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This is one of the biggest challenges of our times, and it is absolutely critical that we understand this is not just a challenge, it's an opportunity, because if we create a new energy economy, we can create 5 million new jobs easily here in the United States. It can be an engine that drives us into the future the same way the computer was the engine for economic growth over the last couple of decades. And we can do it, but we're going to have to make an investment. The same way the computer was originally invented by a bunch of government scientists who were trying to figure out, for defense purposes, how to communicate, we've got to understand this is a national security issue as well. And that's why we've got to make some investments. And I've called for investments in solar, wind, geothermal. Contrary to what Senator McCain keeps on saying, I favor nuclear power as one component of our overall energy mix. But this is another example where I think it is important to look at the record. Senator McCain and I actually agree on something. He said a while back that the big problem with energy is that for 30 years politicians in Washington haven't done anything. What Senator McCain doesn't mention is, he's been there 26 of them. And during that time, he voted 23 times against alternative fuels. Twenty-three times. So it's easy to talk about this stuff during a campaign, but it's important for us to understand that it requires a sustained effort from the next president. One last point I want to make on energy. Senator McCain talks a lot about drilling, and that's important. But we have 3 percent of the world's oil reserves and we use 25 percent of the world's oil. So what that means is that we can't simply drill our way out of the problem. And we're not going to be able to deal with the climate crisis if our only solution is to use more fossil fuels that create global warming. We're going to have to come up with alternatives, and that means that the United States government is working with the private sector to fund the kind of innovation that we can then export to countries like China that also need energy and are setting up one coal power plant a week. We've got to make sure that we're giving them the energy that they need or -- or helping them to create the energy that they need. less more

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Should we fund a Manhattan-like Project -- that developed the nuclear bomb -- to deal with global energy and alternative energy? Or should we fund 100,000 garages across America, the kind of industry and innovation that developed Silicon Valley? less more