The dirty energy crowd can be offset only by the power of the rising clean energy sector and the American people, aroused across party lines.

If the road to social transformation can be paved only by saints who never make mistakes, the road will NEVER be built.

If we stand for change, we can spark a popular movement with power, influence, magic and genius.

Now is not the time to shrink from the challenge of saving our only home in the universe. Now is not the time to pull into ourselves, retreating into either survivalist or escapist mode. To the contrary, this is the time for titans, not turtles. Now is the time to open our arms, expand our horizons, and dream big. Big problems require big solutions.

Too often we think about the green economy as an elite market niche, one in which affluent people spend more money to consume greener and cleaner products.

The government also has to get the public rules right. That means putting a price on carbon, so the cleaner forms of energy become more competitive. As soon as that happens, a tidal wave of new capital, innovation and entrepreneurship will flood into the clean energy space - creating new jobs and opportunities for Americans of all walks of life. We did that for the internet, with public investments in the basic system through the Pentagon, followed by rules that encouraged innovation and competition. And that is why the internet took off in the United States first.

Right now, when you go and hit the light switch in your house, you're participating in a state-protected monopoly. You're being forced to accept dirty power from a single producer.