Well, the modern lifestyles we lead depend on a huge amount of energy. The fact that we can make steel, that we have cars, air conditioning, heating, cooking, that's all based on energy.
If you could change the price of one thing to really lift up the lives of the poorest people everywhere, it would be the price of energy. They get to their jobs.
They can buy fertilizer. They can have lights at night.
The energy miracle that's allowed for modern civilization is primarily based on hydrocarbons, that is coal, gasoline, natural gas. And if we burn that, release that, it heats up the atmosphere and that heating changes the climate in a way that's a terrible threat to particularly the poorest people on the planet.
What we need to do is fund the kind of researchers who are looking at the early stages of these problems. Would be look at where we've had huge success in the past, the government's been there to fund the basic research, that was true for the digital revolution, where government contracts led to the Internet.
We need the basic research, but we have to pair that with people who are willing to fund high-risk breakthrough energy companies. And that formula will accelerate the innovation at the research level, accelerate the risk-taking, and that's what gives us a chance of having a solution that really let us not have to give up energy usage and yet not damage to the environment.
I am optimistic. I think we will get the increased investment.
If we come together, really realize what solves the problem, then we will make the breakthroughs.
