McCain Was Right

Photo by Flickr user soggydan via Creative Commons

During his failed campaign for president, John McCain had some pretty clever ideas about climate change. And no, not “drill, baby, drill.” In an uncharacteristic moment of clarity, McCain proposed that the US government offer a reward of $300 million to any individual who invented a more efficient car battery.

Will President Obama embrace McCain’s idea and urge Americans to get creative about clean tech? As environmental sustainability becomes an ever hotter issue, individuals and companies have come up with bright, green ideas, including more accessible solar panels, smarter suburbs, and more creative vehicle designs.

Such strategies have been incredibly helpful in terms of reducing what we use, but none so far have introduced the kind of significant technological innovation that is needed to reverse our gas guzzling, energy hoarding culture. As Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu told Congress in March, the scientific community needs technology that is “game-changing, as opposed to merely incremental.” MIT chemist Daniel Nocera, for example, invented a chemical catalyst last year that distills hydrogen from water to produce energy. Nocera explained that on a large scale, this process “could take care of the world’s energy needs.” President Obama should give Americans an incentive to create such energy-saving technologies in other environmental fields as well.