The Foreign Service Journal, February 2009

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 25 include agreements to liberalize trade in clean-energy goods and services, and assist with technology deploy- ment in developing countries. Rapidly emerging devel- oping countries are not in favor of this approach, but it remains to be seen what new negotiating positions will emerge over the next year. Create Economic Opportunity. One of the major challenges for political acceptance of global action on cli- mate change is the threat of economic damage from in- creasing the cost of energy. While the economic analysis of proposed cap-and-trade legislation includes a wide range of projected negative economic effects, the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change and other studies indicate that over the long term, the cost of inac- tion outweighs the cost of near-term action to combat cli- mate change. There is no doubt that a carbon-constrained world will produce both winners and losers. Therefore it is essen- tial that the United States position itself to take full ad- vantage of the economic opportunity of a low-carbon world. Effectively meeting emissions goals will require new technologies and a highly skilled work force. Esti- mates suggest the market for low-carbon technologies could reach $47 trillion by 2050. This market, in turn, is expected to create jobs and new opportunities for inno- vation. U.S. energy competitiveness policy should in- clude massive and effective technology research, development and deployment, and a system of incentives to encourage efficiency and reward low-carbon behavior for companies and consumers. Educating the American work force and future gen- erations to compete in the global marketplace is an issue that cuts across all sectors of the U.S. economy. Our na- tion’s success at remaining a technology leader depends on our ability to attract new students to math, engineer- ing and other technologically oriented curricula and to increase our work force’s familiarity with those disci- plines. In conjunction with those efforts, Washington should embark on a public education campaign to im- prove domestic understanding of these challenges. F O C U S