch up or they will go bankrupt once again.

In what other arenas are we falling behind? We already know that solar panels and wind turbines are more cheaply made elsewhere. What new products could we focus on now? What inventions will propel us into the green future? Can we rethink how we design and build products and buildings so that they are smart, efficient, and low cost?

Some ideas are small scale nuclear, battery storage, smart grid technology (allowing us to track usage and cost in real time), carbon capture, deep earth geothermal energy, heat pumps, green cement, and green steel. Every one of these areas is waiting for and innovation breakthrough. Will it be us? or will it be someone else? Will countries be coming to us to buy our product and therefore put wealth and influence in our pocket? Or will we have to go to someone else?

Going green, developing the next generation of “green” products will make the United States stronger, healthier, more secure, more innovative, and more competitive. Will we rise up?