The U.S. can and should choose a different path to human security. We in the U.S. have all the creativity, ingenuity, technology, and know-how today that are needed to end our dependence on oil and other fossl fuels. What we need are strong national policies that will encourage:
Less driving and more public transit use, walking, biking, and car-pooling;
Reducing consumption, reusing materials, and recycling;
Making our cars and trucks much more fuel-efficient;
Developing renewable biofuels from human, agricultural, and forestry waste;
Expanding and improving public transit;
Reducing the energy consumed by our homes and buildings;
Developing new renewable energy and energy-saving technologies;
Expanding the use of solar and wind power;
Making our existing power plants and transmission systems more efficient;
Making our appliances more efficient;
Slowing population growth by investing in human development, and providing safe,
effective, non-coercive, universal access to family planning services;
Practicing no-till agriculture and expanding conservation reserves to absorb carbon;
Reducing greenhouse-gas-intensive livestock production and meat consumption;
Halting deforestation and planting new, permanent forests; and
Working with other countries to do all of the same.
Steps such as these will dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and put the world well on its way toward a more secure and sustainable future.